A/N: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters in any way, shape or form.

TRIGGER ALERT: While not in every chapter there are chapters that mention rape and/or abuse.

The song is Parting Glass. Many different people have sang it over the years but I like The Wailin' Jenny's for this chapter.

Chapter 15

Adrian was one of those people that missed the hot weather of Summer during the winter and then missed the cold weather of Winter in the summer. To her Spring and Autumn were the best seasons of the year. They were roughly two months into Summer, give or take. Adrian constantly felt like she was baking on the surface of the sun and she could only imagine how hot Lori might be feeling, being so pregnant that Adrian was afraid that Chipmunk might pull an Alien and just pop right out of her.

Adrian was waiting outside a house that Rick, T-Dog, Daryl, and Carl had just went into to clear of any walkers so they could stay there for however long they could manage. They hadn't had much luck with staying in one spot for long since the warmer had started. Adrian had hated the bitter cold during the winter but it had helped them in the sense that it slowed the walkers down. Now that it was warming up they were coming out in full force.

Rick had given them the signal that it was safe to come inside and they grabbed the sleeping bags and walked inside. Everyone was walking into the living room when Adrian seen Daryl step off the stairs, pulling feathers from an owl. "Want some?" Daryl mumbled, giving her a quick glance before going back to plucking his owl.

"No, dear, Hedwig is all your's." she told him as she ran her hand through his hair.

Daryl looked up at her giving her a confused look. "The fuck's a Hedwig?" he asked.

Adrian looked up at the ceiling, as if praying, before she looked back at him.

"I'm gonna have to start assigning you reading homework, my love." she told him, following him into the living room.

Daryl sat down in a chair and Adrian sat on the floor beside him, using his muscular thigh as a pillow. Adrian closed her eyes, hoping to get a cat nap in, because she was exhausted. She had had watch in the middle of the night and was supposed to have woken Hershel for the next shift but she had felt guilty for having to wake the man, so she had decided to let him sleep and she usually rode with Daryl on his bike, which wasn't the ideal place to try to take a nap.

Adrian would occasionally feel a feather tickle her nose but she was fading too fast to care. Daryl could be piling those things on top of her head for all she cared, as long as she got to sleep. Adrian had just drifted off when she heard a loud clang from somewhere in the room. She jerked upright, adrenaline making her heart pound, as she grabbed the handle of her machete and had the blade halfway out of it's sheath before her brain registered that there wasn't any danger in the room.

Adrian had just laid her head back against Daryl's leg and closed her eyes when they heard T-Dog give them a signal, letting them know walkers were close by. Adrian gave a quiet groan as Daryl stood up. "What if I just went out there and killed them all? Could I take a nap then?" she asked the room quietly. "Be a neat trick." Daryl said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her tired body off the floor. She gave a quiet whine as she stood up and followed everyone else out the back door and around the house to their waiting vehicles.

Adrian climbed onto the back of Daryl's bike and they were off again. They had been driving for about half an hour before Rick gave the signal for everyone to stop. They all stopped and everyone got out, except for Lori who was still sitting in the truck. Glenn laid out a map on the hood of the car so they could figure out where they could go next, since it seemed like the walkers were boxing them in at every turn.

Adrian left everyone else to talk shop while she went to check on Lori. Lori lowered the window as Adrian walked up to the door of the truck. "How are you doing?" Adrian asked, genuinely concerned. It seemed that the closer the due date for the baby got the more stressed Lori got. Adrian could completely understand the woman's stress, any number of things could go wrong with this birth and there was next to nothing they could do to stop it. They could prepare until they were all blue in the face, but there were just so many things beyond their control, but Adrian would sooner approve of Glenn's choice of superhero's before she told any of them that.

"Tired." Lori told her simply. "Well, it takes a lot of work to grow a baby under normal circumstances, so I imagine it's even harder to do in this shit world." Adrian told her sympathetically. Adrian turned to see Glenn rolling up the map and decided to see what the new game plan was. "I'll check back in with you." she told Lori before leaving to walk over to Daryl.

"While the others are washing their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot." she heard Daryl say to Rick as she walked up behind him.

