You temptresses with your baked goods ;) I couldn't resist. I love this chapter so I really hope you love it too. My fingers are crossed. Thank you all for reading! =)

Running Scared

Chapter Eight

She gathered up the things that Sophia would need and reminded herself to grab the Battleship game that she had asked for. It was actually exciting that Sophia had found such a good friend in Carl. Now maybe, since she was damn sure Sophia was going to survive once the walkers came, Sophia could keep Carl grounded so he wouldn't turn into that boy she had left behind at the prison. Sophia was the turning point for him on the farm. Sophia coming out of the barn that day was when he started sliding down. That wouldn't happen this time. This time she was going to make sure that him and Sophia both were prepared.

And he wouldn't have to put his own mother down the way he had done. There would be no Judith. She was going to make sure of that even if that thought did hurt. Things were going to go a whole new direction. If only she could find the others. She could save them all. Her whole group could survive, even flourish.

She glanced at herself in the mirror one more time before heading out the door. She wasn't sure where to go looking for the Dixons but she had a vague idea. She at least had a starting point. From stories he had shared with her over those last few months, when he had really started opening up to her, she was pretty sure she actually knew where they lived but she couldn't very well just drive to their house. Especially since she knew the Daryl that she was going to end up seeing would have no clue who she was. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this. How would she approach him? How would she tell him any of this? She wouldn't, she decided as she backed out of her driveway. She would become his friend just like she had before. She refused to think about how long it had taken her to become his friend to begin with. It would be different now. She knew him. She knew him better than anyone else did. Even better than his own brother.

When she pulled into the driveway of the Grimes' home she took a few slow deep breaths. There was a cruiser in the driveway. Rick was home. She grabbed some of Sophia's things from the passenger seat and headed towards the front door. She reached back to make sure the gun was in place. She started to think that maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do, walk into a policeman's home with a very loaded gun shoved down your pants. It seemed such a strange thing to be concerned about considering the life she had lived... in her mind.

Before she could even knock on the door it opened up. Rick had a ready smile on his face that vanished as he studied her. He pulled the door shut and then took a step towards her, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied her. He shook his head.

She couldn't even breath. He looked so different. Young and hopeful. He did something very unexpected. He pulled her to him and hugged her just like he had done the night she was going to leave them. She dropped everything right there on the porch and hugged him back with just as much force. It was the most comfortable she had been since leaving the hospital.

He pulled away from her abruptly and stared at her with wide eyes that were more clear than she had seen them in a long time. "I'm so sorry. I..." He trailed off as he bent down to pick up all of the things she had dropped. "I didn't mean too..."

"It's fine, Rick." She said as she touched his arm.

He shook his head again. "I don't know how to say this but... I feel like..."

"I feel the same way." She smiled and finally he seemed to relax.

He led her into the house where she was met by Carl and Sophia. She couldn't help but smile at the excitement in Sophia's eyes. It beat the fear that she was used to seeing there. Lori must have been in the kitchen.

"Did you bring everything?" Sophia asked, joy lacing her voice and causing Carol to grin.

"I did." She handed her the overnight bag. "Why don't the two of you go on out and get the rest. I only have so many arms."

They hurried around her and were out the door, leaving her and Rick standing awkwardly in the living room after their strange show of affection. He cleared his throat.

"You look amazing compared to last time I saw you," he said as he put his hands on his hips. "I wasn't sure if you were gonna make it. I went to visit a few times and when they said they were just waiting for you to wake up I stopped coming around."

"I must have been a real mess," she said as she sat down in a chair next to the door.

He sat on the edge of the sofa, knees angled towards her. There was only a few feet separating them and she had the overwhelming urge to hug him again. Just to sit there on the couch and touch him as much as she could before she had to leave. Instead she met his eyes and held them, not saying a word.

"Oh, hello, Carol," Lori breezed in, wiping her hands on a dish towel and smiling brightly.

