A/N: Hope everyone's doing well! This chapter was inspired by my favorite deleted scene from episode 201: What Lies Ahead. If you never watched this scene, you're missing out and should do it now. There will be a reunion of sorts coming up either in chapter 9 or 10 (haven't quite figured out where to put it yet) so stay tuned. Until then, feel free to leave some love and maybe a few lines on your way out. Stay safe!

Chapter 8

"What do you think happened?"

"Open your eyes and be a little more observant you could see clear as day that it was murder. Anyone with half a brain could've told ya that."

"The hell crawled up your ass and died Dixon? I'm not that damn stupid, ya know; I can see that the prick was murdered but just wanted to know your thoughts on how."

It was the talk of the town since the tweaker's body was found, one of Merle's buddies that went by the name Slick. Why they called him that I'll never understand. Every time he did something he ended up getting caught anyway and if the cops didn't catch him whoever the hell he fucked over made sure he paid up. His body was found in some bushes about half a mile away from the shop with a knife through his eye.

"…Police have identified several suspects but have yet to make an arrest. They are asking the public that if you know anything about the brutal killing of Daniel Richards to please call and leave any tips you may have. A reward will be offered to anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction."

"Roger must be desperate for re-election if he's offering a reward. They're never gonna find who did it."

"What makes you so sure? I mean a knife in the eye is kinda personal so you could make the assumption that Slick knew his killer and let's face it, everyone from here to the Yellow Jacket knew who Slick was. Plus we live in a time where DNA is literally everywhere. Unless the killer wore gloves they'll probably try to lift prints from the handle and see if there's someone else's blood on the blade other than Slick's."

Observant.

"Yeah, a knife through face definitely means its personal and yeah, Slick knew a shit ton of people but look where they found the body. His feet were sticking out of the bushes and it was a half mile from your old man's shop. They wanted him found and they wanted to send a message."

"What does this have to do with my dad's shop? Seriously, is there some psycho trying to kill my dad? Do I need to call Shane a-?"

"Had a customer come in the shop a few weeks ago complaining about their car running hot. Threw it up on the lift and saw it was leaking antifreeze; not just a drip-drop leak but a pretty steady one. Told 'em the hoses were going bad and needed to be replaced and that we should replace the clamps too since they were rusted. Told 'em how much it'd be for parts and labor and they threw a fit worse than Merle did that time when we were kids and I beat him in some contest he set-up.

"Anyway, your dad came in after he heard all this shouting thinking it was me and the next thing I know this crazy-ass customer had a gun pointed in your dad's face saying I was trying to overcharge 'em and if he didn't give 'em something reasonable he was gonna kill the both of us."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I could've given her any excuse in the world but it wouldn't erase the look of fear on her face. Her dad called the cops right after the guy left; Shane showed up almost too quick for my liking and was all too eager to take down a report. He took the surveillance tapes and that was it. I could outright say that I think Shane had something to do with what happened that day in the shop and I could say that I think Shane killed Slick but I couldn't be sure.

"Didn't want ya to panic." I answered with a shrug.

"Why do you not want me to call Shane?"

"Don't trust him."

Every day after the news broke about Slick, Claire was at the shop after work keeping an eye out for the psycho. Instead, right around 6 every night, she came face to face with Shane and his usual line of questioning. Every night he'd ask her if she saw anything weird or strange, if she heard any odd sounds on her way in, why she wouldn't kick me to the curb. Most of the time she'd ignore any questions he had about me but there was one night she kinda snapped.

"Daryl hasn't fucked me over the way you do. Remember those tracking and survival lessons you were supposed to be giving me? You fucking left me to fend for myself against a damn snake! Hell, at least Daryl hasn't pulled that kinda shit on me! And the reason I never take you seriously? All you ever were to me was a good time, a good fuck every now and then. But Daryl? He's better than you'll ever be! I know you've been at the house early in the morning when the neighbors call to complain about us being too loud and you know what? I'm glad you heard us! Since we've been screwing around, I haven't had to use any of my vibrators. A real man should be able to fuck his woman so thoroughly she can't get up the next morning. You couldn't even keep me satisfied for more than five minutes! Get the fuck out of my office and stop showing up every goddamn night! If any of us need anything, we'll call or take care of it ourselves!"

