Thank you all so much for the reviews and the follows and favorites on this story. I love the idea I have for this fanfiction so I'm so happy that people are enjoying this along with me! Please, continue to review and tell me your thoughts as I love hearing them!

There's some very cute Glenn in this chapter cause Glenn is just the cutest anyway.

Also, a sickle is a kind of large curved blade with a handle. Just in case anyone didn't have a clue what kind of weapon I had chosen for Nikki!

Thank you all again for the support! Here's chapter 3!


"Disoriented." My Dad uttered the word that made me grimace. We couldn't get our heads around the world we now lived in and we saw it spreading out from the beginning. I could only imagine what my Dad went through when he woke up from his coma to find the world completely changed.

"Fear, confusion all those things but disoriented comes closest." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I felt my body react by relaxing when I got a whiff of Dads scent. It wasn't his usual cologne or aftershave but it was the smell that lingered under all of those things while I was growing up, now it was just mixed with dirt and sweat.
He was sat on one of the logs that surrounded the small fire at the camp. Me and Mom on either side of him while Carl sat in between his legs, every now and again he would strain his neck to look up at Dad, as if reassuring himself that he was really there. I found myself doing the same thing now and again.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else, for a while I thought I was trapped in some coma, dream, something I might not wake up from. Ever."

A shiver ran down my spine at these words as I thought about how I was accepting the fact that my Dad was never gonna wake up, never gonna make eye contact with me before rolling his eyes playfully at something Mom had said. It was scary to think that he was on the brink of accepting the same fate himself.

"Mom said you died." Carl muttered. My eyes automatically flickered to Shane, who looked all the more tense all of a sudden.

"She had every reason to believe that, don't you ever doubt it." Dad told him gently. My eyes narrowed as Shane glanced at my Mom. Was that guilt?

"When things started to get really bad they told me at the hospital that they were gonna transfer the other patients to Atlanta. It never happened." Mom told us.

"Well I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."

My jaw tightened as Dad continued to tell Shane how grateful he was that he had kept us all alive. Since I got over the shock of having my Dad back with us the first concern in my head was what was gonna happen between Mom and Shane. Were they gonna tell him or would I have to?

Either way he had to know eventually but my heart ached to think of the devastation on Dads face.

"There go those words falling short again," Dale quipped, lightening the mood considerably.

The sudden sound of crackling wood made me jump, my head turned towards the second fire burning around the Peletier camp. Ed, a tall, large man had just dumped a log on the nearly quenched fire, causing it to spark up again.

"Hey Ed," Shane called. "Wanna rethink that log?"

"It's cold man." Carol, Eds wife, diverted her eyes immediately, taking a great interest in the flames in front of her. Everyone here knew what Ed was like. Sophia cowered too easily at the sight of her Dad and Carol would do anything to give him what he wanted just to keep the peace.

"Cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane recited, his face tense, trained authority flowing in his voice.

"I said it's cold, so why don't you mind your own business for once?" Ed replied, not looking bothered about the tense glare Shane was now sending in his direction.

My gaze met Glenns as Shane stood up, huffing as he went. He and Ed muttered between them before Shane removed the log from the fire and stamped it out.

"'Preciate the cooperation." Shane muttered as he walked back over to our small gathering.

"There's one more thing, guys," I finally spoke up, looking to each face in the camp. "What about Daryl?"

"He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale joined in, nodding along.

"I'll tell him, I dropped the key, it's on me." T-Dog spoke up.

"I cuffed him, that makes it mine." Dad shrugged.

"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn said. "I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

I frowned slightly at my best friend for this comment. "Daryl isn't like Merle."

"He's not much better, you have to admit that." Glenn shrugged looking slightly apologetic.

"He's not like Merle, ya'll just paint them with the same brush just cause they're brothers." I said sternly. "I'd hate for that to happen to me… I'm nothing like squirt here." I added, shoving Carl's head slightly causing him to frown up at me while Mom and Dad chuckled lightly.

