Chapter 2: Walsh Temper

It was finally night time after a long day of unpacking. Lori had gotten sick throughout the day and Rick let her rest. Brooke came out of the tent after a five minute nap and helped out with the camp. She asked questions on where to put everything but other than that she barely spoke. Lori came out just for a little bit to see how everything was going.

"Hey, are you still sick?" Rick asked his wife.

"Yeah just a little though." She said and Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Then go back in your tent and rest." Brooke ordered while she was setting up another tent. Lori's jaw clenched and she walked back into her tent. "You're not getting any sympathy." She mumbled and finished setting up the tent. She quickly picked up her bow and fired it. Rick ran over to her and saw she had taken down a walker. "Missed one." She said and retrieved her arrow. Rick sighed at her and sadly smirked. Everyone soon gathered around the fire that Glenn had built. "Here, I found some minute rice in one of the tents." She said and Carol handed her a pot. Brooke took some bottled water and began to cook the rice around a tiny fire she had built for cooking.

"Why did you make me do that?" Carol asked. "You could've died in there."

"You were the first person I saw that wasn't being attacked by walkers." Brooke said while stirring the rice. "I knew that you were the only person that could possibly help me."

"Did you ever think about Daryl?" Carol asked and Brooke sighed.

"I was thinking about everyone at the farm. I knew it would work so I decided to do it. If I died at least everyone else would be okay." She replied.

"Well it was unfair for you to put me in a position like that and for putting Daryl in a position like that as well. I could tell he was upset when you weren't with the others on the highway. I just think you should lie back for a while, okay? You're putting yourself in too much danger."

"Let me get this straight." Brooke began biting her bottom lip. "You are giving me a lecture of how I should start being a little more selfish? I was thinking about every single damn person, Carol! I saved your life and now you're saying that what I did damaged everyone? At least most of us are alive! If I hadn't done anything we would all be dead! I will agree that I put you in a difficult position but I'm alive aren't I? And I'm not going to sit back while everyone else is out there. I'm going to be useful and try to make us safe. I'm not just going to take naps and do laundry! I will decide when I'm putting myself in danger, okay Carol! I can take care of myself and I don't need anyone telling me to take a break!" Brooke stood up and left Carol with the rice. She walked away into the woods and sat against a tree. She heard plates being passed out and she saw the one person that she hated walk over to her. "What do you want?" she huffed.

"Dinner's ready." Lori replied with a confused look. "Are you okay?"

"I am fan-freaking-tastic!" Brooke smiled sarcastically and walked past Lori. She sat down and Daryl was sitting next to Carol. Carol's eyes followed Brooke as she served herself a small portion of rice. She ate some of her small portion but gave the rest to Rudy, who gobbled it up. She stood and walked over to her tent. Once she zipped it up, apparently the group thought she was surrounded by brick and began to talk.

"Alright, what's going on with Brooke?" Lori asked. "She keeps on ignoring me and she's snapped at everyone today."

"She has barely spoken today to most of us." Rick corrected and Lori's jaw clenched.

"She sure gave me an earful." Carol complained. Daryl kept quiet to hear what everyone would say. It was a tactic he had learned from Brooke. "What she did was selfish."

"Selfish?" Herschel asked. "She saved most of my farm. She took down a barn in the process but it saved the farm. We may be able to go back to it later on."

"She asked me to set her on fire!" Carol said.

"She saved the group." Glenn said. "I think she should take a break though. I agree with that. She just lost her brother so I think she just needs some time to grieve."

"Brooke is a strong girl and she will absolutely hate the idea of just lyin' down for a few days. She's goin' to continue savin' the group and doin' extreme things like that. I don't particularly like the fact that she constantly puts her life in danger but she's doin' it for us." Daryl said. "Brooke ain't selfish, not one bit, but she does need some time to try and get over what happened to Shane."

"We need to keep going though." Maggie said. "Just one thing, should we have a service for Shane?"

"No." Lori said. "We don't have a body, and he killed people not to mention he tried to kill Brooke. We should hold a service for Dale, Jimmy, and Patricia though." Daryl sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. Carol put a hand on his shoulder but she gasped at the sight of Brooke.

