Hi, guys! I feel a little blah about this chapter but it is progression I suppose! I hope you enjoy it more than me =) Thank you ldyjaydin, as always for sifting through and finding my mistakes! Thanks for reading and reviewing! You guys are the best!

I would also like to thank everyone who had the time to go over to fans of Caryl and join in the chat Wed. night! It was fun! A lot of laughs! You should really check it out!

Hustlers and Hot Rods

Merle followed her up the staircase, admiring the view from a few feet behind her. Once he had grudgingly agreed to stay with them she had offered to show him his room. She seemed embarrassed and he couldn't figure out why. He hated her for taking his brother away from him. He hated her for being the one that triggered all those nightmares. Right now he hated her because she was making it incredibly hard for him to hate her at all.

She paused outside of a closed door at the end of the hall. He frowned when she took a deep breath and bit her lip. "Just keep in mind that I really hoped you would stay with us and I really wanted you to like it here, okay?"

He didn't know where the hell this was going but his curiosity was definitely peaked. "Alright then. Ain't no sense in gittin' them panties in a bunch woman. I won't bite too hard."

She groaned, rolled her eyes and then stepped into the room. He followed her, wondering what the hell was tearing her nerves up. He stopped, his eyebrows shooting up damn near to his hairline. He took in the room as a whole at first but then started noticing the minor details. He wasn't sure what to think.

She groaned again. "This is ridiculous, I know. Daryl made fun of me already when he saw it so if you plan on laughing at me at least wait until I leave the room, okay? And if you don't like it there's other rooms. We can fix something else up for you and then someone else could have this one and..."

"Would ya shut the fuck up for two seconds? Jesus. How the hell does my brother get any goddamn thinkin' done with all that jabberin'?"

She nodded glancing around the room and then watched him. He could feel her eyes on him. Now he really hated her. He'd like to throw her out the damn window. What the hell was she trying to do to him? Was she trying to buy him off? Did she think that if she did shit like this then he would like her more?

"I can show you another roo..."

"Shhh!" He shushed her and then glared at her as much as he could.

She sighed and watched him some more.

She'd tried her best to give him something that he could enjoy. The bed was bigger than any he had ever seen before with a thick comforter thrown over it that looked soft enough to be used as a bed all its own. It had it's own fireplace with a small sofa sitting on front of it. There was a book shelf stacked with books and he felt himself turning a few shades of red at the thought of her knowing that he liked to read. There was a glass gun cabinet in a corner that held a couple of modern rifles, a few assault rifles and, to his surprise, a Kentucky Long Rifle. There was a nightstand with a lamp and the shelf under it held a stack of magazines.

It was a lot to take in. There were even little things here and there that made it all seem even more... Merle like. There was a display case hanging on the far wall with four antique pistols inside. Daryl had to have told her about his love of things like that. He never thought he'd ever have the money to get himself one though. There were pictures on the wall. Nothing personal really. Just paintings of woodsy scenes. It gave the room a more homey feel.

He crossed the room and opened the closed door and stared into a closet. Pulling the string to the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling he let out a low whistle. She had been pretty damn thorough. The closet was stocked full of clothes and there were quite a few pairs of boots lining the floor. He didn't understand any of this. He instantly felt suspicious. There wasn't any reason for her to do all of this for him because she already had what she wanted. His brother. So why?

"Did me and you mess around behind my brother's back at that prison of yours or somethin'?" He asked as he closed the door.

She gave him a curious look. "I wasn't with your brother at the prison, and no. Me and you were just friends."

He studied her. She didn't look like she was lying but that didn't make much sense. For one, he didn't have friends, and for two, her and his brother had to have been together at the prison because if they hadn't then surely Daryl wouldn't have jumped in bed with her the first night they met. "Then what the hell is all of this for?" he asked, deciding to ignore the first question he wanted to ask her. "I done told you that I was all in. Was you plannin' to bribe me?"

She sighed loudly and then sat down on the side of the bed. "Is it too hard to believe that I didn't just want you to be here. That I actually wanted you to want to be here? I'm not the devil, Merle. I'm not out to cause anybody any harm." She glanced around, her face reddening again. "I guess I got carried away, huh?"

He sat down a few feet away, closer to the nightstand and grabbed the stack of magazines. He couldn't figure her out and he desperately wanted too. People didn't do things for other people because they wanted too. There was always something going on that would benefit themselves in the end. He was about to say something along those lines until he started flipping through the stack. He felt his eyebrows shoot up once more and a raspy chuckle escaped him before he could cut it off. He held up a magazine, "Really?"

Now her face was flaming and she looked down, an embarrassed smile ghosting across her lips despite how uncomfortable she seemed to be. "At least I thought about you," she muttered. "You found some of those in a mattress in the prison and you got all excited. You actually hunted me down that day to show me what you'd found." She smiled at the memory.

He looked at the cover and then back up at her. "Hustler? Guns and Ammo? Hot Rod?" He laughed again.

She groaned and then stood up. "If you don't want them then I'll burn them or something."

