Hi you guys. Sorry for the wait but I've been sick. All drippy and sneezy and cotton headed. Anyway, we are moving right along here I suppose. It picks up again pretty soon. I know it's been a little slow paced but that is story progression I suppose. Thank you all for reading and reviewing and sticking with this weird tale. Hopefully I'm keeping you guessing! Much love!

Revelations

Sophia sat on the floor with her back against the wall and her knees drawn up to her chest. Penny was sprawled out on the bed with a book. She hadn't asked anymore questions about her father or what was going on. She didn't ask why she had to remain on the second floor and wasn't able to go outside. She simply adjusted to the situation. She liked Carl a lot, talking his ear off any time he was with them. She liked books and she liked movies and she seemed to be doing just fine.

She absolutely freaked Sophia out.

It wasn't that she didn't like Penny because she did. She was always sweet and never seemed to get in the way. She was quick to smile. That was Sophia's problem. Penny knew that her dad was dead and that she would never see him again. She didn't want to ask the other girl why she didn't seem to care that her father was dead but she needed to know.

"Penny?" Sophia asked cautiously.

Penny raised her head up from her book and pushed a lock of dark hair out of her eyes. "Yeah?"

Sophia wasn't sure what to say but she really wanted to know how Penny could be so accepting of all of this. People talked about how resilient kids were and she supposed that it was true because she had been through a whole lot herself and as far as she knew, she was still okay. She sighed loudly. "Why don't you ever talk about your dad?"

Penny's dark eyes flicked down to the page she had been reading and then back up. She shrugged lightly. "He's gone."

Sophia frowned. "I know that, but you never talk about missing him or anything. You seem... happy here."

Penny moved until she was perched on the edge of the bed and studied Sophia's face for a long while before answering. "My mom died and I used to cry a lot. I missed her and it hurt all the time to think about her but couldn't not think about her," she paused and looked down, picking at a small hole in her jeans.

"You don't have to talk about it anymore. I'm sorry," Sophia said, guilt making her chest feel heavy.

Penny looked back up. "It's okay," she said in a small voice, "My daddy was sad after that too and I think me being so sad made him feel worse. He sat me down one night after dinner and he told me that my mama wasn't really gone. He said that when you die you don't just stop being you. You move on to something different. Something better than anything you ever had while you were alive."

Sophia swallowed hard as she watched a sad smile tug at the younger girl's lips.

"Everyone dies but that isn't something to be sad about. It's okay to miss them but you just have to learn to accept it. That's what he told me. He told me that someday he would die too but that it was okay because once he was gone, he'd be with my mama again and they would wait for me."

Something in that statement sent Sophia's heart into overdrive. "Penny, that doesn't mean that you would try to join them, does it? There's a whole lot to live for here..."

"No! I know what you're asking and no. I have things to do here. He told me that too. He said if something ever happened to not be afraid because I wouldn't really be alone. I had to grow up and change the world."

Sophia let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "Okay." She did find it odd that her father had worded it that way. Like maybe he saw a little bit of the "what could be" himself. That was what Sophia and Carl had started calling it. But it was most likely just a man that was trying to comfort his daughter.

Penny gave her a smile and then settled back down with her book. Sophia still couldn't shake that strange feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Something felt off. She was doing everything she was suppose to do so she didn't understand this feeling at all. There really wasn't anyone to talk to about it either. Maybe Carl but Daryl made it clear that once it was time to settle in for the night Carl wasn't allowed anywhere near her. And once the lights went out Carl wouldn't dare sneak into her room anymore knowing that Daryl was on the prowl. She was half tempted to sneak into Carl's room. It was risky but that odd feeling wasn't going away and she needed him.

She sighed and hauled herself up off the floor, heading to her own bed on the other side of the room instead of risking it. Since she was the one that had stolen Penny from Merle she was now her room mate. She didn't mind it much. She had always wanted a sibling, until she realized that a sibling would be another thing her mom would have to protect from Ed.

She needed to talk to Carl. No matter where they were he always managed to make her feel better. Safe.

Sometimes having someone act like an actual dad that cared sucked. She turned off her own bedside lamp and then rolled over so she was facing the door. She'd get to talk to him soon enough.

~H~

Daryl slipped into the barn on silent feet. The lights were all off but he could see a soft glow inside the very last stall at the far end. Rick was making progress on his hunt for Morgan but that hadn't surprised anyone. Rick had the upper hand when it came to finding people because he had access to computers at the station and those things were a big help when it came to looking people up.

