Hi guys! Sorry this is so late! I've had company all week and that has taken up a lot of my writing time and then my internet messed up and delayed me even further! So, I don't like this chapter :)! I get that way. I'm working on the next one but just bear with me because I still have company and it's going to be slow going. Oh, and I believe, in the chapter I'm working on, I am going to finally put a name and a face to this mysterious threat that Sophia has been seeing. That's something to look forward too anyway. I really hope you guys are still enjoying this story! I'm really sorry about the delays! Thanks for reading!

And so it Begins... Again

The house was large enough to not feel overrun with all of the people milling about as long as all of them didn't gather in one certain area. Morgan and his wife was fitting in well with all of the others. Duane was happy to see that his parents hadn't dragged him off to some stuffy boring dinner party full of adults. Carol was trying to follow the conversation that she had been sucked into by Lori and Martinez's wife Amber. It was hard when she was trying to figure out room arrangements for all of them.

Shane had finally shown up, two hours late, and with five more uninvited guests. Unwittingly he had picked up another group member that Carol hadn't even thought of recently. Jim, along with his wife and his three boys. Carol hadn't been surprised to see them either. They were apologetic about crashing the party but Carol couldn't have been more happy to see them and could only hope that more of them found their way out to the farm.

Shane seemed confused when he took in the new faces but he just shrugged and offered Carol and Daryl both a friendly smile. He shook Daryl's hand and then went off in search of Rick. Rick had already explained to everyone that he had had an accident out in the barn. That explained the darkening bruises under his eyes. Rick had tensed when Shane had shown up but had sense relaxed.

"There's something wrong with the television," Dale said as he stepped into the dining room. "We were in the middle of watching another news report on the things happening out there and the screen just suddenly turned blue."

Carol shared a look with Daryl and felt his hand grip hers firmly. She met Dale's eyes and followed him to the living room. Sure enough the screen was blue. Merle appeared through the doorway to the foyer and went to the stereo, turning it to the first radio station that picked up service.

… "urge everyone to evacuate. Urban areas should be avoided at all cost. The national guard has..." The sound of white noise filled the room as more people joined them to listen. Merle turned the dial until another voice could be heard through the speakers. … "We haven't received any call backs from the Center for Disease Control but have been notified that the cities are not safe. Every main highway is backed up with people fleeing. We urge all of our listeners too..." More white noise. Merle couldn't find another station. He turned off the stereo and glanced over his shoulder.

Shane ran a nervous hand over his head and glanced towards the darkening window. "Might need to get a move on. If I back road it then I should make it home okay."

"You can't leave," Lori said, sounding almost panicked. "You heard what they said.

Shane just shrugged. "What are we suppose to do? Have ourselves a slumber party? I'm not tryin' to get stuck out here. Not that I don't enjoy your company."

Lori shot Carol a look.

Carol cleared her throat. "It isn't safe out there, Shane. We have plenty of rooms and plenty of food. Everyone should just stay here. At least for tonight."

Shane shook his head and moved towards the foyer. "I'm a cop, Carol. I can take care of myself."

Carol nodded, following him towards the front door, dragging Daryl along with her. "But it isn't safe out there. You said yourself that the roads are nearly impossible. You don't want to get stuck out there with all of this going on. You could get hurt or stranded on your own."

He flashed her a curious look over his shoulder as he stepped out the door. "Look, Carol. I think you're sweet for askin' me to stay. I really appreciate you worryin'. But you don't have a reason to be worried, okay. I've been on my own for a lot of years now. I can handle it."

Carol shot Daryl a desperate look just as Lori followed them out the door. Daryl sighed. "Look Shane, ain't nobody sayin' that you can't make it on your own or anything, but why risk it if you're already here? It's safe and there's plenty of food and enough room."

"I understand that. I'd just rather be at my own place is all. I'll be fine and if not then I know where you live. I'll take you up on that offer." He shot them all a wide smile and hurried down the steps towards his Jeep. "Thanks again for the dinner, Carol."

Just as he made his way to the jeep they could hear a steady rumble quickly approaching. They hurried down the steps as Shane looked up into the early night sky. Carol heard the door swing open behind her and she knew that the others had heard the sound as well.