He put the stack back where they belonged and scooted down until he was next to her. He hated himself for what he was about to say but it needed to be said. "Me and you were friends, huh?"

She nodded and met his eyes briefly.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck worriedly. He didn't know how to do any of this friendly shit. He wanted to shove her off the goddamn bed and then cuss her out for trying to make him feel like he was a real part of this. But that didn't make any sense. It dawned on him then how hard of a time he had given her when, as far as he could tell, she had been right. She only wanted to do the best she could for the people she cared about and he was starting to actually believe that he was one of those people. "So we didn't mess around, huh?" he asked, elbowing her lightly in the side.

She shook her head. "Of course not."

He'd give her one more small test before he made his final decision on whether to make this easy or hard for her. "Do ya want to?" He was half joking. He knew he had more game than his brother did and if she fell for his shit then he would know that she couldn't be trusted. And honestly, he really wouldn't have minded messing around with her.

Before she could even say anything he felt something smash into the back of his head.

"Merle, you slimy son of a bitch," Daryl growled as he came around the bed.

Merle put his hand over the throbbing spot in the back of his head and glanced behind him. The little bastard had nailed him with the corner of a heavy book. "Jesus, you asshole! What was that for?" He glared up at Daryl who was now leading Carol out of the room by the hand. She looked like she was struggling hard not to laugh.

"That's for bein' you, Merle," Daryl grumbled as he walked out.

"Keep your damn woman outta my fuckin' room if ya don't want me puttin' the moves on her..." He yelled just as Daryl slammed the door shut behind him.

Merle ran a hand over his head and looked down at his boots. This wasn't the way things were suppose to be. He almost felt like he was giving up too easily. But there wasn't really much more fight left in him. He was tired of fighting. It seemed like all he had ever done, his whole rotten life, was fight. Maybe Carol wasn't his enemy.

He still had unfinished business here though. Those two little brats broke into his house and took that girl, causing him to have one hell of a fucked up morning. He knew that the best way to deal with that was to have a talk with them himself.

Just as he was about to walk into the room that he thought was Sophia's the door opened and out stepped Carl. Merle had him by the back of the shirt before the boy could blink. Sophia followed, her eyes widening at the sight of her friend in the grip of Merle Dixon. Wordlessly Merle stormed down the hall, pushing a struggling Carl Grimes in front of him. Sophia hurried after them wordlessly.

Once he had them in his room he let go of Carl and crossed his arms over his chest, making sure to keep his body between the kids and the door. They were going to at least explain themselves to him before he let them go.

"What the fuck was the two of you thinkin'? Breakin' into my house like that, takin' that little girl! Have you always been this goddamn stupid or is it somethin' you're catchin' from my brother?" He kept his voice low but there was an edge there that wasn't lost on the kids.

Carl lifted his head and eyed him angrily. "What we did might have been stupid but it wasn't as stupid as what you did. We were cleaning up your mess," he snapped.

Merle had to give the kid credit. He had to have been scared shitless but he wouldn't let it show. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the kid. He knew the boy from the quarry and he hadn't been all too impressed with him. He was too damn soft. But now he was a defiant little fucker.

"What kinda life did you live there, boy? Back there at that prison." Merle asked, genuinely curious.

Carl's face hardened. "That isn't any of your business."

Merle smirked and nodded slightly. "You have to kill people?"

Sophia stepped closer to him then. "Stop it, Merle. What happened then don't matter. What happens now matters."

He slid his gaze to the girl. "I don't remember you bein' such a sassy mouth back at the quarry. You was just a scared little rabbit."

"So were you," she countered.

Merle stared into the girl's eyes for a long time. He was about to ask her what the hell she was talking about but the longer he looked at her the weirder he felt. The air seemed to grow thicker and the hairs on his arms was standing on end. Without another word he stepped to the side and watched silently as the two of them stormed past him. As soon as Sophia was gone everything seemed normal once again.

~H~

"Do they know he's here?" Carol asked him as they headed towards the stairs.

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, they know. They just don't know that he's been dreamin' bout the Governor."

He felt her hand on his arm, stopping him on the stairs. "So they don't suspect him?"

He shook his head and glanced back up. "Long as Penny don't give herself up till after the shit hits the fan then we're good."

"But what about after? I mean, there's probably gonna be conflict over this regardless of when the figure out she's here."

He lifted his shoulder in a half hearted shrug. "Don't matter what it's over, with this bunch there's gonna be conflict over somethin' regardless. But this way they won't be able to do a damn thing about what Merle did. They gonna cuff him to the barn roof and try to leave him there?"

They made their way to the kitchen where Rick and Lori were talking quietly at the table. Daryl wasn't in the mood to deal with them today. They seemed to be coping with everything better than they had been. Rick was talking to her on a regular basis again. Apparently Shane still hadn't mentioned anything strange to anyone. Carol was itching to get back outside and work on the wall but Daryl had been thinking about that and they really did have more time than she thought.