Jacqui worked in Atlanta so that would pose a small problem. One of them was going to have to drive to the city to try to meet her. He had been thinking about what they would do with the others. The ones that, for whatever reason, weren't remembering anything. They couldn't force those people to come if they didn't want too. Him and Carol decided to at least let them all know about the house and how to get to it. They would just have to tell them that if anything ever happened and they needed to get to a safe place then they should come there. It would sound strange but not as strange as anything else they could come up with.

Carol was in the last stall, spreading sawdust onto the floor. Her back was to him and he had been quiet enough that she didn't even know he was there. He watched her for a few minutes, worrying about what it was that was bothering her but still not sure enough in himself to even know how to push her into telling him what was wrong. He hated feeling like that.

He also hated feeling powerless. He would do anything to be able to ease her mind but without knowing what was bothering her he could never do that. He approached her without her hearing and then placed his hand on her hip. She didn't jump or scream like he expected. As a matter of fact she caught him completely off guard when she wordlessly threw down the shovel, spun around and kissed him.

He grunted and took a few steps back before he caught his balance and wrapped his arms around her waist. She didn't just stop at kissing him either. She was struggling with the buttons on his shirt as she made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. Once his shirt was finally open her hands were all over him clouding his thoughts. Her obvious need for him sent his heart into overdrive. He didn't know what had gotten into her but if she didn't stop kissing him like that then it wouldn't even matter.

What the hell had he even came out here for? He knew there was a reason and it wasn't to do this but he didn't care at the moment. He hadn't ever seen her like this before. Her hands went to his pants and she had them unbuttoned quickly. He tore his mouth away from hers when she slipped her hand inside and gripped him tightly. He was sure there was something he needed to say to her but he wasn't sure what it was anymore.

"Carol, hold on a sec..." He muttered against her lips.

She shook her head and then moved away from him just a little. She removed her hand from his pants just long enough to strip her shirt off and then she assaulted his mouth again, shoving him against the barn wall. He grabbed her hips roughly and turned so now it was her with her back pressed against the rough wood. She didn't complain and he was just about beyond logical thought. His hands flew to her jeans, unbuttoning them quickly and shoving them down her thighs. She stepped out of them as her hands gripped his shoulders.

"You sure you want it like this?" He asked as his teeth met the soft skin below her ear.

She nodded quickly. "I need you. Now." Her voice was nothing but a breath against his neck but her words caused something to snap in his mind. He quickly freed himself from the pants he hadn't even realized she had undone. In one swift motion he lifted her until her legs wrapped around his waist and pressed her against the wall firmly. Without any warning he adjusted himself and pushed into her. He groaned into her neck when he felt her nails dig into the muscles of his shoulder.

His lips found hers again just as a small cry escaped her. In the back of his mind he knew that someone could walk out there and find them like this but as her body started to tense he didn't even let that thought reach the forefront. She needed him and he was more than willing to give her what she needed. At this angle she could take more of him and as his hips moved faster, driving into her harder he felt that familiar heat wrap around him from within much faster than the other times they had done this.

She let out a loud shocked cry that he cut off with a rough kiss right as she tightened around him so much that he cursed into her mouth. It was too much, the way the muscles in her thighs that were pressed against his waist were trembling and heat seemed to pour off of every inch of her. He locked one arm around her and then had to brace himself with his other hand against the wall as he moved within her. He was right behind her and he had to tear his mouth away from hers when he finally let go, growling into her neck, unable to catch his breath.

As intense as that had been for them both he was almost embarrassed at how brief it was. He moved away from the wall, his arm still around her until her feet hit the floor. He searched her face, wondering again what the hell had gotten into her. Now that his mind wasn't completely in the gutter he remembered what it was he had came out here for. He bent down and handed her her shirt and waited until she had slipped it on before he said anything.

"You need to tell me what's goin' on with you, Carol," he said, making sure he kept his voice low. He didn't want her thinking he was demanding that she talk to him. He was learning that she didn't take demands all too lightly and he didn't want her clamming up. He wanted to help her and he knew that there was something going on because she wouldn't meet his eyes. That wasn't like her.

She put her jeans back on silently, still not looking at him.

"Carol?"

"I'm scared," she said simply, meeting his eyes and raising her chin a fraction of an inch.