The fear Carol felt just then was similar to the fear she had felt the first time she had ever heard that sound. It spiked her blood with adrenalin and she knew Daryl could feel the tremors in her hand. It didn't matter at that moment that they had been preparing for this day for a while now. It didn't matter that she knew that she was capable and strong now. When the world that you know proceeds to cease, it is a shock on the system that you cannot prepare yourselves for.

Daryl pulled her in front of him and locked an arm around her waist as they gazed up. Everyone was huddled in groups. Daryl's other arm was around Sophia's shoulders. The girl was pressed into his side and then Carol felt a hand slip into her own. She looked down into Penny's wide frightened eyes and then pulled the girl closer.

She felt some of her fear subside. The droning sound of the murmured conversations filled her ears and she forced herself to smile at the frightened girl. "You're safe. We're all safe here, okay? This is what we've been preparing for." Her voice was gentle and reassuring and she was relieved to see Penny blink a few times and then gave her a stoic nod. Daryl tightened his grip around her waist when the sounds got louder and then they appeared.

What Carol assumed were fighter jets raced across the sky, flying low. Everyone followed their path until the treeline disrupted their view. The murmuring from the others ceased as they kept their eyes on the horizon. What seemed like hours later but was really only a few minutes, the night sky was illuminated with an unnatural orange glow far off in the distance.

Everyone seemed to turn to stone. No one spoke or asked any questions. Even the children were silent. All of them standing with their families and staring in awe at the sight before them.

"Did they just blow up the city?" Dale was the one that finally broke the silence.

Carol didn't say anything for a few moments. Her eyes stayed on the glow. When she did speak it was loud enough for all of the others to hear. "This isn't something that is going to blow over. Outside these walls, there is no law anymore. Every one of you are welcome to stay here."

Shane turned around, the frown on his face deep and his brow furrowed. "You knew." It wasn't a question.

She met his eyes in the dark. It was then she realized just how dark it actually was. The house was still lit up like it was Christmas but the world outside of their walls was dark and endless. The power was out. "We knew," she confirmed in a quiet voice while the crowd around them listened. "That's the reason we bought this farm and that's the reason we wanted you all to come today."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Shane argued.

Carol saw Rick approach Shane. "Does anything anymore?" He asked dryly. "The important thing is that it's secure here. We'll be safe." He easily slipped back into that role as leader and Carol didn't even mind at the moment.

If Carol didn't know any better she would have sworn that Rick was actually trying to get Shane to stay. She hadn't expected him to want Shane to stay at all. But there he was, trying to talk him into it. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She was still angry about the way he had lashed out at Merle when in all reality, Merle had done nothing but help the group since he had been there. She even found herself feeling sorry for Lori. After the other woman's confession just that afternoon she knew it would be hard for Lori to watch Shane go.

Shane shrugged lightly. "If it gets to the point where I can't handle it then I'll be back." His eyes meet Carol's again and she gave him a small nod. She couldn't force anyone to stay. He already knew that he was welcome to come back.

"Merle, Glenn, can the two of you follow him out and then close the gates?" She asked, still keeping her eyes on Shane's.

Shane didn't say anything else as he walked to his Jeep and jumped in.

~H~

It took some time for them to re-figure sleeping arrangements. The library was already claimed by T-dog but he didn't mind rooming with Dale if need be. There was a den on the main floor as well that was already reserved for Hershel and Annette with a small open space attached to it where Beth would make her room. There was a room off of the dining room that Carol gave to Martinez and his wife. The basement was partially finished with two separate rooms off of the laundry room that could also be used as bedrooms. Hershel's son and Jimmy claimed them. Carol had learned earlier that Jimmy's parents had gone out of state for the week, leaving him on his own. He was seventeen so he was well old enough to watch after himself but there was no way he was leaving now.

