So, I told you all I wouldn't make you wait forever! This chapter got away from me. It went to places I hadn't thought about going too yet. I hope you enjoy it. I know you all are worried. Thanks for reading! Every one of you are insanely awesome and these damn stories would be crap if not for all of your awesome support!

Rage on Dixon, Rage on

Merle stuffed the gun back into the back of his pants and strode forward. The woman seemed to be in shock and the little girls were terrified. Behind them lay the body of what looked like a fresh walker. It wasn't decayed. It didn't have any sort of mark on it. Other than the eyes and the slack jawed expression it looked like any other man.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Martinez pulled his wife and his daughters away from the body of the walker.

"Why the hell do people keep askin' me that today?" Merle grumbled. "That thing was about to take a chunk outta your lady there, asshole. I stopped him. You're welcome," Merle's voice sounded bored, even to his own ears.

Martinez looked down at the walker's still form. "It's all true, isn't it," he glanced up, meeting Merle's eyes. He ran a hand over his face. "I thought that things were just blown out of proportion. I thought things would... I don't even own a gun..."

"We have a place," Andrea cut him off quickly. "It's about an hour away from here. We have walls to to keep those things out. There are people and plenty of supplies. If you want to keep your family alive you should come with us. Please."

Martinez pulled his wife close and the girls, the oldest looking around Sophia's age, gathered around him as well. "I don't even own a gun," he muttered once more as he looked at the dead walker, "If you hadn't stopped when you did I could have..." He sounded like he was going to be sick.

"You would have turned into a different man cause you woulda just lost your whole family. Now, you can all pile up in the back or we can hook you up and tow ya in. Either way, if you don't come with us your family is as good as gone."

Andrea reached out and touched the woman's arm gently. "We promise, your girls will be safe there. There's other children there. There's people. Good people."

Amber looked up at her husband, her eyes pleading. He met Merle's eyes and nodded. "You saved my wife's life. I would be an idiot not to trust you at this point, huh?"

"That you would," Merle muttered as he turned to retrieve the chain from the back of the Hummer. He didn't know why but he felt good. Better than he had since Rick had opened his dumb ass mouth on their way to get the Jenners. He wasn't the piece of shit that they thought he was.

It didn't take him and Martinez long to get the car hooked up. He wasn't worried about the Hummer at all. The thing was a beast and would be able to pull the smaller car easily. With a quick nod at Andrea, who was looking at him strangely, they were once again on their way home.

~H~

Carol couldn't believe that Morales and his family were actually here. They were expecting Merle and the others back soon, for which she was grateful. Another thing she was grateful for was the fact that the house was as large as it was. At this rate there were going to be more people here than she had dared hope for. Lori and the Greene's were entertaining Morales and Miranda so Carol decided it would be okay to slip away for just a few minutes so she could collect herself.

She slipped up the stairs and was hurrying down the hall to the room she shared with Daryl when she ran right into someone coming out of one of the other rooms. She nearly apologized when she finally realized who it was she had smacked into. Ed stood there in front of her. He was openly leering at her. Looking at her like he never had before. It gave her the creeps.

She took two quick steps back, not even wanting to stand close to him, let alone touch him. She glared at him and then walked past to her room. She hadn't seen Daryl since he had gone out to the barn to check on the kids. She suddenly wished that he was with her and she silently hated herself for feeling that way. She was strong now. She didn't need him there to protect her. She could do that herself. She really didn't think that Ed was stupid enough to do anything anyway. He was afraid of Daryl and Merle and knew that if he tried to hurt her then his free ride in their sanctuary would end, most likely brutally.

She went to shut her door and was shoved backwards. She was stunned for a few seconds but quickly gathered her wits and, without looking back, knowing very well who had shoved her, she darted for the nightstand. There were several guns there and she wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in his brain for daring to put his hands on her.

But she didn't make it to the nightstand. She was almost there when a beefy arm came around, wrapping around her waist and a hand clamped over her mouth and started dragging her backwards. She fought like she had never fought in her whole life. She fought him harder than she thought possible but it wasn't enough.

He swung her around and shoved her painfully against the dresser. Her frantic eyes caught sight of him in the mirror and even though she wanted to look away, she couldn't. His face was furious but smug. She could feel him press against her from behind and she wanted to gag. This was not happening. This couldn't happen.

"Think your hot shit, dontcha?" He sneered.

Her eyes narrowed at him in the mirror and then she squeezed them shut when he ground against her.

"You're right. You look good enough to eat and I plan on havin' myself a great big bite before I leave this place." He brought his lips down near her throat and she tried again to fight him off of her but it didn't work. The edge of the dresser bit into her stomach painfully. "And then I'm gonna take that little bitch of yours and I'm gonna have myself a taste of her too. Since I ain't her daddy and all it's okay." He was trying to hold onto her and get her pants unbuttoned at the same time.

Carol froze, her eyes going wide as her blood turned to ice in her veins. What in the hell was he talking about? He couldn't...