Shane left the shop that night more pissed off than I had ever seen him.

Once the CDC fell we turned around and headed back the way we came with no clear idea of where exactly we were going. But we needed to figure out something soon. Cars were running out of gas quick and the latest to hit empty was Shane's jeep. I only caught a glimpse of what was going on before he disappeared into the RV and our shrinking caravan got the hell out of Dodge. Hell, it was thanks to my hollering and honking that they even noticed the herd.

I followed behind the RV blindly as the sun was beginning to set; it didn't occur to me where we were going until we pulled up to the familiar brick wall outside of the nursing home. I hated that we were being led here but with all the guns we gave them, they better let us stay for a couple of nights, just until we can figure out where we're going.

"I bet they're barely hanging on." Blondie commented as we headed down the alley towards the blown out brick entrance we used when we rescued the Asian kid a few days ago. "What makes you think they'll take in strangers?"

"All the guns we gave 'em they'll probably throw us a party. Good call, for once."

I ain't gonna lie, it was a good call on Officer Friendly's part. Even if we had to stay separated from everyone else, at least we had a roof over our heads for the night and a place high enough up away from the walkers that we may get some decent sleep. Compared to the shit he just put us through at the CDC, with Jenner's crazy ass wanting to blow us all sky high? Yeah, it was a good call for once.

One by one we filed through the alley, jumping through the broken out windows once we got closer to the entrance. The fear radiated off everyone in waves as uncertainty made a home in the pit of my stomach. What if Guillermo and his guys pointed those guns at us again? What if they turned us away this close to dark? What if they just shot us all and left us to the walkers?

"Where are the lookouts?"

Uncertainty turned into fear. Glenn was right; there were no lookouts anywhere like last time. There was something definitely wrong with this picture if they were gone. As we rounded the corner we all saw a lone walker chewing on someone. It was so busy with its meal it didn't even hear Shane mutter out a "son of a bitch." We snuck past it no problem as we headed for the garage doors. But the closer we got to those doors the more walkers we came on. Guillermo's people were lying on the concrete with fresh blood and bite wounds everywhere. I couldn't be sure exactly what happened but I knew that it was other people and had we showed up any earlier, we'd be on the ground with 'em.

"To hell with the noise."

Those of us with guns opened fire as the walkers looked up from their meals, realizing something fresher stood in front of them. Within seconds the growling and shots stopped; we ran inside the garage for cover, looking for anything that may have been hiding in the darkness as we made our way to the upper floors in search of somewhere safe for the night.

The place they were holding Glenn, where all the old people slept, smelled like death and rotting flesh. Bodies were lying out in the open, not moving, and the kid crying only added to the growing pit in my stomach that whoever did this was probably after the guns and whatever else these people may have had.

"Put a sock in it!"

"You leave her alone!"

"Shut her up or I will!"

"Back the hell off and I mean now!"

The arguing between me and two moms with kids wasn't gonna get us nowhere. Those kids have seen more dead bodies in the last few weeks than any of us saw when we were growing up. This is the new world now and it's something we're all gonna have to get used to seeing whether we like it or not.

"Are we staying or going?"

"We don't have the fuel."

"We hunker down for the night, okay? Me and Daryl are gonna sweep the building, make sure we're alone."

Rick had ordered the others to barricade the doors as me and Shane went on our sweep. Why he picked me to go with him I couldn't be sure unless it was to thank me for saving his ass earlier. But we didn't have time for that; the rec room that they used to hold Glenn at was filled with even more bodies and flies buzzing around like crazy. The smell was one of the worse things to ever hit my nose and the fact that I didn't gag or puke outright was a testament to how much I had gotten used to this new world.

Once we were sure everyone in the rec room was dead and not coming back we made our way up to the next floor to do another sweep. It was the same as before; more bodies and more flies. As I stepped past one of the open doors I saw something written on the glass.

Prayer changes things.

