A/N Right chapter in the right place this time. Bit of a filler but chapter 7 up soon.

Guest Reviewer - Thanks for the lovely comment. I'm really pleased you enjoy my stories.

Chapter 6

The bed was narrow and the mattress thin but to Cassie it was the most comfortable thing she had slept on in months. Once they had arrived at the prison Daryl had been taken to the medical room and she had been guided to a cell. Maggie had bought her food and more water as well as clean clothes. She'd stayed with her for a while then left, telling her to get some sleep and that they would introduce her to everyone else later. It was now several hours later and she was feeling a lot more human. She stood up, planning to go and find Daryl, to see how he was when she heard someone at the doorway to her cell.

"Well aint you just a real sweet little piece?" a rough voice drawled. Turning she saw a scruffy man in his forties leaning on the door post. He was looking her up and down and clearly liked what he saw. He ran his hand over his close cropped hair as he stepped into the cell, moving a lot closer than she felt happy with. She saw he only had one hand, the missing one replaced with a large blade.

"Hell, no wonder my baby bro went missing so long if he was stuck with a pretty little piece of ass like you" he smirked at her obvious discomfort.

"You don't need to be scared of ol' Merle" he told her "Sounds like you done right by my little brother. That means I owe you one" he looked her over again "I can think of one sure way I can say thanks" he leered.

"That's enough Merle. Leave the girl alone" Cassie was relieved to see Rick in the doorway. Merle stepped away and sneered at Rick.

"Well, Officer Friendly, I was just thanking this fine thing for lookin' out for my Bro. Surely you aint got a problem with that" Merle brushed past Rick, deliberately banging into his shoulder as he left the cell.

"Don't mind him, he's just an asshole" Rick smiled at her "We only put up with him because he's Daryl's brother" He held out his hand "come on, I guess you want to see how he's doing and meet the others"

Cassie nodded and let him lead her from the cell into the main cell block, several people she hadn't met smiled at her, making her feel reassured. Rick took her into a cell where she saw Daryl laying back in bed, a white haired older man at his side. When the man stood up to greet her, she saw he was missing half of one leg and using crutches to get around.

He grasped her hand with a friendly smile.

"I'm Herschel" he told her "and you must be Cassie. Daryl has told me some of what you two went through. You're a very resourceful young woman. I can't imagine anyone else has killed a walker using a corkscrew" He chuckled. She gave a small smile

"Just had to make the most of what I could find. It took ages to get it out again, I had to unscrew it"

She heard Rick laugh behind her and saw Herschel smile broadly.

"That sounds disgusting" he commented

"It was" Cassie confirmed, looking past him to the man on the bed. Herschel saw the look and moved towards the door, catching Ricks arm to take him out with him.

"He'll be fine in a few days, luckily there was no lasting damage. Nothing a few days rest won't cure" he told her as the two men left them alone. Herschel reached up and dropped the sheet pinned over the doorway for privacy.

Cassie awkwardly made her way over to the bed. Daryl was laying, propped on several pillows, holding the sheet up to his chin, keeping himself covered out of habit. He knew she'd seen the scars and guessed she was disgusted by them.

"How you feein?" he asked her awkwardly.

"Better for a good night's sleep and some food" she told him "they seem like good people here"

"Yeah, they are" he confirmed as she fidgeted, standing next to the bed. He moved his legs to the side and told her to sit down, so she perched on the edge and they sat silently, not knowing what to say.

There was a bang on the door frame and a mocking voice called

"Alright to come in or are you tapping that fine thing in there, Darlena?" Merle laughed as he barged into the cell.

"Shut the hell up Merle" Daryl growled at his brother, throwing an apologetic look at Cassie. She stood and made her way out of the cell.

"I'll see you later" she told Daryl, ignoring Merle. As she left she heard Merle's mocking tone again.

"You gonna find the balls to jump that or you just gonna let someone else beat you to it?"

She didn't hear Daryl's words but his tone wasn't polite.

She found Maggie and Glenn in a large common area and they introduced her to the rest of the group. There was Maggie's sister, a beautiful young blonde girl called Beth, who cared for Rick's baby daughter Judith. Carol was an attractive, older woman who looked after the whole group. It was her that cooked and did the laundry and generally mothered the rest of them. She gave Cassie a friendly hug and thanked her for helping to bring Daryl back to them.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him" Cassie told them "He went through so much and still got us both out"

Glenn grinned at her "Yeah, he's a stubborn son of a bitch alright"

She was heading back to her cell when she heard heavy footsteps behind her.

"Wait up darlin' I need to talk to yer" Reluctantly she stopped as Merle ran up the stairs behind her. He stared at her for a few seconds, then spoke.

"You think you can tell me how to find those assholes that hurt my brother?" he asked abruptly. "I feel the need for a little payback"

Cassie thought for a minute. She didn't like Merle but could see that he was genuinely concerned about his younger brother.

"I can't tell you how to get there, but if you take me to the pharmacy I was in when they took me I can show you." she saw the startled look on his face.

"What, you think you're the only one that wants payback?" she asked.

He frowned at her "Daryl'll tear me a new one if he knows I took you back there. It aint gonna be safe" he actually sounded worried.

"He won't worry if he doesn't know and I can take care of myself. It maybe there aren't many survivors after the attack on the farm." She was determined to go back with him. Her bruised jaw reminded her she had a score to settle with Becca.

They waited until nightfall before taking one of the cars and heading for the gates. Glenn was on guard duty and was reluctant to open the gates for them.

"It's not safe after dark and I'm sure Rick won't be happy with you going out" he tried to reason with them.

"Look, Chinaman" Merle explained patiently, "We're goin' whether you like it or not, so if you don't come and open these damn gates I'll do it myself and leave them open behind me, then you'll have to fight the walkers that get in."

Glenn knew that Merle would do what he said so he reluctantly let them out, muttering as he slid the gate shut behind them. He prayed they both made it back okay as he didn't want to face Daryl if they didn't.