Chapter Nine

He could hear them.

Their groans and snarls, their dragging footsteps, it all echoed in his ears as if the beasts were right beside him and his gaze snapped away from Lori's glowering form to survey the tree line.

"Judy, Carl, Beth, start packing up camp. Rick we need to leave. Now."

Shane frowned and reached out to put a hand on the archer's shoulder only to falter when the man recoiled harshly and narrowed his eyes at him. Rick sent him an indiscernible look and turned to his husband.

"What's wrong."

"Herd." Daryl frowned in concentration, storm-colored eyes darkening as he tilted his head. "It's about ten minutes out at their pace, but its headed directly for us. We can't be here when it hits. A herd this size will wipe us out…realistically speakin."

Merle raised an eyebrow, wondering just how Daryl knew all this. After all its not like he could hear them coming…right?

"C'n ya tell how many there are?" He asked curiously.

"Somewhere between forty n' fifty."

Rick's frown deepened and Lori huffed, still miffed about the tongue lashing she received only moments before.

"You're really going to listen to him? After he just threatened me?" She asked Rick softly, hurt and he sighed.

"Lori-"

Shane cut him off. "This isn't like you man. Ever since you came back with those people you and Carl have been treating us like strangers, like we don't matter to you as much as those people do."

Rick stared at them, as if seeing them for the first time and in truth he was. For the first time he was seeing them past the shadows of their future selves, past the actions they'd taken against him and Lori's hatefully spewed words.

Beneath all the veneer and anger, Lori was scared. She was a city raised girl from a comfortably wealthy family. The apocalypse was forcing her into situations she'd never been in, situations she didn't, couldn't understand and control and it terrified her. Shane, despite the actions of his future self, was a protector before anything and it had been his tendency to protect that had led to his affair with Lori.

He looked over at Daryl who rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Rick, now ain't the time fer this, if ya ain't noticed. We need to go. Now."

"How far off are they?"

The hunter frowned, concentrating his keen senses on the herd headed their way.

"We've got seven minutes."

His husband nodded. "I need to talk to them." He said gesturing to Shane and Lori. Something flashed in Daryl's eyes but was quickly hidden.

"Hurry up." He replied, leading everyone else away from them. Once they were gone he turned to the two people in front of him and sighed.

"Shane, I don't love you any less than I love them. They're family too. It's just," H paused, "you two are strangers to us. The first time around, I was in that coma during the first month of this and the month leading up to it. When I finally reached the quarry I was met with a best friend that seemed to hate and love me at equal intervals and a wife that seemed to want nothing to do with me. This farm here? This is where I found out that my wife had been sleeping with my best friend and that said friend wanted to kill me so he could have her back. I'm trying to see you past the actions of your selves in my time…but it hard."

The couple stared at him shocked, and Lori looked down sadly.

"But what about our marriage, Rick? You won't even acknowledge me as your wife. All of your attention is always on Daryl."

Involuntarily, his eyes moved to where his husband was helping pack up everything and a tiny smile curled his lips.

"I love you…but I love him more. Daryl, he saved me from a very dark place. He saved me from making several horrible decisions. Its thanks to him, that our children were able to have something of a childhood, even during the apocalypse. Daryl, he's my conscious."

"And I'm supposed to be okay with that?"

He shrugged. "You haven't been my wife in a very long time. Hell even in your time, our marriage has long since fallen in disrepair. I am happy where I am now, and I won't let anyone ruin that."

She scowled, anger masking the hurt in her eyes, before she stormed off in the direction of the cars.

Shane smiled at him and clapped him on the back, dark eyes full of the warmth that reminded Rick of how they had remained friends so long in the first place.

"I'm glad you're happy, brother."

"I am too."

"Rick," Glenn yelled from the direction of the cars. "Move your ass man, we're losing daylight!"

Rick chuckled and rolled his eyes, frowning as Daryl appeared beside him scowling.

"Two minutes. They're right behind the tree line."

The former sheriff nodded.

"Let's go."

They were going home.

A slow smile crossed Daryl's lips as he pulled away from the farm, the snarls of the walkers echoing in his ears.

They would be able to claim the prison before he got around to setting up Woodbury and they had more battle-able people just in case he did.

'And if he comes for us again? We can't handle him again.' A voice whispered in his mind and he shivered.

He'd never told anyone the full extent of what had happened to him in the governor's hands and he never would. The inhumane experiments and the torture, everything had scarred his mind in horrific ways. He hid a lot of it from his family, not wanting to worry them, but he knew if the man caught him again, his mind wouldn't survive.

If the governor came for their home again, he would kill him.

His small smile darkened into something a bit more sinister.

And if he enjoyed it, well, no one would have to know.

TBC…

A/N: I know its short but the next chapter will be a bit loner I promise. It gets a bit darker, a bit lighter, and The Governor makes his grand entrance.