I went through a favorite/story alert drought so I figured I'd just get this chapter out for the people that already have the story added. From here on out I'll try to drag it out longer to make it a little more realistic (if I haven't already).

I also realized the story wouldn't be as exciting anymore after I reunited the happy couple, so I decided to throw the bitch in a ditch. Hope it adds some kind of excitement to the story 'cause I'm beginning to struggle with it again.

Please review so I can have motivation!

Chapter 8

Daryl and Merle's hunt was not as successful as planned, considering Daryl's focus was a little out of bounds due to his growing happiness to have his brother back. He hated and embraced the feeling at the same time. He had just been reunited with his fiancé the night before and miraculously (and accidentally) found his brother the next day. He was beginning to feel worthy and deserving of things that were still good in this world.

The majority of the hunt consisted of story exchanging, a lot of redneck wisdom, and vague bonding. Merle was so caught up in the idea of acting like a normal human being towards his brother that he didn't even realize he hadn't checked with Daryl what the arrangements would be regarding the residence situation.

Merle noticed the sun beginning to set and snapped out of his Southern Brady Bunch bonding session. "Shit. So what're we gonna do about settin' up camp?" The protector in Daryl wanted to keep him away from the group, but the brother in him wanted to give Merle a real shot at being part of a team. With good judgment like his, he doubted Merle would throw a curveball at him anyway. "Yer comin' with me. Been stayin' at a farm," Daryl said, leading the way.

After a few quiet minutes, he stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Merle abruptly.

"My fuckin' crossbow. God damn it!" he shouted as he began to walk in the opposite direction.

"I'll go get it. Not too familiar with this part of the woods but I got it. Gotta take a shit anyway," Merle responded. "What? Now? It can't wait?" Daryl complained, growing annoyed with the idea of having to be a sitting duck until Merle came back. Merle started off into the woods before saying, "I like bein' one with nature, that a problem, princess?"

Daryl was a man of very little patience and two minutes had already felt like two hours to him. He wanted to get back to his woman and get himself to bed and prepare himself for the make-up time with Sophia he would promise her the next morning. He kept pacing and keeping watch, for both walkers and his very slow-paced brother.

After finally retrieving Daryl's crossbow and hanging it off his shoulder, Merle searched for a designated area to tend to his needs. He headed over to a small corner and made it a point to make it fast, considering the sun was down at this point and he wasn't going to risk anything by messing around.

He went to step over the small area when his foot completely gave way and he lost his balance.

He landed on his back but was able to quickly shift his weight back to higher ground with his upper body strength. "The fuck?" he mumbled to himself, steadying back to his feet. He grabbed a small flashlight from his pocket and aimed it downward, looking in the direction of the pit out of sheer curiosity. He was completely unprepared for the sight below him.

There was Lorena, completely sprawled out in the pit with nothing but rocks and blood surrounding her.

It was clearly evident she lost her balance like Merle did, but took the fall as well. The drop was pretty drastic; Merle would guess about 30 feet. He stood there in paralysis. He tried to keep a level head in order to formulate a quick plan to get down to the pit. Whether or not Lorena was already dead, he needed to get her out of there.

He quickly realized that the drop wasn't as steep around the opposite side of where he stood and began to run towards the other side of it. He would have a much better chance of getting himself in and both of them out in no time. He did a short climb down and rushed to her side. Lorena's body was lifeless and by the amount of blood coming from her head, he could automatically tell it was the first thing to hit the ground when she fell.

He knew it was a long shot, but he tried talking to her anyway. "Lena, hey, you with me?" he calmly asked, checking her pulse and keeping his focus on her eyes to check for any type of movement. None, but she did have a slight pulse.

He quickly took off his shirt and tightly wrapped it around her head. It wouldn't do much, but it was better than completely letting her bleed out on the way back. He scooped both arms under her and slowly raised her off the ground, resting her body completely on his shoulder. He wasted no time and began to head to the same area he entered in. He carefully kept her body steady as he quickly climbed out of the pit. Back in woods level, he kept a hand behind her head and started to make a run for it.

"C'mon, asshole," Daryl mumbled. "Found your ass a few hours ago and you're already slowin' me down." Daryl was not only beginning to worry about Merle, he was beginning to worry about the idea of Lorena waiting up for him, terrified. Most importantly, he hated the idea of being away from her and already began to regret letting her go back alone. He also wasn't too pleased with unintentionally letting Sophia down and hoped she wasn't completely upset. He breathed a deep sigh when he realized he had to assemble a house meeting when he came back with the man every one dreaded.

He shifted his eyes ahead when he heard frantic movement, and froze when he saw his brother running towards him with his limp fiancé in his arms.