"Imagine that." she snickered as she walked up beside him.

"You gonna go down the creek with the rest of 'em?" Daryl asked her.

"And wash panties I haven't worn in months?" she scoffed.

She grinned when Daryl gave her a deadpanned look.

"Don't act like you didn't know there wasn't anything under these jeans. From what I can tell you prefer it that way." she said, her grin turning wicked when she seen Daryl's ears turn a tiny bit pink.

Daryl gave her a mock glare before he walked away and into the woods with Rick.

Rick and Daryl weren't gone long before they came back and Rick told them all what they had found, a look both excited and manic in Rick's eyes. A prison not far from where they were parked. They all agreed to give it chance, since it was the most secure place they could possibly find. They parked the car's on the other side of the creek and walked across a small bridge that someone had built over the creek. Rick used their bolt cutters to cut a large hole in the outter chain link fence and they all squeezed through the hole before Daryl and Glenn closed up the hole, using a run line wire they had found some time ago.

They may have all been quiet but that didn't seem to matter to any of the walkers on either side of the fences. They all smelled live humans and all charged for the fence and some even ran along the fences as they ran through the walking area between the outter fence and the inside field of the prison. They ran toward the prison gates, which were still secure, so they could figure out their next step. They all had to be careful about how they proceeded because any wrong move could get either one of them, or all of them, killed.

Rick convinced them all that if they could close the gate that connected the courtyard to the field that they could have the field cleared by nightfall. Glenn offered to run for the gate, being their fastest runner, but Maggie talked him out of it. Rick then told Glenn, Maggie, T-Dog, and Beth to make noise at the fence to help draw them away. Daryl and Carol were instructed to go into one of the guard towers so they could help pick off some walkers from up high, the same with Carl and Hershel in a separate guard tower.

"Adrian, I want you in the guard tower with Hershel and Carl while I run for the gate." he told her.

"No." was her immediate reply.

"What?" he asked her, seemingly confused.

"I said no, I'm not going in the tower with Carl and Hershel. I'm going with you." she told him.

Rick looked at her for a second before he realized she was completely serious.

"You have four people on the fence and four people in the guard towers. You need someone out there that can help watch your back." she said.

"I need you here." he told her, trying to get her to listen to him.

"Who do you honestly think is faster here, me in my boots or you in your man heels? I'm going with you and that's final." she told him, done with the discussion.

"Adrian-" Rick said before she cut him off.

"Rick, I'm hot, I'm tired, and I'm PMSing like a motherfucker over here, so are you going to keep wasting your breath on words I'm not going to listen to, or are you just gonna accept that I'm going with you so we can get this thing done?" she said.

Adrian could see Rick grinding his teeth but she didn't really care. Without another word Rick walked to the fence that Lori was going to open for them and close behind them. Rick put his own machete away and took out his gun, while Adrian kept her machete in hand. They were all low on ammo and she didn't want to waste bullets she didn't need to use yet. Adrian walked over to Lori and gave her a teasing wink as she rubbed Lori's largely extended belly before standing behind Rick.

Rick and Lori looked at each other before Rick gave her a single nod to let her know to open the gate. Sometime during the outbreak someone had moved a transport bus in front of the gate, which was still there, laying on it's side. Lori pulled the gate open and Adrian and Rick stepped out of the gate and behind the bus. Rick looked over to see that they people of the fence were doing their job well of drawing a lot of attention to themselves.

When Rick seen that the way was decently clear, he took off running, Adrian right on his heels. The four in the guard towers were doing good about keeping walkers off of them, but there were too many for them to get all of them. Adrian almost ran straight into Rick's back when he suddenly stopped and Adrian knew why. She had seen the dust from a bullet striking the ground just inches in front of him.

"That's what you get for giving Carol a rifle." she grumbled behind him.

Adrian could tell from the look he shot her that he didn't find the statement amusing in the least.

They finally made it to the courtyard gate and Adrian quickly slammed it shut while Rick chained it shut to keep any more walkers from spilling out into the field. They then ran for the guard tower right beside the gate so they could climb up to help take out the remaining walkers. Rick opened the door and fired two quick shots before telling Adrian to get inside. Once they were at the top Adrian put her machete away and took out her bow, still seeing no reason to waste precious bullets when she had another option. Once Daryl gave the signal everyone started firing, killing every walker they set their eyes on. It didn't take long to kill them all with everyone shooting.