"Guess that didn't work so well for you did it Hoss?" I scoffed, looking at the body that was stretched out on the floor just under the window sill with a cross sitting on top. His eyes were still barely open and his skin was turning a blueish-gray; he'd been there the last several hours at least but the longer I stared at him the more I knew this was done by people, not walkers.

As we made our way back downstairs I started looking more closely at the bodies trying to figure this thing out. Claire watched enough of those damn forensic shows that now I finally got why she was so fascinated by them. It wasn't that she was interested in looking at the bodies themselves but more so interested in the cause; the why and how did they die. With the kids left behind in a safe place, we gathered in the rec room to figure out a plan for tonight.

"Upstairs is our best bet; we've cleared a few rooms, we can barricade those if we have too. We'll be alright."

"Do you mean it this time or are you lying to us like all the times before?"

"That's unfair and no help at all."

What is it with these two and always being so damn negative all the time? I mean shit, if whatshername with the butch haircut wanted to be a bitch all the damn time she should've stayed with Jenner and Jacqui at the CDC. Two less mouths to feed if ya ask me.

"The hell happened?" It was a question on everyone's mind that no one wanted to ask.

"What do you think? They got overrun."

I couldn't stop the 'pft' that came out of my mouth as Blondie shot off some shit thinking she knew everything.

"Something to say?"

"Yeah, how 'bout observant."

"Observant? Big word from a guy like you. Three whole syllables."

"Walkers didn't do this; geeks didn't show up till all this went down. Somebody attacked this place, killed all these people, took whatever they wanted. They're all shot in the head, execution style. Ya'll worried about walkers? I'd be much more worried about the people who came and did all this. Get a dictionary, look it up." As I loaded my crossbow across my back I could feel how proud Claire would've been if she could've seen me. "Observant."

I left the room and headed back down the hall to see if I could scrounge up anything we could use or eat. Whoever did this though picked the place clean, including the guns we had given to Guillermo and his guys. If I had to guess, I'd say it was whatever military there was left. It was just like what we saw at the CDC; people outside the barricades were all shot execution style and Rick had only just stopped talking about some stupid helicopter he might've seen when he first got to Atlanta.

Unfortunately my search turned up nothing and I headed upstairs to the room we cleared to wait for everyone else. They all filed in not long after sunset except for Rick and Shane, they wanted to keep looking through all of the rooms.

"They ransacked the kitchen; all we found was the one can."

"They hit the dispensary too, tore the door off its hinges. Took everything except for this."

"Came back with some cough drops and garbanzo beans." I said, knowing in an instant what the white colored package was that Rick handed his wife. Claire would buy the same brand because it was cheaper than the other ones at the store.

As I opened the can of beans and passed it around to everyone else, Shane dug into his bag and pulled out a ton of chips he hid away saying he snagged 'em from the CDC followed by a bottle of alcohol. I couldn't stop myself from asking him if it was to share because I could use a drink right now.

"Seeing as how I owe you my life," he started, handing me the bottle, "I'm gonna start being nice to you from now on."

To say I was skeptical as I took the bottle would've been an understatement but I think he probably said that more for Claire than anything else. All she ever wanted was for the two of us to at least get along; we didn't have to like each other or hangout every weekend, just be civil towards one another.

"I do think I've earned the first swallow."

"Ya'll go easy on that stuff. Don't forget where we are."

"Yes ma'am."

We ate and drank in silence after Blondie bit the Old Man's head off again. If I were him, I'd have left her ass at the CDC like she wanted. If she's so damn ungrateful to be alive, she can walk right out the building into the streets of Atlanta and I wouldn't give a damn one way or the other if she turned tonight or if the walkers stripped every piece of flesh from her body.

As we began to turn in for the night we all decided to try for Fort Benning in the morning; we'd leave whatever cars we didn't need and siphon out the gas from anything nearby. If I ever found Claire, she'd probably be disappointed with me leaving my truck behind but it wasn't something that I could keep; it ate up too much gas and with Merle's bike I could get around much quicker and into tighter places that the truck wouldn't.