She didn't even have time to finish the thought or truly register what he had meant when he was suddenly no longer holding her in place. He was jerked away and out of her line of sight in the mirror. She spun around, her stomach heaving at the vile words Ed had spoke. He had just threatened to rape his own... she couldn't even finish the thought. She gagged and then covered her mouth with her hand.

Daryl was standing there, chest heaving, face a murderous mask of rage unlike anything Carol had ever seen before. He had heard what Ed had said. He looked so far gone that she found herself pressing her back into the dresser, not afraid of him, really, but afraid of the promise of violence that radiated off of him in waves.

Ed knew Daryl had heard him. He actually tried to take a swing but it was clumsy and Daryl dodged the hit easily. He charged Ed like a bull, slamming his shoulder into Ed's midsection and knocking him to the ground. Daryl went down with him, his knee pressed into Ed's stomach as his hands went around his throat.

Carol wrapped her arms around herself, unable to move at all and unable to pull her eyes away from the sight not even ten feet away from her.

Daryl finally let go of Ed's throat, but he wasn't finished. Carol knew that he was going to kill him. She knew it deep in her bones. She also knew that she wouldn't try to stop him. After what he said he deserved everything that Daryl was about to give him.

Daryl moved down so his knee wasn't digging into Ed's stomach anymore. It was digging into the man's groin now and Ed started shrieking. That was, until Daryl slammed his fist into Ed's mouth, once, twice, three times. Blood sprayed up into Daryl's face but he didn't even blink. He was unseeing at the moment. He was consumed by his rage. Daryl rammed his knee into Ed's crotch a few more times and then grabbed his face roughly, moving it so Ed was looking at him.

"You ain't gonna touch'em, you sick sack of shit," he bit out.

Ed was moaning and spitting blood from between broken teeth and busted lips. This was already way beyond what Shane had done to him at the quarry. Daryl's fist met with the side of his face again and she could have sworn she heard bones breaking. She found herself hoping that it was Ed's jaw bone snapping and not Daryl's knuckles.

Carol had no idea how long Daryl had been hitting him but it was obvious that Ed wasn't going to try to fight anymore. He still made soft grunts but he was damn near beat to death by the time Daryl finally stood up, his face still that angry mask that chilled her.

Ed tried rolling away but he couldn't. Daryl's head snapped up quickly and he met her eyes. "Turn your head," he growled.

Daryl, I..."

"Turn your fucking head, Carol!" He nearly yelled and without another question she did.

She heard Ed make a tortured sound, filled with fear, and then something strange. It was a squelching crunching sound that had her eyes snapping shut. She was used to violence. Almost everything about her life had prepared her for moments like this. She wasn't sure why she didn't turn her head to look at the thing that used to be Ed.

She wasn't afraid of what she would see as far as Ed went. She knew he was dead. She knew he was going to die as soon as she realized Daryl was in the room. What she was afraid of was Daryl's rage. Not that he would ever turn that rage on her but she couldn't help but wonder if what he did would set him back. He was so different with her now. Open. Would he slither back into himself and force her to start all over?

She was used to death now. She was a little out of practice since waking up, but while in the coma she had lived a life so steeped in death that sometimes she still thought that she could smell it. But still, she couldn't force herself to turn her head. He had told her not to look. She wouldn't look.

He couldn't change back to how he had been in the very beginning. She would fight for him until her last breath, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't want too. They had been so solid. Their relationship made of something unbreakable. Ed couldn't have the last laugh by ruining that for her.

She was on the verge of panic when she felt his hand on her arm. It was gentle. Hesitant. "You alright? Did he hurt ya any?" His voice was as gentle as his hand on her arm and her eyes flew open right before she threw herself at him, her relief was overwhelming.

He blew out a shaky breath, the warm air hitting her neck right before his arms went around her waist. Her fear of him pulling away from her evaporated and she felt strength returning to her limbs. The air was easier to breath. He was fine. She was fine. They were still them. Still two halves of the same unit. She wasn't much of a crier anymore but she could have wept just then.

He pulled his face away from where he had it buried in the crook of her neck, and leaned his forehead against her own. His eyes were clear and searching. For what, she wasn't sure, but he must have found it in her own steady gaze because she could sense his own relief as the tension left his shoulders.

"He didn't hurt me. I'm fine," she whispered. Her voice was quiet but didn't waver. "He said he was going too..."

"I heard what he said. And them last words surely bought him one way ticket straight to hell, if he wasn't headin' that way to begin with," he looked over her shoulder, his jaw clenching. "Ya might wanna get outta here. Ain't nothin' you need to see."

Carol touched the side of his face, spatters of Ed's blood stood out stark against his skin. "We need to get this cleaned up. No one needs to see this. I can help."

He nodded as he pulled her hand away from his face ad scowled at the blood on her palm. "We need to hurry."

Carol took a deep breath and turned, looking at Ed's body. She didn't flinch at the sight before her. What he had said about her child sealed his fate and made it impossible for her to feel anything at all other than relief that he was gone. There was hardly anything left of his face at all. Daryl had ended him with a boot to the face. She had seen him kill walkers the same way. She didn't pay attention to details. She didn't feel bad that Ed had watched as his life was about to get stomped from him, literally.