Once the field was clear, everyone was elated and started to celebrate loudly. It was the first time since the farm that they had so much open space to walk around in and know they were completely safe. Adrian ran at Daryl full force and jumped into his arms, just as excited as everyone else, and knocked him to the ground, not having been prepared for her to run into him like a freight train. Daryl let out a surprised 'ofph' as his back hit the ground but it was barely heard over Adrian's happy laughing.

They could hear the others laugh at the woman's happy antics but neither of them really cared because they were all too happy about their success. Adrian pulled up for all of half a second before she planted her lips firmly on Daryl's and attempted to kiss the breath right out of him. Daryl gave her a quick, hard kiss in return before he convinced her to let him up. She did as he asked but she pouted as she did so, which make Daryl smirk. Daryl threw his dirty and sweaty arm around her equally dirty and sweaty shoulders before they followed everyone else into the field.

Glenn, Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog had made a run back for the vehicles and they parked them in the large fenced in area by the front gate house. After the cars had been parked Adrian and Daryl had volunteered to go out to find something to eat. One thing Adrian was thankful to the warmer weather for was an increase in wild game for them to hunt. They had managed two rabbits and a half dozen squirrels between them, which wasn't bad all things considered.

They had found an old metal fan some months back that they kept around to grill their food on, when they had food that they could grill, that is. Everyone was sitting around the fire save for Rick, who was walking the fences, and Daryl, who was keeping watch on top of the bus. Adrian was laying down between Lori and Carl, her head closest to the fire, as she looked up at the stars. Adrian had always love looking at the stars on clear nights, but she hadn't got to appreciate them much since they had run from the farm all those months ago.

Adrian laid there quietly as she listen to T-Dog talk about piling all of the walker bodies and the possibility of getting fresh water into the field and Hershel spoke of the soil being good enough to plant in if they could find seeds. Beth tried to lift Lori's spirits by telling her it was a good and safe place to have the baby, which she wasn't wrong about, but Adrian wasn't sure if she was just hoping if everything would work out or if she was being a little naive about the many dangers of childbirth.

Carol fixed a plate and told them she was bringing it to Daryl.

"Carol." Adrian said, turning her head so she could look at the woman.

"Please tell Daryl that if he doesn't eat that willingly that I'll come up there and force feed him. In the most loving way possible, of course." she added with a grin.

Carol gave her a smile before she left.

"Adrian, you are truly scary sometimes. Daryl is one brave man to be puttin' up with you." she heard T-Dog say from across the fire.

"You know it." Adrian said laughing.

They were all kind of quiet, all of them tired after such a long day. "Bethy, sing Patty Reilly for me. I haven't heard that one, I think, since your mother was alive." Hershel asked his blonde daughter. "Daddy, not that one, please." Maggie asked him. Hershel thought a moment. "How about The Parting Glass?" he asked her. "No one wants to hear." Beth told him, a little embarrassed to sing in front of everyone. Beth told him. "I'll sing with you Beth." Adrian told the younger woman. "Okay." she agreed.

Oh all the money that e'er I spent

I spent it in good company

And all the harm that e'er I've done

Alas, it was to none but me

And all I've done for want of wit

To memory now I can't recall

So fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all

Beth looked over at Maggie, who decided to join in as well.

Oh all the comrades that e'er I've had

Are sorry for my going away

And all the sweethearts that e'er I've had

Would wish me one more day to stay

But since it falls unto my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I'll gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be with you all

Good night and joy be with you all

Rick came over and squatted down between Adrian and Carl, who had handed him a bowl of meat. Rick looked at the bowl before he offered it to Lori, looking at her with no emotion.

"I already had some." she told him softly, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Adrian reached up and shoved the bowl back at him.

"She had both her portion and mine, Rick, so just eat the damn food." she told him.

"I'm still not happy about that." Lori told the red head.