Carol held her breath for a second and then waved sheepishly. She would never get over seeing her friend alive and well. She was radiant.

"Rick, why didn't you tell me she was here?" Lori scolded, smacking Rick in the side of the head with the towel in her hands.

He chuckled. "I was about to. Thought you were busy."

Carl and Sophia ran in then, laughing about something. The sound was something Carol couldn't get enough of. She watched as they hurried out of the room.

"Don't worry about anything. We'll keep an eye on them." Rick winked.

"I know she's safe with you," Carol said as her eyes slid back to his.

When he looked at her he swallowed hard and something that looked like pain flashed across his face. He nodded as his smile faded and he turned his head towards where the two kids disappeared. Carol froze. Why would those words cause him to look like that? He was the one that had went after Sophia in the woods that day. He was the one that had found her and he was the one that had left her hiding while he tried to lure the walkers away from her. But those were her memories, right? Not his.

"Do the two of you know any of the Dixons?" She asked suddenly.

Lori and Rick shared a look before glancing back at her. Both of them looked concerned. Rick was the one that finally spoke. "I haven't met either of them personally. There's two of them. The older brother has a rap sheet that stretches from here to the driveway. The younger one has been arrested a few times for fighting and things like that."

"Why do you want to know about the Dixons?" Lori asked as she sat down next to her husband.

Carol looked down at her hands that were starting to shake in her lap. She clasped them together. "I knew them. I was thinking about getting back in touch with them."

When she looked up they were both staring at her like she had lost her mind. "They spend a lot of time at Kellie's as far as I know."

"Who's Kellie?" Carol asked.

Rick finally smiled. "It's a bar on the south side of town. That's where the older brother..."

"Merle?" Carol said suddenly, cutting him off.

"Yeah, Merle, that's where a lot of his arrests have taken place."

"And... Daryl?" She almost couldn't spit his name out of her mouth.

Rick nodded. "From what I hear he's always with his brother. As far as I know he tries to keep him out of trouble but it doesn't work. In the end it just gets him in trouble but he'd be with him, I'm sure."

She nodded. "I better go then. I have a few things to take care of."

Rick and Lori both stood with her. Lori called for Sophia before she turned back to Carol, "Don't forget about tomorrow, okay."

Carol had to think about what it was Lori was talking about and then she remembered that she had been invited over. "Wouldn't miss it."

She hugged Sophia goodbye and made sure the girl knew that if she wanted to come home, it didn't matter what time it was, to just call her. When she turned back to Rick she still had that overwhelming urge to throw herself into his arms. If it was this bad with Rick how was it going to be when she saw Daryl? She was in for an extremely rough night.

She made her way back to her car and decided on the spot that she was going to that bar. She needed to meet and establish a relationship with her entire group and she was going to keep their asses alive this time. She could do this. She was strong enough now.

She backed out of the driveway and headed towards the south side of town.

~H~

Daryl followed Merle into the bar, feeling like it was going to be a bad night. Another bad night. It was to the point where he had to drink himself into oblivion before he could get a good night's sleep. He was tired. The last two nights were the worst. His dreams were driving him crazy.

"What'cha got them panties in a bunch for, Darylena?" Merle sneered as they sat down at the bar. Neither of them had to say anything to the woman behind the bar. She sat two shots of Wild Turkey in front of them and then went to get their beers.

Daryl grimaced into his whiskey before downing it. The familiar flame slid easily down his throat and he sat the glass back down.

"Heard ya tossin' and turnin' all night. Ya still gittin' them night terrors, baby brother?" Merle chuckled and downed his own shot. He nodded to the bartender when she pushed their mugs towards them.

Daryl took a few long drinks to put out the fire the whiskey had left in it's wake. He hated that Merle knew about those fucking dreams. The thing was, they weren't just dreams. They were something else. Everything was real and vivid. Everything he touched was solid and fucking there. He dreamed about the dead walking around eating people. And he dreamed about a group of people that, for reasons he couldn't understand, he cared about. A lot.

