Like I said, things are changing :P so much dialogue I had to go through. Anyway here's your longer chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

It was after dark, everyone had eaten and settled around the low ember fires. Daryl was still out hunting some where in the woods. Would probably return tomorrow morning. Carol wasn't sure why he would choose to stay out in the woods at night but it had to be a Daryl thing. It worried her but it would probably be worse if he came back that night and found his brother not with the group that returned from Atlanta.

Around the fires the group retold their encounters from the day and T-dog was properly introduced to the group. Glenn claimed that he was a good friend from Atlanta and they had found him hidden in one of the first stores they visited for supplies. Rick began talking about how he had met up with the group and told everyone how Merle had gotten left behind.

"I dropped the damn key. Or else he would have been back with us" T-dog pitched in when it got to the escape part. Carol felt bad for Merle on one hand but on the other she didn't after hearing what Merle had done to T-dog. Everyone around the camp had probably figured out how much of a jackass Merle could be. Even in the short amount of time they had known him. Just then Carol's attention was caught by Ed who had gotten up to put another log on the fire. Carol couldn't say she was surprised he did it. It was fairly chilly that night however she knew the rules that had been put into place about the fires. Shane was quick to say something about it.

"You wanna rethink that log Ed?" he called over from the other fire.

"It's cold man" Ed said as he leaned back. He was obviously enjoying the heat that the fire was building now that it had more fuel.

"Cold doesn't mean we can break the rules does it?" Shane asked. "We keep our fires low to embers so we can't be seen from a distance"

"It's cold, why don't you mind your own business for once" Ed responded as he looked over at him. Shane was quick to get up and come over to the fire she, Ed and Sophia were seated at.

"You sure you want to have this conversation right now?" Shane asked in a low voice. Carol watched Ed mule it over for a second before her turned to her.

"Go on and pull it out then" he told her and when Carol didn't react quickly enough he told her again. Carol got up and was careful pulling the log out of the embers and now starting fire. She was careful not to get burned and once the log was out she quietly returned to her seat. Shane stamped out the fire on the log and crouched to talk to Carol and Sophia. She was mindful of Ed's gave on hers as Shane asked how they were doing.

"Fine, we're just fine" she told him. She was quick to apologize for the fire but Shane just waved it off. He told them to have a good evening and as he walked away he spoke to Ed.

"Appreciate the cooperation" was the last thing he said before moving back to the other fire and sitting down himself. Ed was still looking at Carol and she squirmed a bit in her seat, wishing his eyes would look somewhere else. Conversation was quiet for a few minutes but then Carol heard Dale bring up Daryl and what they were going to say when he got back. Carol herself wondered how Daryl would react. He would probably be angry, demand to go get his brother. If he was the Daryl she knew from the internet she knew he would definitely be angry and want to instantly go and get him. He obviously cared for his brother greatly and would not want to leave him on that rooftop for walkers. This brought Carol's mind to another fact. She hoped that chain that T-dog put around the door to stop it from opening would hold. She would hate it if Daryl would have to lose his brother. She knew she would if roles were reversed. If it were her sibling up there.

Everyone started to get up and head to bed once the conversation had edged off. Ed was one of the first to get up and got Carol to get up and go to. Carol led the way with Sophia while Ed followed behind. Once they got inside the tent Ed started grumbling about Shane.

"Thinks he's the boss of everything. No fire only embers, don't eat to much of the food, everything we have is to be shared" he mocked. "like to teach him a lesson once, thinks he's the boss cuz he was a cop. Well, he isn't one anymore" he continued. Carol Watched Sophia crawl into her sleeping bag before turning to Ed.

"Sophia's going to sleep now if we can keep a bit quiet" Carol bravely said.

"Shut up woman, I'll talk as loud as I want to" Ed told her harshly and Carol flinched. She said nothing as she to laid down. Ed mumbled a bit more to himself before going to sleep as well. The last thought running through Carol's mind before sleeping was if Daryl was okay out there in the woods by himself.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

It was the next morning and Carol was trying to straighten out some close when Rick finally made an appearance. Everyone had decided to let him sleep in, figuring he needed it. Carol let him know his clothes weren't quite dry yet and he thanked her for washing them for him. He then moved on over to Glenn, Dale and Jim who she knew were tearing apart Glenn's new car. She smiled to herself as she finished the was she was doing. Shane came back with the water and Carol couldn't help but be glad that it was such a peaceful morning. But it didn't last long.