"Well, you may not be happy about it but of the two of us, I'm not the one playing Lets-Grow-A-Baby." Adrian told her.

Adrian was in a happy doze until Rick spoke.

"We should all turn in, we've got a big day tomorrow." he told them all.

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked, having no clue what he was talking about.

"A lot of these walkers are wearing either prisoner or guard uniforms. I'm thinking this place fell pretty early. If we can go in there, clear it out, this place is a gold mine." he told them, trying to convince them all that it was a good idea, but they all knew he wasn't really asking their opinion.

After Rick spoke his peace he told them that he would take watch over by one of the fences and walked away. No one said anything and after a minute Lori got up and walked after him. Adrian said nothing but still kept her eyes on the heavily pregnant woman. Adrian knew it was in the best interest of Lori's stress level to not be within the same hemisphere as Rick, but she couldn't fault the woman for trying to fix her broken relationship with her husband.

Adrian couldn't see much of Lori but she could see enough of Rick body language to know that the conversation wasn't going well. When Rick stormed off, leaving Lori standing there alone, Adrian got up. "Adrian, leave it be." Hershel told her but she wasn't listening. She walked up to Lori and put a hand on her shoulder, making the woman look at her.

"Go lay down and rest. It's honestly the best thing for you and the baby right now." Adrian tried to tell her softly but knew that some of her anger had leaked into her voice.

"Adrian, please." Lori begged her, grabbing her arm. Over the months there had been times when Rick had badly upset Lori and Adrian would always get into an argument with him afterwards, some times it even came to blows on Adrian's part.

"I won't stand for it, Lori, I don't care if it's my business or not. We've all seen how he treats you and no one's been brave enough to say anything about it and I'll be damned if I'm going to stand around with my thumb up my ass while he does it." Adrian growled, both women knowing where her anger was directed. "I promise to leave him in the same condition I found him in. Now, go rest." Adrian urged her, to which Lori finally listened.

Adrian watched Lori walk back to the fire before she turned to glare in Rick's direction and stomped off toward him. Adrian caught up with the former cop, grabbed his arm in a bruising grip, and forced him to turn and look at her. Rick seen the look on the angry red heads face and sighed.

"Don't give me that shit, Rick, I'm not in the mood." she hissed at him.

"You never are." he told her in a bored voice.

"Yeah, well, you're one to fucking talk." she told him.

"Are you fucking happy now that you've effectively made your pregnant wife feel even less fucking worthless than the damn dust on your fucking boots?" Adrian asked him, her hands gripping her hips so she didn't wrap them around his throat and choke the life from him. S

he had promised Lori after all.

"I didn't make her feel worthless." Rick tried to defend himself, both of them knowing he was lying.

"My ass you didn't and we both know it. How much fucking longer are you going to fucking punish her, huh? Because I gotta be honest, I'm fucking sick of it and it isn't even directed at me." she asked, glaring hard at him.

"I'm not punishing her. I'm trying to keep us safe, so excuse me if I can't find time to spend with my wife." he told her, starting to get angry about her calling him out and hitting all of her targets.

"That's the biggest load of horseshit I've ever heard. Is that seriously the best you can come up with on the spot? You can't find time to spend with her? You wanna try to fucking explain that to Maggie and Glenn? Or me and Daryl? Because we can all manage to find plenty of fucking time fore each other." she asked, angry at his pathetic excuse.

Rick opened his mouth to speak but then Adrian stepped into his space and pointed a firm finger into his face, officially done with his sorry excuses for his behavior.

"We all fucking know why you're treating her like fucking dog shit you stepped in on a hot day and I'm here to tell you, it fucking ends tonight, Rick, do you fucking hear me? You're pissed about your wife having another man's baby but she also told you why she ever fucking slept with him. They thought you were dead for fucking weeks! And it ended the second you showed up in that camp outside of Atlanta." she told him, hard eyes glaring and panting from her anger.

"And let me tell you another fucking thing, you better get your shit straight before that baby gets here because I will be fucking damned if I let your fucking hatred for your wife bleed out onto that innocent baby like it's bleed onto your son." she told him.