Everyone agreed that the two largest bedrooms on the third floor would belong to the children until more rooms could be built on. Well, almost everyone. Daryl had grumbled about it at first but he didn't argue. There were too many of them now and Carol figured that he was really grateful that they had enough room at all. Sophia, Penny, Eliza, Lilly, Anna and Mia would be in the room that was originally going to be for Sophia alone. Sophia didn't mind at all. Carl, Duane, Louis and Jim's three sons, Micheal, Joshua and Jacob, would share the room that was suppose to be for Daryl and Carol.

Honestly Carol really didn't like the thought of putting anyone else in the room that Ed had been murdered in. That would be her burden to bear and it honestly wasn't too much of a burden at all. Daryl did put his foot down when she had suggested building a wall and splitting the room in half. So the two of them would stay where they were. Besides, after thinking about it, the third floor really would be the best place for the children to be.

Tonight they hashed out sleeping arrangements for the long term but they weren't ready. More beds and things would need to be brought in from the storage building but that wouldn't be a problem come first light. Tonight everyone made due with what they had. There were seven rooms on the second floor that would be used as bedrooms. Amy and Andrea volunteered to take the open space on the third floor that was going to be used as a living room of sorts for Daryl and Carol. It was a good idea to have someone like Andrea on the third floor. She was a good shot. She had proved that over the last few weeks that she had been staying on the farm.

Another thing that genuinely freaked everyone out was Sophia. Carol thought that telling the others about what had been going on with all of them would be a good idea. People wanted to know how Carol had had the foresight to do all of this. They had the right to know. They all talked amongst themselves into the night.

The whole night Carol had wanted to get Ed out of her bed room but when she brought it up to Daryl he had simply shrugged and told her not to worry about it. She was surprised to learn later that him and Merle had already taken care of it while everyone else was preoccupied with their own fears. She couldn't have been more happy about that.

~H~

He wasn't too happy about Shane leaving. Shane wasn't really his favorite person in the group but he knew it was dangerous out there and he wasn't really wanting anyone from their group out there on their own. It was too risky. Then again, they were still missing people. If Merle could run into Martinez then why couldn't Shane run into Michonne? Or maybe Tyreese and his group. Not to mention they were still missing Jacqui from the quarry group.

"Stop worrying," Carol admonished as she smeared a good amount of lotion on her legs.

"Hard not to worry," he grumbled as he stripped off his shirt. "The world just ended. How the fuck do you expect me not to worry?"

She looked up at him from under her lashes. "You're grouchy," she mumbled but he could see that she was fighting a small smile.

"No I ain't."

She rolled her eyes and moved on to her other leg.

"How the fuck can't you be freaked out about this?" He asked as he watched her. She looked calm. Serene.

She shrugged lightly and glanced over at him as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. "Maybe I'm tired. I'm tired of worrying and being afraid all the time. We're gonna be fine. We made sure of that."

He knew she had been scared earlier. He could almost feel the fear radiating off of her when those jets flew over the farm. He admired her for pulling herself together so quickly. "The power is out now. I don't feel too good about all these lights bein' on. You never know if someone will notice."

She frowned. "Who could notice? We're over a mile away from the road. No one can see."

"Anyone flyin' over could see. I'd just rather keep the place on lock down at night. Ain't that the whole reason we got them shutters to begin with?"

"The reason we got those shutters was to keep out anything in case the wall was ever breached." She eyed him.

"Still," he grumbled as he laid back, crossing his arms over his stomach. "It wouldn't hurt to keep low till they ain't nothin' in the sky. Remember what Shane had told Rick back in those dreams? About how it had been when he went after Rick in the hospital. He said they was killin' survivors." He had tried to forget about what Shane had said so long ago. He very well could have been lying. The problem was, Daryl wasn't sure and he didn't want to risk it. They could fight off walkers and other survivors but they couldn't fight off the military. He still didn't understand how Shane hadn't had any recollection about everything that had happened at the quarry and on Hershel's farm.

He grunted when suddenly she was leaning down into his face, her hands braced on his chest. His hips were trapped between her thighs and his hands reflexively went to her hips. "Stop it," she said in a low voice and if he didn't know her any better he would have sworn that she was trying to sound demanding.

"Stop what?" He asked, his own voice growing lower as the heat between her legs seemed to engulf him.