Carl's loud calls could be heard and Carol started as she heard Sophia begin to call to. Lori was off quick at Carl's call and Carol did much the same. Both of them calling their children's names. Carol felt the fear wash over her as she hurried toward her daughters cries. Had a walker found their camp? Had someone been hurt? She tried to keep those kinds of thoughts from her mind but they quickly snuck up on her. Many of the camps members ran through the tree's at the children's calls and when they finally reached them Carol opened her arms up and Sophia ran straight into them. She held her daughter tight as the men went on ahead to see what was the matter. Carol could see from where they were that there was a walker (as the group had started calling them) gnawing on a deer. Then she noticed the arrows in the deer and knew it was shot by Daryl, or at least someone with some kind of bow. The men began beating on the walker until the head fell from the body. Carol cringed at the gore and looked down at Sophia making sure she was okay. Everyone was concerned that there was a walker so high up and at the snap of a twig everyone froze. If one had made it near them then others could have easily been around to. As tension rose Carol felt more fearful by the moment. However everyone sighed in relief as Daryl came in to view.

"So'm bitch" he said as he stepped from the trees. "That's my deer. Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, proxy bastard!" he said as he kicked the walker multiple times.

"Ease up Daryl. That's not helping" Dale told him.

"What do you know bout it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to on golden pond" Daryl said while getting close to him. Daryl turned and began pulling the arrows out of thed deer stating that he had been tracking it or miles and how had been wanting to drag it back to camp. He asked the others if they thought they could cut around the gnawed on piece of the deer. Carol shivered at the thought and Shane was quick to jump and say he wouldn't risk it.

"I have a dozen squirrels or so. That'll have to do" he told them. Carol saw the head of the walker start to move and she quickly moved Sophia away from it, not wanting her to see. They decided to head back to the camp ahead of the men and as they walked everyone was keeping their eyes out for more.

When the men finally came back to camp Daryl immediately started calling for his brother and Carol felt bad at the news he would receive. Shane was quick to call to him to talk and Daryl looked around at everyone. Carol could tell by his face that he knew something had happened.

"He dead?" he asked.

"Not sure" came Shane's response. Daryl clearly began to get angry.

"Either he is or he ain't" Daryl told him and Rick was quick to jump in to the conversation. Rick explained what happened and told Daryl how he handcuffed Merle to the roof.

"Let me process this. You handcuffed my brother to a roof. And you left him there!" Daryl shouted angrily at Rick. At Rick's confirmation Daryl threw the squirrels at him and ran as if the begin beating on him. Shane intercepted him and they both tumbled to the ground. Then Daryl pulled a knife,got up and went at Rick again. The two locked in a short fight before Shane put him in a head lock and Rick dislodged the knife. Daryl was even angry as he told them they'd better let him go. Carol watched on by the RV and flinched when Daryl had pulled the knife. He was even angrier then she had assumed he'd be.

Wehn Rick and Shane had gotten him calmed down some Shane released the headlock and Rick continued to explain what happened. Carol could see Daryl's face get red, and his eyes get wet. He wiped at his face to hide the wetness of his eyes, but she caught it. Daryl told them to tell him where he is so he could go get him and Lori piped u that Rick would show him. As Rick confirmed that he was going back Lroi finished going up into the RV. Carol felt bad for Lori but she also knew someone should go with Daryl to get Merle.

A little while later discussion began about going to get Merle. It was decided that Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-dog would be going. Shane wasn't happy and made that clear. Carol watched on from her spot at the laundry as the discussion continued. Rick mentioned a bag of guns that he dropped in Atlanta. The discussion went on for a while longer before the group going got everything together. Once that was done, they drove off to get Merle and everyone continued on with what they were doing. Everyone was a little worried.

Later, Carol, Amy, Andrea, and Jacqui were washing more laundry down at the quarry. Carol listened as the women talked about having to do the laundry. Then conversation turned to the things they missed. When Andrea mentioned her vibrator Carol had to try not to laugh, but she did smile. She couldn't help but join in.

"Me to" Carol said and everyone burst into laughter. Unfortunately Ed was nearby and came down to see what they were laughing about. Carol tensed a bit as he neared and when Andrea called him out on it Carol held her breath.

"Problem Ed?" Andrea asked him.

"None that concerns you" he responded. "you outta focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club"

Carol knew not to say anything and wished Andrea wouldn't either. If they didn't say anything then he would go away. She already knew she would probably get in trouble for socializing with the women again. She was dreading later. It was another few minutes of awkward silence before Andrea spoke up again saying that if Ed didn't like how his laundry was done then he could do it himself. Carol wished she would just stop, it wasn't helping anything.

"Ain't my job missy" Ed told her.