"Carl has nothing to do with this." Rick told her, taking a step toward her but Adrian didn't move a muscle at the intimidation tactic.

"I dare you to look me in the fucking eyes and tell me that Carl's newfound attitude toward his mother has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with how you treat her, I fucking dare you, motherfucker." she challenged him, glaring at him hard.

Rick looked over at the fire to his son before he looked back at the seething red haired woman.

"That's what I fucking thought." she growled.

"Let me ask you this, if you'd known back in that field with Shane what you know now, would you still have killed Shane or would you have just let him take Lori?" she asked him.

Rick reeled in shock at the question before he got angry.

"Excuse me?" he asked at her ridiculous question.

"Would you have let Shane take Lori like he wanted to if you'd known then what you know now? Because from what I can see, she would've been better off with Shane. At least he treated her like a fucking human being instead of his emotional punching bag." she told him, knowing that her words hit a hot button inside of Rick when his nostrils flared in anger.

"He tried to kill me. Take my wife, my son, and my unborn child from me!" he yelled at her, losing his temper.

"You're absolutely fucking right, he did. You know what else Shane did? He fucking loved Lori, as obsessive and twisted as it was, he fucking loved her and put her and Carl, and even that baby ahead of everyone else in the fucking group. Shane did and said a lot of things but you can't look me in the fucking eyes and tell me that he didn't put that woman above all else. That woman you killed him to keep only to treat like absolute fucking shit ever since we hit the fucking road." she told him, looking him in the eyes.

"And I'm warning you, Rick, as God as my witness, if you let your hatred for your wife touch that baby in any way, I will fucking pack up Lori and the baby and fucking run through those gates with them and you'll never fucking see us again." she told him, fully serious.

"You think you can take them away from me? I killed the last person who tried to do that." he told her, furioius that she would even threaten him like that.

"I dare you to try to fucking stop me. You'll never fucking see it coming." she told him, finally stepping back from him.

"If I see that woman shed one more tear because of your fucking attitude before that fucking baby is born, I'll break your fucking jaw. Let's see you be an asshole when you have to eat through a fucking straw." she warned him before she turned and stalked back to the fire.

She laid down beside Daryl and curled into him, hoping that his closeness would help calm her down enough to fall asleep. They apparently had a big day tomorrow and she didn't need to be completely exhausted for it all.

TWD

The next morning Rick asked everyone who could fight to go in to help clear out the prison. Everyone but Adrian agreed, saying that they couldn't chance every one of their fighters going in there, just in case. Rick reluctantly agreed with her and told everyone else to prepare. The plan was for Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, and Daryl to go in in a circular formation so all of their backs were covered.

Beth, Carl, Carol, Lori, and Adrian were all lined along the courtyard fence so they could make enough noise to distract and kill as many walkers as they could. When everyone else was ready Rick gave Hershel the signal to open the gate. After everyone had made it through the fence Hershel quickly closed and chained the gate, going to the fence with the others to help kill the walkers that were pressed against the fence.

They were doing good, keeping all of their sides protected, until T-Dog broke formation by running for a riot shield that had been discarded on the ground a long time ago, knocking over a walker that came for him before he ran back to the others. And then Maggie broke off to kill the walker that T-Dog had just knocked over before running back to her spot between Glenn and Daryl. Adrian drove the blade of her knife into the eye of the last walker that was pressing against the fence and looked at the group inside the fence.

They had made it to the building but had all stopped, their backs against the wall. Adrian moved to where she could see them and felt her blood pressure rise at what she saw. Daryl and Rick were no where to be seen, but Glenn, Maggie, and T-Dog were fighting off walkers who were covered in riot gear. Maggie kept slamming her machete onto the helmet of the walker in front of her, which did absolutely nothing, before she would forcefully push it away from her. Finally Maggie shoved the walkers head backward and shoved her knife up through it's chin and into it's brain, finally killing it.

Glenn and T-Dog, having seen what she had just done, quickly followed suit, Glenn shoving it's head back while T-Dog drove his fire poker into it's head. Daryl ran up behind a another riot gear covered walker and pushed it's head forward before he slammed his large blade into the back of it's skull. Rick was on top of a walker that had something on it's face that he ripped off, and Adrian figured something disgusting happened because he made a face before ramming his knife into it's face.