"Look, I did what I did." T-Dog sighed.

"We could lie." Amy suggested from her spot beside Andrea.

"No." I said loudly. "He deserves to know the truth."

"Merle was out of control," Andrea shrugged. "Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed, that's what we tell Daryl. The truth." She turned towards Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary and Merle getting left behind is nobody's fault but Merles."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" I was happy to hear the disbelief in his voice. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"Nikki, you seem to be the only one here that doesn't irritate Daryl, what if you tell him?" Amy suggested, one shoulder rising in a half shrug as she looked over to me.

"No." I was surprised to hear both my Dads and T-Dogs voice before a word left my mouth. In all honesty, I don't think I'm the only one that doesn't irritate Daryl. I'm just the only one that treats him the same as everyone else in the camp while respecting his privacy. Daryl just didn't socialize like the rest of us so there was no point in trying to force conversation from him.

"I did what I did." T-Dog spoke up once more, looking frightened but determined anyway.

"We were all scared, we all ran." Andrea said. "What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door, the staircase is narrow, maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at a time, it's not enough to break through there. My point? Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog finished before standing up and disappearing into his tent without another word.

A tense atmosphere was left to linger around the fire until my Mom spoke up, her voice seeming to break it.

"What are we gonna do about sleeping arrangements actually?" She sat forward slightly in order to see me around Dad. "With your father back you could sleep on the floor with Carl?"

"Sorry do you want me to be constantly exhausted?" My eyebrows shot up in her direction. "He kicks in his sleep and grinds his teeth, either I sleep all day or he gets strangled in the middle of the night by me."

"There's enough room in my tent for another sleeping bag." Glenn suggested, shrugging. He slept in his own small tent, neither of us were very tall and we were both scrawny so I imagine it wouldn't be hard for us to share.

"Oh my god, roomie!" I smiled, causing Andrea and Amy to laugh as Glenn and I high fived.

"Eh should I know something here?" Dad asked, there was amusement in his voice but I could hear the underlying tone. Apparently Glenn didn't miss it either.

"Oh, um, no definitely not, sir?" Gleen stuttered looking frightened, I found this hilarious.

"Sir? He was helicopter boy about two hours ago?" I laughed causing Glenn to go bright red.

"Nikki and Glenn are just good friends, they look out for each other." Mom reassured Dad.

"Yeah he's like my straight, gay best friend." I explained.

"And that right there is the deepest friend zone you will ever find, people." Glenn laughed, clapping me on the back.

Dad seemed to accept that what we were saying was the truth after that and got over me and Glenn sharing a tent together.

After I moved my sleeping bag and few small belongings to the much smaller tent I said goodnight to my parents and brother, hugging and kissing each of them and crawled into the tiny one man tent beside Glenn.

Our sleeping bags both just about fit in. With them pushed as far to the edges of the tent as they could go there was even a little space in between us with headroom at the top to keep our belongings.

"If you snore I will kill you, I know how to use a gun." I warned, zipping up my sleeping bag.

"I know, I've seen you use it." Glenn laughed, referring to all of the runs we've been on together.

Silence fell between us as we both lay on our backs staring at the ceiling of the tent.

"I'm really glad you got your Dad back, kid." Glenn said sincerely. I ignored the fact that he used Dales nickname for me even though there was only a couple of years between us.

"Yeah I'm glad too," I smiled in spite of myself. "Thanks for bringing him back."

Glenn didn't say anything, just reached his left hand out to grasp my right, squeezing my fingers gently. We let our entwined hands lay in the small space between us as we continued back to our silence.

"Hey, Glenn?" I asked, afraid that he had fallen asleep.

"Mmm?" He replied almost immediately.

"Maybe this world won't really be as bad as we think?"

My question got no reply, either he had fallen asleep or he just didn't want to burst my bubble but in the end I was grateful for the silence.

For tonight at least, I could finally dream of happy things.