"What is your job Ed? Sitting on your ass and smoking cigarettes?" Andrea asked him. Carol looked behind her cautiously and when Ed motioned for her to get up and go with him she quickly rose. Andrea tried to stop her and Carol shook her head slightly.

"Please" Carol said in a small voice.

"Are you gonna come now? Or regret it later?" he said to Carol after some choice words to Andrea. Jacqui brought up the fresh bruises and Carol cringed, realizing that she hadn't hidden them as well as she thought. Everyone apparently knew. Ed just laughed and told her to stay out of it as he motioned for Carol to come again, his voice getting more impatient. He grabbed Carol by the arm and Andrea also grabbed her, trying to pull her back. The women told her she didn't have to go and at the resistence Ed's hand shot out and slapped Carol across the face. Carol's hand immediately moved to cover her face as Amy pulled her back. The women began yelling at Ed and everyone was a bit shocked as Shane appeared and dragged Ed away. He began pummeling on him with punch after punch right to the face and Carol let out small cries as she watched. They began to call for Shane to stop s he continued punching Ed and when Shane did he grabbed Ed's face in his and warned him from ever touching Carol, Sophia or anyone again. Ed weakly agreed and with one final punch Shane got up. Carol quickly moved to Ed, apologizing repeatedly. She couldn't stop crying and couldn't figure out why. He hit her, abused her, but still she cried for him. Maybe it was because she feared he would do this to her too, even with Shane's threats. Or maybe just because someone had finally done something about him. She didn't know but still she apologized. She didn't know what else to do.

TWDTWDTWD DARYL TWDTWDTWDTWD

They left the van parked a ways out of the city and decided to walk the rest of the way. They decided whether to go to Merle first or the guns. As if they needed to decide.

"Obviously Merle" Daryl told the sternly. There was no way he was leaving his brother to go after a few guns. His brother came first. Glenn was the one to agree that Merle was closer and Daryl once again wanted to hit something. So what, if the guns had been closer they would have been first? Sure he understood the logic in that but Merle was his brother, a human being. They should always come first over some stupid guns. The guns just caused problems anyway.

The group continued on in a hurried fashion. When they arrived at the building they were glad to see it wasn't over flowing with walkers out front like it had apparently been the last time they were there. Daryl didn't much care and rushed into the building. He looked around as the other joined him T-dog began leading the way to the stairwell to the roof. A walker came out and Daryl made quick of her with an arrow to the head. He pulled it out and kept going.

When they reached the door to the roof, they brought out the bolt cutters and the chain fell at their feet. Daryl pushed through the door and moved quickly over to where he could see legs sticking out.

"Merle" Daryl called to his brother as he got closer. The head resting on the pipe jerked upwards and turned.

"Bout damn time ya got her baby brother. Ain't got some water on your ass do ya?" Merle's voice came through loud and clear. Daryl grinned and moved closer to his brother. Merle looked a little worse for wear. He was coated in a day old sweat and was a bit pale. When he spoke his voice was scratchy. He was obviously dehydrated from not having any water for almost 24 hours.

The others brought the bolt cutters over to him and it was easy to see the anger on Merle's face as T-dog came in to view. Merle didn't say anything but by the looks of him a confrontation would happen.

"Hand me them bolt cutters" Daryl demanded. Rick held out a hand and crouched down to speak to Merle.

"Why hello there officer friendly. Weird seeing your ass back here" Merle told him with a sarcastic laugh.

"Now Merle" Rick started. "We're going to cut the cuffs. You're not going to touch T-dog, or hurt him in anyway you understand? We're going to get you out of here and grab some guns and head back to camp" he finished. Merle glared at him but nodded.

"Just get thee damn cuff off'a me" he said as he pulled up his cuffed hand. His wrist was cut from the cuffs and dried blood coated the cuffs and his skin.

"Couldn't reach that damn saw. Was gonna cut my own arm off. Was lucky them geeks didn't get up here" Merle grumbled as they set to work on the cuffs.

"Wasn't luck. I wrapped a chain around the door so they couldn't get through" T-dog told him.

"Mighty kind of ya considerin ya dropped the god damn key" Merle said heatedly. T-dog said nothing as the cuffs were cut and Merl's hand was freed. He stood up on shaky feet and no one bothered to steady him. Daryl grinned at his brother and Merle glared at him.

"Whatcha lookin at there lil brother. Like ta see your ass up here with nothing for a day" Merle told him.

"Can we get outta here now?" he asked before moving without an answer. Rick shook his head as T-dog bent to grab the tools that were left before. They moved down again to the lower level and Rick went over the plans of getting the guns. Glenn cut in with an idea of his own and they decided that was the best to follow. They quickly got to work getting into position, Merle grumbling the whole time. The countdown began and the Glenn was off to get the bag of guns. None expecting that others were trying to get the same thing.