T-Dog took the first watch shift and I headed off towards one of the empty rooms we cleared out earlier to try and get some rest before it was my turn to take watch. If anyone was actually searching for the truth, I needed to get away from those damn kids and the women in that room. I swear, they're probably all on the rag right now with the way they've been bickering and clawing at each other's throats.

"Daryl! That's not nice and it ain't right! Apologize to them in the morning or so help me, I'll haunt your every moment of every day!

Sometimes the memory of her voice was the only thing that kept me going but she's right, I probably do need to say sorry or something. We're all scared and none of us are probably gonna make it to Fort Benning. I hate to say it but I do kind of admire Officer Friendly for trying to keep hope alive, even if it's just for the kids.

"Daryl, you got a sec?"

"What?"

I was lying on my back, one arm covering my eyes and the other behind my head as I was trying to fall asleep when Shane started tapping on the door outside. I'd rather tell him to fuck off so I could rest up a bit before my shift, instead I answered back and he walked in, careful to close the door behind him as quietly as he could.

"Listen, I just want to say thanks for saving my ass earlier. You didn't have to stick your neck out for me like that but I appreciate that you did and I know Claire would've appreciated it too."

"She was never yours, why do you keep bringing her name up?"

"I think she might still be alive out there, somewhere. I know you two didn't exactly fall out on the best of terms but everyone, even her parents, could see that you both cared about each other. Even after all those times I tried to break the two of you up, she still refused to leave you."

"The hell do you mean you tried to break us up?" I sat up, feeling the alcohol coursing through my veins as my rage began to boil.

"I killed Slick all those years ago and dumped his body near her dad's shop. I told him to only go inside if she was there but he didn't listen. I loaned him the piece of shit car that had been sitting in front of my old man's house for years; I hadn't driven it since I was 15 or 16 and told him if he saw her car there to go inside. You were supposed to have the day off and he was only supposed to threaten her and he got it all backwards. He had a bigger mouth on him than Merle and I couldn't risk him blabbing to the whole town so I killed him and planted his body near the shop. I thought that if you weren't there to protect her then her dad would see that you weren't good enough for her."

I stood up too quick, swaying and stumbling a bit from the alcohol as I approached Shane, watching him back up into the door until he bumped into the glass, causing the door to shake in its frame a little.

"Lemme get this straight – you hired Slick to come up to the shop, threaten Claire on my day off, and leave her and her dad to fend for themselves with a gun-wielding drug addict in a small room? All while trying to plant the thought into her dad's head that if I couldn't protect her at work then I couldn't protect her at all?"

"It sounds way worse when you say it like that man," he laughed a bit, nervously as he put his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, Daryl, I really am. It was a long time ago and I thought that Claire should be with someone like me, ya know? Someone with a steady job that she could have fun with; someone who could keep her safe."

"I ought to beat your ass and toss you out that damn window to the walkers but I won't. Everyone down the hall will hear and they'll be asking too many questions. Unless someone's dying you stay the fuck away from me and don't you ever bring up Claire's name again." Shane nodded, his eyes wide with fear as one threat after another rolled off my tongue. His hand reached behind him to open the door and just as he was leaving I called out to him one last time. "By the way, she never cared if I had problems holding down a job and if you knew anything about her you'd know that she preferred to stay in. She was with me because I didn't pull any punches or fuck around with married women behind her back. Unlike you, I could fuck her from sun up to sun down and have her screaming my name the whole time. You couldn't satisfy her for more than five minutes before she got bored. Why don't you and Lori find a bed real quick while Rick and his kid are sleeping; she's probably the only one who ever found sex with you to be satisfying."

The fear on Shane's face turned to anger as I slammed the door shut on him, locking it before I laid back down. I should've known that his comment about being nice to me from now on was just a show. I'll be damned if he actually keeps his word but I'm not gonna put any faith in it. As I got comfortable on the ground I could hear the walkers several feet below us stumbling around outside, the groans were starting to become like a white noise as I drifted off to sleep for a little bit. If I ever find Claire, I'm gonna make sure she knows what Shane tried to do all those years ago.