"Who the fuck's Carol?" Merle asked suddenly, turning in his seat so he was facing his younger brother.

Daryl, caught completely off guard, sprayed out a mouthful of beer all over the bar. "Fuck, Merle." He grumbled as he grabbed a napkin and started cleaning up the mess he'd made.

Merle grabbed his wrist, stilling his hand. "Ain't your job to clean the fuckin' bar. Leave it." He demanded.

Daryl jerked his hand away from Merle's grip but he dropped the napkin. Merle was right. That was one of the things these assholes got paid to do.

"Well?" Merle pressed. "Who's Carol?"

Who was Carol? He had no fucking idea. All he knew was that he'd fucked her the night before. Well, he'd dreamed he had anyway. He met her at a quarry. She was one of the most important people in the world to him. And she wasn't real. That's what he knew. Son of a bitch. He was losing his mind and Merle knew it. He knew the woman in his head wasn't real but when he dreamed, she was very real. He knew her. He knew she'd lost her daughter and in a way it had been his fault. He knew that she had put up with all sorts of shit from him and he knew that he'd kill anything that tried to hurt her. But she wasn't real. He was going fucking crazy.

"She ain't nobody," Daryl said as he took a large gulp.

He felt Merle's eyes drilling holes into his face but he kept his eyes on the beer. "Who's Rick?"

Daryl turned his head and glared at him. "How bout you stop with all the fuckin' questions. Jesus, Merle."

"I'm just curious, little brother. You been havin' all them fucked up dreams and then last night you start mumblin' bout some woman. Don'tcha think I gotta right to know what you're up too?" Merle took a few drinks before continuing, "And last night wasn't the only time you said her name either."

Daryl stood up. "I gotta take a piss," he said as he walked away. The truth was he just needed to get the hell away from Merle's knowing look. Last night's dream had been the worst. Well, and the best. He remembered everything about her. The way she felt under his hands, hands unlike his now. Those hands had been sure, knowing exactly what to do to her. He'd kissed her. He'd known exactly how to kiss her. And then he'd...

He remembered that he was losing her to something but he couldn't remember to what exactly. He had just known that he wanted to keep her there. The rest of the group tried to force him to let her go but he still didn't know why. He knew that the dream from last night had been the worst because after he had walked her through the trees, trying desperately to hang on to her, she had left him anyway. He'd tried everything and he had lost her anyway. Most of the memories were clear. When he had first started dreaming about all those people everything had been like real life. But the last few he had had weren't as clear. He would find himself saying things to her that didn't make any sense, even to him. All he knew was that he had tried like hell, tried as hard as he could to keep her with him and he had failed. But maybe since she was gone now, he wouldn't have to worry about the dreams anymore. The thought of dreaming about that desolate world without her made his head pound.

He shoved through the bathroom door and locked it behind him. He leaned against the dirty sink, bracing himself on his arms as he took deep breaths to try to calm the pounding of his heart. When he glanced up his eyes were wide, his face flushed. He had even had sex with her to keep her with him. He had made her promise to stay with him. He had been desperate. He had wanted her to stay but he had also simply wanted her. In the dream he had hoped that if he did it, if he finally just threw caution to the wind and let himself really be with her that it would stop her from leaving him.

And now he couldn't stop thinking about it. The way she felt under his hands and the way her skin tasted. He knew exactly what it felt like inside...

He pushed himself away from the sink, took a few steps back and then felt the cool tiled wall behind him. He ran a hand through his hair and then remembered her pushing his hair back out of his face. But his hair wasn't in his face. His hair was way shorter than that.

He went back to the sink and turned on the cold water, splashing his face a few times and then looking back at his reflection. "She ain't real, dumb ass." He growled. "None of'em are. Not the people. Not the walkers. Not the prison. None of it is real. Forty fuckin' years old and ya get spooked over a wet dream. Jesus, get yourself together."