On cue Carol opened her mouth as soon as there was a break in Rick and Lori's conversation. "With Merle here we'll be able to get a whole lot more done today." She pulled out a chair and sat down in it heavily. She looked tired already and they hadn't even done anything yet.

"That crew is gonna be here the day after tomorrow," Daryl said quickly. "Ain't no reason for us to bust our asses on it anymore. We got other things that we need to do."

They all looked at him skeptically. To his surprise it was Lori who spoke up first. "Like what?"

Like findin' the rest of our group. "Look," he said quickly as he held up a hand before Carol could say anything. "We still have more time than you realize. Think about how long it took those walkers to form herds like that. Most of them are gonna stay in the city till they run outta food. None of'em are gonna be headin' out this far for a while. I think it's time to find the others. We can't just wait for them to find us."

Rick ran a hand through his hair and tipped his chair back a little. "I've been thinkin' about that a lot. Morgan is still out there somewhere with his boy and if I can find him then maybe that will keep his wife alive."

Carol nodded. "Glenn went to the Greene farm already this morning."

"There's also T-dog to think about," Carol added, "And Michonne. Jim and..."

"We need everybody."

All of them turned to look at Sophia and Carl. They had emerged from the service stairs and Daryl hoped to God that Penny was upstairs. Carl is the one that had spoken up.

Lori smiled at her son and stood up so she could hug him. "We know, sweetheart. We'll find them."

They spent the rest of the morning figuring out how they were going to go about finding the others. Their people seemed to be popping up without any effort on their part but they didn't have a lot of time left and they needed to get the others together.

Rick was about to say something when they heard the front door open. All eyes were on the doorway leading into the kitchen. Glenn was the first to appear. He was smiling when he entered and it only took a second for everyone to see the reason for his good mood.

Maggie stood with him, taking in the faces of the people gathered in the kitchen. The hand that wasn't gripping Glenn's went to her throat as her wide eyes shifted from one face to the other. It was when her eyes fell on Sophia that they teared up. "Sophia?"

Sophia nodded. After that Lori and Carol could no longer contain themselves. They were both on the younger girl before Daryl or Rick could even get a word out of their mouths. They hugged and they cried and Daryl had to motion for Rick and Glenn to follow him into the other room so they could talk.

"Did Morgan ever give ya a hint as to where the hell they came from? They local?" Daryl asked when they were a safe distance away from the fussing women.

Rick shook his head. "I don't think they were from here and he never once mentioned where it was they came from."

Daryl cursed under his breath but Glenn was talking before he could even think of anything to say. "Just go," the kid said with a shrug.

Daryl and Rick both looked at him like he was an idiot. Daryl scoffed, "You care to elaborate there, short round?"

Glenn rolled his eyes dramatically. "These people are coming to us. Sure, Carol went after you and I went after Maggie but I'm pretty sure that if we hadn't, we would have ran right into you guys anyway. Carol met me and Amy that way. Lori too. You ran into Dale on the road. What the hell are the chances of that happening? Maybe if we just go out there then the people that we are suppose to save will just show up. We'll run right into them."

Rick put his hands on his hips. "That sounds kind of crazy, Glenn."

Daryl scowled, "Did you really just tell him that that sounds crazy? This whole goddamn thing is crazy, Rick. Crazy takes a whole new meaning when it comes to this group. He's actually got a point."

"So what do we do?" Rick asked. "Do we just get in the car and go?"

Glenn and Daryl shared a look and then shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to try," Glenn said quickly. "Hershel already knows what's going on. We already talked about it."

"What?" Rick and Daryl both asked in unison.

Glenn filled them in on everything that had happened at the Greene farm. Maggie had called Hershel once they had driven to town and they met him at a diner. Hershel knew everything and wasn't giving as much resistance as he had back on his farm. He knew that the only way to save his family was to take drastic measures. "He said that this second chance was a gift from God. He said there wasn't any other way to look at it."

Daryl never was the type to put any stock in religion. He had gone his whole life living through one kind of hell or another despite the fact that he had never gone out of his way to hurt anyone else. What kind of God let decent people live like that? But really he could understand what the old man meant. There was something else at play here. He didn't know what it was. It could have been God or it could have been something else. Either way, something huge and uncanny had taken over all their lives and he couldn't ignore that. He didn't scoff at what Hershel had said. If it wasn't God at play then it was something just as big.

"Glenn, you and Maggie go ahead and see if you have any luck. Rick, you go on to... somewhere and try to find Morgan."

"What are you gonna do?" Glenn asked.

Daryl turned around and grinned. "I'm gonna go try to find good ol' Theodore Douglas."

Rick and Glenn both laughed, excited by the prospect of finding more of their group. Daryl wasn't sure if Glenn was onto something but it sure as hell wouldn't hurt to try. It was high time they got everyone here. He wanted to find T-dog himself. He owed him. He sacrificed himself in those tombs so Carol could live. It didn't matter to Daryl that T had already been bitten and that he would have died regardless. He had let those things feed on him so Carol could get away and Daryl owed it to him to find him and keep him alive.