They worked together quickly. Daryl fetching a role of plastic from the attic that him and Merle had spread out on the floor to protect the wood while they built more rooms upstairs. Daryl did most of the work himself. He rolled the body in the plastic while Carol waited. She didn't watch that part. She couldn't. She hated him but it was souring her stomach enough just listening to the body thump around lifelessly as Daryl moved him.

He dragged the body to the other side of the bed, out of view from anyone that just happened into the bedroom. Him and Merle would handle it later. She didn't really know what handle it meant but it was all out of her hands now.

He cleaned himself up quickly and they both made it to the bottom of the stairs just as the doorbell rang. They shared a look and went to the door to see who else had made there way to safety.

~H~

Merle had been more than happy to see the house come into view through the trees. This had to go down in the history books as the longest damn day of his life. He was tired and the party hadn't even started yet. Now he was standing in the yard, getting gawked at by his brother and Carol.

"Gun point?" Carol gaped at him and then her eyes slid over to the Jenner's. "You kidnapped them? Merle, wasn't there another way?"

Merle shrugged.

Daryl squinted at Rick, who was standing with the Jenner's. "The hell happened to your face?"

Merle could feel Rick's eyes on him but he didn't feel the urge to look at the man any more than he had too. "Your brother decided that a road side fight was needed to get rid of some of some of his tension."

"Merle? Why would you do that?" Carol asked, sounding like an exasperated mother.

"Cause he's an asshole. He's pissed off cause blondie over there won't stop her goddamn fussin' over me."

Rick snorted. "Do you think that's what my problem is? Really? After everything you caused?"

"Fuck you, Rick," Merle snapped.

Andrea decided that it would be a good time to usher Amber and Matinez's daughters into the house. It was a good call too because Rick wasn't going to just drop anything.

"You had no right to do what you did," Rick snapped. "And all you got to say for yourself is that, huh? Didn't expect much more."

Merle felt his blood start to boil again. He felt the eyes of Jenner and his wife on him. He knew that they weren't a fan of his. He also knew that Carol and his brother and Martinez were watching as well. "You really wanna go another round?" He asked, meeting Rick's heated gaze.

"We need to make something clear here, Merle. You aren't a threat to me. You got the better of me once and I promise you it won't happen again." Merle noticed his hand twitch as it hovered over the gun at his hip.

"Are you threatenin' me, asshole?" Merle spat and took a step towards him.

Daryl was right there, in his way. "I'm getting' tired of getting in the middle of you two," he snapped.

"Then tell your friend over there to keep his damn mouth shut. He keeps it up and he won't have a choice but to shoot me. I won't stop next time."

Rick laughed and the sound made Merle see red. Who the hell did this guy think he was? He was nothing as far as Merle was concerned. "The fuck is so damn funny, Rick?" He tried to get past his brother but Daryl was like a brick wall, forcing him back. The whole time Rick stood there with that shit eating grin on his face.

"You are, Merle," Rick said with a small shake of his head.

Daryl looked over his shoulder, "Rick you need to shut the fuck up!"

Rick put his hands up. "He's the one getting out of line here, Daryl."

"You cocky mother fucker!" Merle had had it. He didn't care if he never heard the end of it. All he wanted to do was beat the shit out of that asshole. "I'm gonna rip your fuckin' face off, Rick!" He roared.

Rick didn't say a word. He just stood there, a small smile on his lips while his hand hovered over the gun.

"I'm gonna rip your fuckin' face off, then I'm gonna wear it around like a goddamn trophy and then I'm gonna kick my own ass and pretend it's yours, you cock sucker!"

"Jesus, Merle!" Daryl grunted as he tried to keep him from getting to Rick.

An unexpected sound cut through the anger swirling in Merle's head long enough for him to take notice of the others. The sound had come from Carol, which was strange, because what he heard was a laugh.

Candace Jenner had her hand over her throat. "What in the world is wrong with that man?" She mumbled as she looked right at Merle. Merle caught her eye and nearly fell over when she, too, decided it was the perfect time to laugh at him. They had all referred to the woman as a genius. But there she stood. Laughing like a dumb ass at the very man who had kidnapped her at gunpoint.

It was that moment that Merle knew. They were all screwed. And they could all very well go fuck themselves.

"Merle, please," Carol said as she touched his arm lightly. "No more of this. We have a lot to discuss with the Jenner's here and there will always be time to fight with Rick later, okay?"

Merle yanked his arm away from her and shoved Daryl so hard that he nearly fell on his ass. He stormed off towards the carriage house. He wasn't interested in a damn thing they had to say to the Jenner's. That woman was a nut and her husband was weird as shit. He was done with them. Every damn one of them. At least for a while. He needed to calm his nerves. He needed to be away from all those crazy bastards for a while. He needed to clear his head.

He wished he would have thought to pick up a little weed before coming here. That would have done the trick.