He splashed his face one more time and then gave himself a few more moments to gather his thoughts before going back out into the bar. It was about to get pretty packed. It was packed every night. He hoped Merle saved his seat.

Sure enough when he came out of the bathroom there was a shit ton of people to try to pass through before he could get back to the bar. It looked like he would be standing all night while he got drunk. He stepped out from behind some big guy and ran smack into someone, hard. He reflexively reached out to steady whoever it was. Then he froze as his hand slid around a familiar waist and stared into a pair of shocked blue eyes.

He didn't move his hand away, even though she wasn't in any danger of falling anymore. The dream from the night before flitted through his brain. The loud music seemed to grow quieter in his mind as he stared at her. Her mouth was partially opened, the blue of her eyes familiar and comforting, even the gun that his hand had grazed that was stuffed into the waistband of her pants was familiar. He'd felt all of this before. She was there, right there in front of him. She looked like she was about to say something but no words came out. All he could think about was kissing her and then asking her where the fuck she had been. But he didn't do any of that. It wouldn't have made any sense to do any of that. He stood there, silent.

He wasn't sure how much time had past before the music once again became clear in his head and he was just realizing that he had pulled her dangerously close to him, the hand that wasn't pressed against her back was now resting on her hip. This couldn't be happening. This was too fucked up and it was some sort of hallucination or something. Somehow he knew Merle was watching the whole fucking thing. He was about to pull away when he glanced behind her shoulder. Coming towards her, face a mask of anger, was Ed Peletier.

He shoved her behind him, and nearly dove on the man. If Ed wanted to fight someone he could fight him. He wasn't going to lay a fucking hand on her. Not again. He heard the satisfying sound of Ed's nose crunch under his knuckles and then he dragged the man to the ground, reigning blows, not stopping until he felt a hand on his back. Her hand.

What the fuck was happening?

"Daryl, stop. You're going to get yourself arrested and his sorry ass isn't worth it." She whispered, close to his ear.

He sprang up and away from her. He didn't want her to touch him, simply because he longed for the touch. He needed to get away from her because the only thing he could think about doing was being as close to her as he could get. He didn't want to hear her say his name again because when she did all he wanted to do was hear her say it some more.

He ran.

He turned and shoved his way past the people and headed for the back door. His heart hammering, palms sweating, breath exploding from his lungs in loud angry pants. As soon as he was outside he bolted down the alley, no real destination in mind. He just knew he had to get the fuck away from the bar. Away from Merle's knowing eyes and away from her. How could this be happening?

He slowed down and then stopped in the middle of the alley, quite a few blocks from the back entrance to the bar. He bent down, bracing his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. It wasn't just her. Maybe he could deal with it if it was just her. Find a way to accept it. But with her came many other things that he didn't want to think about. Merle's hand. The walkers. Sophia... If Carol was real then what did that mean? And he could see it in her face that she knew something. She knew him. But how? How could something this fucked up happen to some dumb white trash redneck? This was some creepy shit. Really creepy shit.

~H~

Merle knew something was going on but he didn't know what. Him and his brother spent damn near all of their time together. They had for the last few years anyway. He knew Daryl hadn't met anyone new. He damn sure knew he hadn't found himself a woman. There wasn't any way he could have. But then there it was. Right in front of Merle's eyes.

He'd seen the woman make her way towards the bathrooms. He'd actually been admiring her ass a bit. Then he'd seen Daryl slam into her as he made his way past the crowd. Daryl had reached out to steady her and then... fucking fireworks. He'd bout spit out his own beer when Daryl, Daryl Dixon, awkward, fit throwing, personal space needing Daryl, Merle's very own baby brother, wrapped his goddamn arm around her and actually pulled her closer.

Fuck spitting out his beer, Merle had just about hit the floor then. So many different things flitted across the boy's face in those first few seconds. Shock at first, then when that wore off he put his hand right there on the woman's hip, damn near on her ass, and Merle saw it. Want. Raw and very real right there on Daryl's face. And then confusion.