When I woke the next morning Glenn was already gone from the tent. I rubbed my eyes blearily. I had to take a moment to think about yesterday and determine in my own head whether it had been a dream or not. When I was finally sure that it was in fact real and I had my Dad back after weeks of grieving for him I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face.

Emerging from the tent I looked around the open space, everyone was taking part in their chores for the day. Seeing Glenn and Dad stood at the cars I made my way over to them.

"Look at 'em, vultures," I heard Glenn saying as he watching longingly at the men who were taking apart his stolen sports car. "Yeah go on, strip it clean."

"Generators need every bit of fuel they can get." Dale spoke up, carrying parts of the car over to the RV.

"If it helps I know how you feel, I was kinda hoping to get a turn in it on the next run." I told Glenn, folding my arms.

"I thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." He muttered.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Dad attempted to console him, patting him on the back before walking away.

We stood watching as the car was stripped of everything it had to offer.

"You grind your teeth in your sleep." Glenn sighed, turning to me slightly.

I looked at him disbelievingly, I knew I was the quietest sleeper there is so I couldn't help get slightly offended by this. A laugh left my mouth just before I began to reply but the words didn't make it out before a blood curdling scream ripped through the camp.

My head spun in the direction it came from.

"Carl?" Mom shouted, her and Dad immediately sprinting in the direction of the cry. I didn't hesitate before running after them, grabbing my handgun and sickle as I went.

I could hear the pounding feet of the others behind me as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. If something had happened to Carl.

A shot of relief went through me as Carl and Sophia ran towards us, both seeming unscathed.

I watched as Mom hugged Carl tightly, checking him over for scratches or bites. After he had reassured us both that he was okay I sprinted in the direction Dad, Morales, Shane and Glenn had gone, stopping short when I found them all gathered around a deer, lying on it's side, it's eyes were unfocused and a single arrow was protruding from its hide.

But the sight that had stopped us all short was that of the walker that was kneeling at the deers throat. Ripping into it with a savageness no living being could master.

I watched in horror as the men all began taking turns beating the walker to the ground, repeatedly hitting it with the butt of their weapons but failing to kill it. I composed myself quick enough to rush forward and bring my sickle down on the back of the monsters neck that was exposed.

Slicing right through it the walkers body lay unmoving as its head rolled away, still snarling and biting.

"That's the first one we had up here, they never get this close." Dale said, shaking his head.

"They're running out of food in the city," Jim spoke up, glancing to each one of us.

Suddenly the bush began to shudder behind Jim, who spun around quickly. We all snapped into our defensives, my hand gripping the handle of the sickle which was now dripping walker blood.

I tried my best to scan the bush around us, looking for the source of the noise as everyone else did the same. Shane stood before us with his gun raised, ready to pull the trigger.

"Ugh, Jesus." Shane muttered, lowering his gun as Daryl appeared from behind the trees.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl raged, stalking forward to what was clearly his prey before it was walker dinner.

"That's my deer," He grumbled on. "Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease baring, motherless, poxy, bastard." He decided to vent his anger by aiming kicks at the lifeless walker body as he spoke.

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale sighed.

"What d'you know about it, old man?" Daryl started forward, walking until he was almost nose to nose with Dale. I sighed internally, Daryl never made it very easy to defend him. "I've been tracking this deer for miles, was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison," We were all glancing at each other as we watched Daryl go over to the deer to retrieve his arrows. "What do you think? Can we cut around this chewed up part here?"

"We cannot risk that." Shane shook his head, shouldering his gun.

"It's a damn shame," Daryl sighed. "I got some squirrel, 'bout a dozen of them that's all. That'll have to do."

He turned to look at the still snapping head of the decapitated walker.

"C'mon people, what the hell?" I watched as he lifted his crossbow, aiming between the walkers eyes. "It's gotta be the brain, do y'all know nothing?"

We glanced at each other once more, my eyes finally trained on my father who was watching Daryl's back as he headed back to camp. There was understanding in his eyes about what we were saying about Daryl last night.

How were we going to tell him that his only living family member had been left chained to a rooftop in the middle of Atlanta City?