TWDTWDTWDTWD CAROL TWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

It was later in the day and Carol was sitting on a log and sewing together a few clothes. Ed had gone off to their tent and stayed there after the fight with Shane. Andrea and Amy had gone fishing again and were just now coming back, loaded down with fish. Everyone smiled. The happiness was short lived as Dale came up to the group.

"I don't want to alarm anyone but we may have a problem" He told them as he looked up on a ridge where everyone could see Jim digging something with a shovel. Shane was the first to head up to talk with him and everyone else followed behind. Jim was coated in sweat and he continually put the shovel to the ground again and again. Carol had a hold of Sophia as they watched. Shane asked him what he was doing and Jim still didn't stop his digging. Shane told him he wanted to talk to him and the conversation went on from there.

"I'm not hurting anyone" Jim told them a few moments later.

"Nobody but yourself" Dale went on.

"Jim I'm going to come right out and say it. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter" Lori told him.

"They got nothing to be scared of, I mean what the hell people I'm out here by myself so just go and leave me the hell alone" Jim said. Shane told him he needed to take a break and Carol couldn't help but agree to herself. Jim just resumed digging. When Shane told him to give him the shovel Jim stopped again.

"Or what?" he asked.

"There is no what" was Shane's response.

"If I don't then what. Then ya going to beat my face in like Ed Peletier. Ya'll seen his face, whats left of it" Jim said. "See that's what happens when someone crosses you"

"That was different Jim" Shane told him.

"You weren't there, Ed was out of control he was hurting his wife" Amy piped in.

"That is their marriage! That is not his" Jim spoke out. Carol wrapped her arms around Sophia and pulled her close as she listened to what was being said. As the talk continued Carol couldn't help but think back to earlier. Now that she was calmer she could see what happened through clear eyes. Shane had defended her and for that she was glad. No one had ever done that, not even herself much to her own shame. Ed hadn't spoken more that three words to her since and had stayed to himself. She was glad for it but at the same time she was still fearful of what would happen later. When Ed healed, she wondered if he would still heed Shane's warning.

Carol's attention was caught again as Shane and Jim fell to the ground. She heard Jim speak about his family and she felt sadness wash over her. Then Shane hoisted Jim up and everyone went back down to the camp.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

It was dark and everyone was gathered around the fires again eating their dinner of fish. Everyone was silent as Ed had come out to join them and the group that went to Atlanta wasn't back yet. Tension was broken however when Morale's mentioned Dale's watch. Dale told them how time was important and then told all of them a story. After the story Amy rose and Andrea asked where she was going.

"To the bathroom geez. No privacy around here" Amy said as she walked toward the RV. Everyone laughed. A few minutes later Amy came back out of the RV and stood in it's doorway.

"We're out of toilet paper" she said. Not a moment later a walker went up to her and before Amy realized it the walker bit down on her arm. She screamed and the camp looked at her before disrupting into chaos. Everyone went in different directions, screaming and Shane fired off shots as more walkers came out of the woods. Hollers and screams blocked out most sounds and walkers were biting down on people left right and center. Everyone that could grabbed any weapon they could find and started on the walkers as they made their way to the RV.

Carol tried to grab ahold of Sophia but Ed beat her to it. He grabbed Sophia around the wrist and dragged her in front of him as he continued shuffling backwards. Sophia started screaming and crying, reaching out a hand for Carol. Carol couldn't believe it, her face contorted into horror as she saw a walker come toward Ed and Sophia. Carol found her voice and moved quickly at Ed.

"Ed let Sophia go!" She screamed as she beat her fists against him. No one else was near them as they had gone in the direction of the RV. So there wasn't a chance for help. It was up to her. Carol hit Ed again and again while screaming for him to let Sophia go. She didn't care what she yelled, or what the consequences were. That was her daughter and nothing would stop her. That is until Ed shoved his elbow back hard and clocked Carol in the nose. She yelped in pain as she grabbed at it, feeling the now slight crooked angle. She could feel the blood that began to drip from it and lost her footing before tumbling to the ground. Sobs and screams came from her throat and she again rose to try and get her daughter away from Ed but she didn't see the other walker closing in behind her. All she could hear, was Sophia's cries for her mother.

Don't hate me -puts up hands in defense- I thought it would be an interesting place to end it aha. So things have escalated. I hate Ed even more than when I watched season 1. Um yeah so let me know what you think. Healthy criticism is always welcome c: see you next chapter!