He'd looked like he wasn't sure what the fuck was happening. And then fear. His eyes had widened and the color drained from his face and he was scared. Scared to death. And then that pudgy asshole started walking towards them. When Daryl had seen him over the woman's shoulder that fear turned into something else that Merle hadn't ever seen before. Blind fucking rage. He'd pushed the woman behind him and flat out attacked. Hell, Merle was proud of that. But Daryl wasn't going to stop, that was clear, but before Merle could even get up to keep his brother from killing a man, that woman had touched him and then it was over. She whispered something in his ear and then he was gone.

He wasn't going to go after his brother. He knew how Daryl was. No, Merle was going to wait right there. The woman watched him go, her face unreadable. She glared down at the guy Daryl had beat up and then stepped right over him and headed towards the bar, glancing often in the direction his brother had gone.

When she finally looked up she met his eyes and for some reason a flash of recognition ran through him. Had he met this woman before, after all? He knew that he knew her but he couldn't place her anywhere. She paused and then took a deep breath before approaching him. He was turned all the way around on his stool with his back leaning against the bar, his arms crossed in front of him.

She stopped in front of him and mocked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He figured he would go out on a limb here. "Hello, Carol." He said and then felt himself smirk when she literally jerked in shock. He nodded. "I thought so."

"Hello Merle." She said quietly, keeping her blue eyes glued to his.

"I believe you and me need to go some place a little more quiet, little lady. We got ourselves some talkin' to do."

She nodded and then let him lead her through the throngs of people and out the back. When the door shut behind him he turned to her and crossed his arms over his chest once more, looking down at her expectantly.

"How do you know me?" She asked.

His eyes flicked up over her shoulder but he didn't see his brother anywhere. "Ain't me that knows ya."

"What?" She asked, frowning.

He shook his head. "My brother..." How much should he tell this woman? Should he sell his brother out like that? He wasn't sure what else to do at the moment and the little son of a bitch took off so he had to make a decision for himself. "My brother says your name sometimes. In his sleep. He's been havin' these real fucked up dreams here lately. Now, you gonna tell me how you two know each other?"

She glanced behind her, down the dark alley and then back up to him. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." She whispered.

He leaned down closer. "Try me." And he meant it. He was worried about his brother. He'd been acting really weird lately, even for him, and he wanted to know why. It wasn't like Daryl was going to tell him a damn thing. So he'd listen to this little thing that seemed to have such a monumental impact on Daryl.

She chewed on her lip for a few seconds and then blew out a heavy breath. "I don't think he's dreaming, Merle."

He frowned. "That's the second time you've used my name. I don't recall tellin' it."

She shook her head. "He isn't dreaming. He's seeing..."

He waited but she just looked away and wrapped her arms around herself. "Spit it out. If ya know whats goin' on with my brother then ya best be tellin' me."

"Something bad is coming. I've seen it and so has he, apparently. It's how I knew your name. It's the reason he reacted the way he did when he saw me in there."

He stared at her, unable to keep the scorn off his face. Was this chick for real? How fuckin' stupid did she think he was?

"I want you to take me home with you. I'll explain. You know Daryl. You'll know I'm telling the truth."

He didn't answer for quite a while but finally he nodded. What the hell right? If anything this would at least be something more interesting than sitting in the bar all night. So he shrugged and led her around the bar.

"You ever ridden on the back of a bike, darlin'?"

"You brought your Triumph?" She asked.

He looked at her over his shoulder. "Yep. We either take the bike or my brother's truck and I ain't leavin' my bike here."

She climbed on the back of the bike and waited for him to get on in front of her. She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his waist when he brought the thing to life. He took off faster than he should have but that was alright. She really did seem to be familiar with a bike. That didn't mean shit though. He wasn't the only person in the world that had a motorcycle.