"So that's it. No service for my own brother?" she asked and everyone looked at her. "I think I should be the one to decide that not the whore!" Lori gasped at her statement. "He may have not meant much to any of you but he was my damn brother! I love my brother even though he did all that stuff! I know that's hard to believe but it's true. What bewilders me is that you are willing to hold a service for Dale to honor him but not Shane. Shane has a lot to be honored for. He went back to the hospital so save you, Rick! He put that bed in front of your door so that none of those rotting bastards could get to you! He saved Lori and Carl! Do you remember that, Lori? He tried to go into Atlanta to save me too! He has so much to be honored for! And all y'all want to do is remember him for his bad deeds. Well, I want to remember his good deeds and he has more of those than the bad. My brother was a great man and he meant everything to me." She ranted and huffed. Everyone was silent. Carl looked at Brooke in amazement. She couldn't tell if he was upset, shocked, or both. Lori of course broke the silence and walked up to Brooke.

"Shane deserves nothing." Lori said close to Brooke's face. Her Walsh temper finally reached its maximum level.

"FUCK YOU LORI!" she yelled and slapped Lori to the ground. Brooke was about to attack a crying Lori but she was held by her waist. She growled and tried to break free but the arms were too strong. "Daryl let me go!" She yelled and his hand was put over her mouth. She yelled muffled profanities at Lori who was still on the ground. Lori was wide eyed and just stared at her in horror.

"Daryl, take her to her tent!" Rick ordered and Daryl did as he was told. Brooke still fought to get away from him and give Lori another piece of her mind. Daryl zipped up the tent and let her go. She gasped in some air and took some deep breaths. Her hair was a mess and her right hand had turned a bright red. She sat on the floor with her legs huddled against her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees, and her head was bowed down.

"Brooke." Daryl shook his head. "Do you realize what you just did?" he asked and Brooke sniffed. "You just slapped a pregnant woman!"

"I hate her so much." Brooke mumbled with her head still bowed. "I hate her, I hate her, I hate her." He sat down next to her and held her. Whenever she was upset Brooke usually kept quiet and really didn't want to talk to anyone. The only person she would talk to was Daryl.

"Why do you hate her so much?" He asked and she lifted her head. He smoothed out her hair and she put her head on his shoulder.

"If she wasn't so stupid he would be alive right now." She said. "He would be the Shane I grew up with."

"That don't mean that you can hurt her." He reasoned. "I'll say you slapped the hell outta her." He said.

"I would've punched her in the ovaries if she wasn't pregnant." She said and he chuckled. "I would've punched her in the face but I figured a slap would do just as well."

"If it makes you feel any better, she was scared as hell." He said and she smirked. "I don't think she'll be bothering you anytime soon." He sighed and she looked at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Alright, are you mad at me for killing Shane?" he asked and she cocked her head.

"No, of course not. You were protecting me and the camp. If you hadn't killed him I would be dead and he would've killed Rick. He would've killed you too." She still had tears running down her cheeks and he wiped them away with his thumbs. She smiled at him and the color was back in her eyes. "If it wasn't for you, none of us would be safe. You saved all of us. You saved me." She said and she kissed him she moved her body on top of his legs and they continued to kiss. "I love you." She whispered against his lips. He picked her up and carried her to their cot. They continued to make love.

He collapsed on top of her and they panted. He rolled off of her and he held her. "I love you so much." He said still trying to catch his breath.

"I love you too." She panted and kissed his neck. He played with some of her hair until she fell asleep. He kissed her forehead and he knew he had her back. She whined in her sleep and snuggled a little more into him. He knew that she was freezing and he was actually pretty damn cold himself. He grabbed his hunting jacket and zipped her up into it. She got the idea and she moved a little more on top of him to keep him warm. They had to find a place soon because it was going to be a rough winter but he couldn't think of any place they could go. They didn't have near enough fuel to get to Brooke's beach house. He began to worry that they didn't have a place to go. If it was already cold then it was only going to get worse.