AN: I try to thank all my reviewers personally and just wanted to thank those that didn't have logins to reply to, I appreciate each one. And everyone who favs, follows, or simply reads! :)

Enjoy!

"So this guy with a premature ejaculation problem comes out of nowhere."

"What?" Rick startled at the voice coming from nearly inside his ear, he glanced in bewilderment to the right only to find Daryl leaned over in his seat in a total invasion of his personal space, pinning him with a barely perceptible, albeit self-satisfied smirk.

Shocked silence reigned for a moment at Daryl's unexpected and left-fielded comment, then raucous laughter exploded from the back seat of the extended cab. As if Glenn and Maggie's merriment was his cue, Daryl leaned back to his side of the truck; he also treated them all to a true rarity, an honest-to-god grin.

"Oh, so that got your attention." He chuckled. He sobered quickly as Maggie and Glenn continued to laugh uproariously. "Where the hell you been in that damn head of yours, Rick? I've been trying to get your attention for like five minutes."

Rick shook his head grinning sheepishly. "Zoned out I guess. Sorry about that."

Daryl waved his hand in dismissal, "Ain't nothing. Anyway, The Newlyweds and I were just trying to ask you how far out this place is."

"Didn't I already tell you that?"

"No."

"Coulda swore I did." Rick stated quietly, more to himself than to Daryl.

"That don't change the fact that you didn't." Irritation began to creep into the hunter's voice. He propped his feet casually on the dash, began absently picking at his nails. "All you said was you passed it by on a run awhile back and made note to come back later. Something about a general store"

Rick nodded casting a glance at the Rhee's in the rearview mirror who had quieted down, but were still smiling happily. They looked more relaxed than he could remember seeing them since the farm, it was good to see. "Yeah, some little mom-and-pop place about sixteen miles from the prison. I was actually surprised to see it still standing, seems to me a good place to round up supplies, but it looked to be fairly untouched from what I could tell."

"That's pretty surprising." Glenn said, leaning forward between the seats. "How close did you check it out Rick?"

"And how long ago?" Maggie chimed in.

"I didn't actually stop to look at it, just passed it from the road. It's all by itself though, kinda in the middle of nowhere. I imagine that's the reason it's still intact. As for how long…" He rubbed his chin thinking about it. "I don't know, probably a month or so at least."

"Well, let's just hope no one else had the same idea between now and then." Maggie stated wryly to the general agreement of the others.

As they pulled up to Payne's Half-Price Shoppe, Rick was pleased to find it appeared to be just as intact as it'd been when he'd seen it last. Litter blew about the lot haphazardly and the little adjacent field was badly over grown, the building was beginning to show signs of weathering and the need for general maintenance, but all in all, it was in good shape. No broken windows, the wooden door, more typical for a house than what you'd expect to find on a storefront, was firmly latched. The squat building sat by itself on the corner of a crossroads, providing an unobstructed view in all directions. No walkers for miles. Unless, of course, any bloodthirsty fiends were hidden within.

"Not bad." Daryl voiced his approval of the potential treasure trove.

"Yeah, it's got a certain curb side appeal." Glenn joked grabbing his shotgun and sliding out of the vehicle.

Two steps led to the doorway and raised walkway running the length of the storefront. Daryl climbed them and rapped his elbow on one of the windows bordering the door, waiting to see if in anything stirred within from the disruption. A few minutes passed, all was quiet.

"Guess we're good." He stated as they all moved to take position. Glenn and Maggie pressed up against the wall between the window and door to the left, Rick against the wall to the right, weapons at the ready. Daryl stood in front of the door, crossbow raised, taking point. Glancing at the others and receiving a nod from each, indicating they were ready, he reached for the doorknob and turned, found it unlocked and swung the door inward.

BOOOOM!

The intensity of the heat from the blast was stunning, the gale force winds it produced even more so. Rick found himself launched into the metal railing at the edge of the platform with bruising force. And the noise. Goddamn it was loud. The only sound Rick registered above the din was Maggie's piercing scream and even that only dimly.

Coughing and with ribs shouting their protests, he rolled up to a seated position. Through the aftermath of settling dust, he spotted Glenn and Maggie gathering themselves back together, standing on shaky legs and checking eachother over, their coughs mixing with his. Maggie's eyes scanned the area, a look of shock painted on her face. Her gaze locked onto his for a moment, assessing that he seemed to be alright then continued her search, which abruptly stopped, her eyes widening in horror.

"No." It came out wispy and pained, and drawing Glenn's eyes to the object of her distress.

He paled visibly.

Rick was almost afraid to look, fearing what he'd find, stomach turning to ice when he did.

Maggie's voice grew suddenly stronger, and filled with terror. "No. No, no, no, no! Daryl! Oh my god!"

She blurred past, literally flying down the steps, sliding to her knees at Daryl's side where he was only beginning to come to with a groan. Her hands flitted uselessly above his body, clearly wanting to do something, but either not knowing what or too afraid to touch him, before settling on his face to keep his head still when it tried lolling about.

Unaware he'd even moved Rick found himself kneeling on Daryl's other side, as Maggie shushed him and gently brushed his hair from his face. Looking down at Daryl, Rick was at a loss. He knew he had to do something. They had to get Daryl back to Hershel, and it was up to him to make that happen. But it was as if his higher brain functions had left the building.

All he could seem to focus on were his friend's, his brother's, eyes swimming wildly in their orbits - left pupil blown leaving only the thinnest ring of blue visible, while the right was at a normal size – the face they were framed in, a ghastly shade of gray; a puddle of blood revealing itself beneath his head as it slowly grew, no doubt a result of landing on unforgiving macadam. But that was the least of his worries.

And head wounds were nothing to fuck with.

No, what had Rick really and truly petrified was the jagged chunk of wooden door protruding from Daryl's chest.