Another chappie. A filler one, I guess but allas, it is a chapter. Hope you enjoy it :D Review

Disclaimer: i own nothing associated with the walking dead

The night had finally fallen. Sitting by the fire Lauren glanced around and saw that Shane and Dale seemed to be on watch. She repressed a sight, thinking about what had happened in the morning. How could a man be so bipolar? One moment Daryl was clutching her almost naked body next to his and the next, well she would think he felt sickened by her. She could see from her spot the light that emanated from his tent, almost in the edge of the camp, and his shadow moving around from whatever he was doing.

"What's with the face?" Glenn's voice snatched her from her stupor. She just shrugged and stood up, not wanting to bother anyone with her love life, or lack of it in this case. The summer night was much too hot for her to handle and she scrambled inside the tent she shared with Amy.

"Glenn told me you had come to bed early." Amy once again interrupted her thoughts and she almost snorted at the mention of a bed.

"I was just thinking about life." She looked at the younger woman as she sat in the sleeping bag next to hers.

"Life. What kind of life is this?" Amy murmured.

"Well, that's a lousy comment if you wished to cheer me up." Lauren shifted closer to her and sat up next to her, cramping the already small space.

"We better sleep. We have laundry to do in the morning. The filthy kind. "Amy said as she adjusted herself on top of the sleeping bag.

Lauren closed her eyes and tried to block the flash of blue that would from time to time creep up and haunt her even in her dreams. Damn him, it was almost dawn and she still hadn't managed to fall asleep. She tensed when she heard the zipper from her tent screech but remembered a walker wouldn't do that. She closed her eyes as soon as the familiar scent of sweat and smoke reached her nostrils. What in the devil was he doing in her tent?

"Rise n' shine woman. 'Ya got clothes to wash"

She could kill him. She could just grab her knife and be done with it. That would certainly stop the smirk that she knew was adorning his lips.

"Go away Daryl. Go ask Carol to do it. I want to sleep" she replied without opening her eyes.

"Git yer' ass up. Ain't gonna bother the woman when yer' awake." He roughly yanked her from her sleeping bad, gripping her tightly when she swayed lightly in her feet.

Daryl silently cursed himself for this weakness. He knew he had to stay away from her but he felt like a moth attracted to a burning fire.

"Do you always feel the need to manhandle me, you big brute? Just give me the things you want me to wash and I'll do it, okay?" the anger she was feeling was rapidly overpowered by a growing tiredness that his presence brought.

Getting out of the tent, he picked the bundle of sweaty clothes and swung them in her direction, watching with a disguised smile as he saw the grimace in her face.

"I don't know how the hell are these clothes so filthy. But I tell you what, you can fuck off now and go do whatever you do alone while I wash this." Her voice was cold and a part of her flinched at the tone, before remembering what had happened the day before. The feeling of rejection tore at her and she hurried to the river, ignoring the disgruntled look in Daryl's face as she retreated.

She sat near the edge of the water looking longingly at a flimsy flannel shirt, wishing that things could somehow be different. Wishing the world was still the same it was before when she was just a teacher and walkers hadn't appeared. Wishful thinking, she knew.

"Hey" Carol's voice said cautiously.

"Are you ok?" she pointed to Lauren and she had to wonder if she looked that bad.

"Fine" she shrugged "Just couldn't sleep."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Andrea showed up in all her morning glory, along with a silent Amy.

"I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you two. It's so early even the birds are still cooped up." She growled, snatching someone's pants from the improvised laundry basket and getting to work.

"Well, I don't know if you are aware" Lauren remarked "But you are awake too."

"That's because you and Daryl couldn't keep it down! Screaming at each other and waking half of the camp. What happened anyway?

"We had a minor disagreement." Lauren answered in a hushed tone.

Andrea snorted with gusto.

"Yeah right."