"Stop worrying and freaking out."

"I ain't freakin' out. I'm worried about shit that could happen."

"A group of maniacs could smash that wall in and come in here and slaughter all of us before we could have a chance to even slip our shoes on," she deadpanned.

He felt his mouth drop open and then he sat up quickly, locking his arms around his waist. "What the hell would you say that shit for?" He narrowed his eyes. Here she was going out of her way to make him feel even worse.

Her arms wound around his neck, her nose skimming his jaw causing him to loosen his grip on her and flatten his hands over her back. "I think you should relax," she said into his ear.

"Relax, huh? With the world goin' to shit and us sittin' right in the middle of it?"

She kissed him right over the pulse that was keeping time with his quickening breaths. "Relax because the world is going to shit and we're safe. We're safe until Sophia tells us we're not safe."

He understood what she meant then. If things were going to get very bad then Sophia would know about it. She'd warn them and they could take whatever precautions they needed too to avoid it.

"That's a lot better," she whispered right before he ducked his head and caught her lips, pulling her in closer and running his hands down her bare thighs. the only thing separating them was a pair of cotton shorts and one of his old t-shirts she had taken to sleeping in.

This was a lot better. He finally let it sink in that they were going to be okay. In a perfect world he would have found her without all of this craziness. Maybe he would have found her nearly thirteen years ago before Ed. He could have been Sophia's dad and everything could have been just roses. But that wasn't the case. The world was a scary place and the things they went through to get to this point made them damn near unbreakable.

"Alright. You made your point," he said, still trying to maintain his gruff tone. He failed miserably. "I still wanna get the windows shuttered. Ain't no sense in pushin' our luck."

With a heavy sigh Carol climbed off of him and grabbed his hand. "If that's what it takes to make you feel better then lets go get started."

It would make him feel better. At the moment he felt like a beacon for any evil asshole out there that wanted to take advantage of them. He figured that he would feel like that for a long time now. It would just be another thing to get used too.

As soon as they made it out to the hall they could hear feet on the stairs from the attic. Andrea came into view and looked relieved to see them. "There's something wrong with Sophia," she said in a rush as she hurried towards them.

Daryl felt his chest tighten as he glanced down at Carol. "What the fuck is wrong with her?" He asked as they hurried towards the stairs. His heart was knocking painfully against his ribcage.

Andrea was behind them on the stairs. "I don't know. Carl came and got me a few minutes ago and said that she wouldn't wake up. I went to check and he was right. It's like she's out cold."

"Go get my brother," Daryl called over his shoulder.

Andrea didn't say anything else but her footfalls were hurrying away from them so he knew she was going after Merle. Carol was silent as they barged into the girls bedroom. He could tell that all of the other kids were afraid, as was Amy, who was standing by the door, wide eyed. Carol rushed to the bed and knelt down, taking Sophia's hand in her own.

Daryl looked over his shoulder, meeting Amy's eyes. "Get them outta here."

Amy nodded and ushered the other kids out of the room. Carl was the only one that refused to go. He stood at the foot of the bed looking down at Sophia worriedly.

Carol was muttering something and smoothing Sophia's hair out of her face. "Wake up, baby. We need you to open your eyes." She didn't sound frantic. It sounded strange, that calm voice she used. Daryl wasn't sure what to do. The blood pounding behind his ears almost drowned out the other sounds in the room.

"She'll be okay. She's just in that other place is all," Carl said, more to himself than to any of the others.

Carol looked over her shoulder and met Daryl's eyes. She was good at controlling her voice but her face looked panicked. Daryl felt the same thing but there wasn't anything he could do. Not about this. He could fight, sure, but what good was he right now?

"Go get Hershel. Just to make sure," Carol said firmly.

With a quick nod he hurried out of the room and down the stairs. He surprised himself when he started praying. He had given that up long ago, but he prayed harder now than he had when he had been that little boy. Maybe it was because he was praying for someone else. Or maybe it was because he knew, deep down, that wherever Sophia had gone, he had no way to bring the girl back to her mama. He had been through that once. He wasn't sure if he could go through all of that again.