He frowned and grabbed her hand, forcing her to take a step closer to him. "Of what? Ed?"

She shook her head and laced her fingers through his. "This," she said quietly. "I'm scared of losing this," she raised their linked hands and he saw her eyes brim over with tears.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't understand what she was saying to him. Did she think he would end up leaving her or something? That was just stupid. He couldn't be without her. She had to be smarter than that. He lightly brushed a tear away with his knuckles before slipping his hand around to the back of her head and pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I ain't goin' nowhere. That's the last damn thing you need to worry about," he muttered, not knowing what else to say.

She shook her head and pulled away from him slightly so she could wipe her eyes. "I didn't want to say anything to you about it but me and Merle were talking earlier."

Daryl stiffened at the mention of his brother's name. He wanted to trust him. He wanted to believe that he had given up the fight. He stayed silent while she worked out what it was she needed to tell him.

She took a deep breath and held his hand tighter when she finally met his eyes. "While you were dreaming, you didn't know you were dreaming did you?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"What if, somehow, we're dreaming again? What if something happens and we wake up. What if something happens and we wake up ten years ago? Or back at the prison? Or three years into the future? Daryl, we could lose each other again. We could..."

He pressed a finger to her lips and shook his head. He understood what she was worried about but he couldn't even bring himself to fathom it. There was no way that this wasn't real. Everything that had happened to them up until this point was unbelievable enough. He wouldn't think that things could get even more weird. "Don't even think it," he said, his voice still low.

"But how can we not?" She asked, pulling his hand away from her lips so she could speak again.

"We just don't. That's it. We're gonna find our people and we're gonna wait on the walkers and we'll be alright."

"Merle's dreams weren't like ours, Daryl. He didn't only dream of his life in Woodbury. He dreamed about Sophia. He said that he knew Sophia had died because he found you in a creek bed with a bolt through your side and you told him I'd lost her. He dreamed that he was the one that found her and put her in the barn. How could he dream that?"

Daryl felt himself tense up and knew that she could see it. A vague vision was tugging at his memory and then suddenly he was looking into Merle's cold blue eyes instead of Carol's. He had taken that fall off Hershel's horse and ended up in the creek. He'd tried to make it back up only to fall again. He had been looking for Sophia. He had been out of it for a while and Merle had come to him. He couldn't remember everything that Merle had said but he knew that Merle woke him up right before that walker could take a bite out of him. Why would Merle dream something that he couldn't have possibly remembered? He had been a figment of Daryl's imagination...

"See what I mean?" Carol whispered.

He dropped her hand and stepped away from her, pacing and glancing around wildly. This couldn't happen. There was no way this could happen.

"Daryl?" Carol nearly whispered and the only thing that could penetrate this overwhelming fear that had engulfed him was her own fear that he heard in that one quiet word.

He stopped pacing, standing in front of her, his bare chest rising and falling with each labored breath. He needed to calm himself down. She needed to feel like everything was going to be okay. They wouldn't wake up in the prison and they wouldn't wake up years in the past. "This is right now, you got that?" He asked as he gripped her shoulders gently. "This is now, we are us and every goddamn thing is going to work out just fine."

"But what about..."

He shook his head, refusing to let her finish. "No. I don't care what Merle said. Ain't nothin' to worry about," he declared fiercely, knowing exactly what she was going to say before she said it. It was strange and damn scary and maybe it changed things a little but he wasn't going to let go of her again. And if he did somehow wake up and discover that this was another dream then he would find her. He wasn't sure of anything else in the world but he was sure that Carol and Sophia belonged with him and he would search for them a million more times if that was what it would take for them to be together.

Thunder rolled in the distance causing them both to jump. She didn't look as scared as she had a few minutes ago and for that he was thankful. They just had to take things one day at a time now and hope that this was the world they all woke up too.

He led her out of the barn and tried to make it to the house before the rain started. They were almost there when the skies let loose with a heavy downpour out of nowhere. They were dripping wet by the time they reached the front door. Before she could open it and slip inside he pulled her back and kissed her hard. Her lips were warm and soft and very real. He understood now why she had felt like she needed him so badly there in the barn.

"No matter what happens we'll find each other, alright?" He said when he finally pulled away.

Her eyes softened and she smiled. He was relieved to see that it was a real one. "I know. I just hope if it does happen again you won't run off."