Lauren emerged herself again in washing the clothes, shaking her head with disgust as she picked up a particularly nasty pair of pants from none other than Merle Dixon. Apparently when Lori's husband, Rick, had come back all sorts of troubles had happened. A chained up to a roof Merle Dixon was one of them and a very pissed Daryl was another. She sighed. She could only hope he would find his brother and return to safety.

"Jesus Christ" she muttered to herself "This man is a fucking pig."

Jacqui had arrived in the meanwhile and joined them. Suddenly Carol's broke the silence.

"I do miss my Maytag. "

"I miss my coffeemaker, with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui replied in a dreamy tone.

"I miss my Benz. My sat-nav"

"My computer. Texting" Amy said, looking down at her hands.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea added, smirking like a mad woman.

Carol just looked behind her and Lauren noticed Ed watching them stiffly.

"I bet you miss it too Carol, with a man like that" she said, winking at the blushing woman knelt by her side.

"I do"

Laughter filled the air when they heard her murmur those simple two words. Lauren saw Ed approach them by the corner of her eye and pulled Andrea's sleeve. They both stood up and adopted a defensive position.

"This ain't no comedy club! Come on" he snarled, moving swiftly to grab Carol's arm. Lauren stepped up and grabbed his offending hand. Fear cursed through her veins but she ignored it and put up a cold façade.

"Go away Ed. Go get drunk and bother someone else."

"Get the fuck out of my face you whore, I ain't talking to you!

Andrea was fuming with suppressed anger as she approached Carol.

"You don't have to go"

What happed next was a flurry of movement that caught Lauren completely by surprise. Ed hit Carol, Andrea launched herself at him and she too made a move to stop the pig's abuse. What she wasn't expecting, for sure, was the fist that was directed at her face and that she couldn't dodge. Falling to the muddy bank of the river in a heap, she tried to focus her vision when Shane showed up. Her head, on the contrary was demanding something else and she succumbed to pained darkness.

When she woke up again it was already starting to get dark.

"That must have been a hell of a hit" she thought to herself.

Getting up from her spot in Dale's RV, she moved to open the door when it opened and a smiling Amy was making her way inside. Her face distorted and a horrifying scream tore her throat. Lauren ran forward with a bat in her hand, not believing what she saw.

Walkers.

With a might swing, she battered the head of the walker that had just taken a chunk of Amy's arm. Grief overwhelmed her and she briefly thought of Daryl.

"LORI, GET HIM DOWN!" Shane's voice rang across camp and Lori threw herself over her son as Shane opened fire over their heads.

Lauren tried to dispose of the walkers that passed her way, trying to corner her in the RV. She didn't want to die like an animal and she fought with all her strength, all the while her head seemed to almost burst from the pain of the earlier hit. She cursed Ed violently, knowing it was of no use now.

Her eyes darted around and found Dale trying to keep a walker's disgruntled jaw away from his face. She ran to him and another mighty swing of her bat and the walker stopped trying to get back up and lay limp. Lauren grabbed Dale's hand and pushed him away from the scene, trying to fight and survive in the chaos.

Somewhere she could hear the faint cries of Eliza and Morales shouting, "I'm coming, baby!"

Lauren looked for Carol and Sophia her heart felt somewhat lighter when she saw they were next to Carl, Shane and Lori while Shane was doing his best to separate every walker's head from its shoulder.

"Come on! Make your way to me!" Shane yelled

Then she saw them. The noise must have alerted them to the attack in the camp. They were back and Merle was with them. Dodging a rotting hand, she silently thanked God that they were all back.

Try as she might, she could not get away from the rotting corpse of a woman that was trying desperately to get supper. An arrow forced its way into the walker's head and the weight of the body pushed them both to the ground with a thud.

"LAUREN!" Daryl's voice rang across the night and he broke into a sprint to where he saw her crumble to the bloodied ground. Dragging the foul smelling walker away from her, he took her appearance. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hang open in a silent scream. But she was alive. She was alive.

A gasping breath drew from the bottom of her lungs and she closed her eyes.

"Thank you"