With that walker down the courtyard was officially clear from what they could all tell. Glenn started walking toward the gate until Rick stopped him. They group inside spoke for a minute before they walked off toward a small fenced walkway. Daryl opened the door and Rick walked in first and Glenn went in last, closing the door behind him. Glenn and Maggie came back a short while later and told them to gather their things, that it was safe to go inside.

Adrian grabbed her's and Daryl's packs as Carol grabbed her's and Lori's. They walked inside and Adrian heard a loud noise as she turned and seen a walker on the floor in front of T-Dog, who grabbed it's feet and started dragging it away.

"That's disgusting." she mumbled, scrunching her nose.

"What do you think?" Rick asked.

"Home sweet home." Glenn said as he walked past.

Lori looked around in amazement.

"It's secure?" she asked as she looked around.

"The cell block is." he told her, probably the first kind words he had spoken to her in months.

"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asked him.

"In the morning we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary." he told the older man.

"We sleep in the cells?" Beth asked, also looking around.

"I found some keys on a guard, I have a set and so does Daryl." Rick told her.

"I ain't sleepin' in no cage, I'll take the perch." Adrian heard Daryl say from above her.

Everyone then broke off, trying to find the least disgusting cells, so they could settle in. Lori tried to thank Rick, but as usual, he brushed her off. Carol urged Lori to follow her and the three woman walked upstairs.

Daryl was dragging a mattress from the cell that was in front of the perch so Adrian decided to drop their stuff in that cell. She walked inside the cell and dropped both of their packs onto the hard floor with a loud thud.

"I swear that shit's gained weight overnight." she said as she rested her head against the cool metal of the bed frame. Adrian heard Daryl's quiet steps as he walked up behind her before she felt his rough hands gently start to rub her shoulders.

Adrian let out a loud moan as Daryl dug his thumb into a particularly knotted muscle, she could feel the smirk he gave her.

"Keep it PG you two." they heard Carol say from a few cells down, laughter in her voice.

Adrian didn't have the energy to make a snappy comeback, so she just kept her focus on the feel of Daryl's fingers.

"How you feelin'?" he asked her.

"Exhausted, and I've barely even done anything today." she told him.

"Well, it was bound to happen. You've barely slept in days." he told her, knowing full well she didn't sleep well the night before.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked her, referring to her previously injured shoulder.

It had taken a long time for her shoulder to stop hurting and for her to be able to get back into fighting shape.

"It's been good for a while now." she told him truthfully.

She felt Daryl's hands slide from her shoulders to her hips, where they rested, and then she felt his warm lips on the back of her now healed shoulder.

"You shouldn't be kissing me there. I haven't washed properly in days. I can't even imagine what I look like." she told him.

"You kiss me like this all the time, what's the difference?" he mumbled against her shoulder.

She felt a tired smile stretch across her lips.

"Touche." she said.

"And you look fine. Better than me, I'm sure." he told her.

"Oh please." she scoffed. "You can pull off Filthy Neanderthal like no one I've ever met before, as to where dirt, sweat, and walker blood just makes me look like a troll that just came outta hibernation." she said.

"You're beautiful no matter what you look like." he told her.

Adrian smiled and turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a quick kiss.

"You sweet talkin' charmer, you." she said, smiling against his lips.

"Come on." Daryl said as he gave her a quick kiss of his own before he pulled away and took her hand.

"Come lay down with me. You need to rest, we got a big day tomorrow." he said as he pulled her out of the cell and onto the perch.

Daryl laid down on the mattress and signaled that Adrian follow him down. Adrian kicked off her boots and crawled in beside him. She laid on her right side, her head tucked into his shoulder, her arm slung across his stomach, and her leg nestled in between his. Daryl wrapped his left arm around her and smirked down at her as he looked at how she planned on sleeping. He had learned back at the farm that Adrian was a bed hog and she was also a weird mix between a clingy octopus and a sprawling starfish. He heard the deep sigh that signaled that she was comfortable and he felt her fall asleep within minutes of laying down so he closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.