Okay, side note before we begin. A little while ago, I started a FanFiction for Fallout 3 which based around the relationship of the Lone Wanderer and her father. I don't know if there any fans of Fallout who are reading this, but if there are; would anyone be interested in reading it? If so, just let me know in the review section or by PM. Thanks.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

TWD Chapter 14 – Conflicting Feelings.

"Olly, wake up." Olivia could feel herself being shaken awake and she tried, with all her might, to ignore it. By the sound of the voice, said person shaking her was Nick. "Olly, you gotta wake up. Carver's comin'." Her eyes shot open at that. She'd almost forgotten where she was. Damn.

"Fine, I'm awake." The whole of her body ached from the way she had slept and her neck was crooked from that damn pillow. The only silver lining she could think of was the fact her wounds felt a little better. Olivia dragged herself upwards and then flopped over the side of the bed. Looking around, she and Clementine were the last to be awoken. Unfortunately, Clem had to suffer bastard Troy waking her up. She walked over to the little girl who was stretching herself, obviously feeling very similar to herself. "You okay, Clem?" She nodded.

Behind them, the main shutters clattered open, giving them the cue to go join the others. Carver strolled in, a very arrogant aura emanating from him. Once he was satisfied that everyone was in front of him, he shoved a hand in his pocket and began another bullshit preach. "There's been increased walker activity along the fence so be mindful when outside the walls. The herd's moved a little closer as of this morning, but that still doesn't mean we'll be hit. Know we're monitoring the situation. Now..." He paused as if preparing himself for a life saving speech. Olly just huffed at him, but he didn't seem to notice. "There are some folks might be sore about what happened... at how things went. Well, that's all in the past now... some of you are new to our community. Some of you are members who went astray..." Olivia stopped listening. If Carver thought she was going to make this easy for him, he had another thing coming. She was going to spend every waking moment here planning to get out, preferably with Carver's head in her hands. It would be nice to be able to grab some of that food before they got out too. It would be difficult to make it anywhere with out it.

"Carlos!" The sudden shout caused Olly to jump, perhaps making it obvious she hadn't been paying attention.

"Yes?"

"Your child seems to be in need of correction." Uh oh. What had Sarah done? It can't have been that bad... this is Sarah we're talking about here.

"I'm sorry, I- Sarah a- apologize to Mr. Carver." Okay, where the heck was Carlos? This blustering mess was not him!

"S- I'm... sorry, sir." Sarah was clutching her sleeve nervously, unable to meet Bill's gaze, who was frowning at both Carlos and Sarah, furiously.

"No, no. That ain't gonna cut it. I can't have this kind of behaviour on day one of your reform. You discipline her now, Carlos." Carver finished with one sharp point towards Carver, as if he was the one doing the disciplining.

"How do you propose I-"

"One good smack across the mouth should do it. It'll make her think twice before opening it again. Go on, we'll wait." Carver folded his arms, and started tapping his left foot, dramatising his point more than he needed to.

"My... I'm not sure with my hand that I could-" Carlos held up his mending hand in the hope of persuading them he was incapable, but Carver wasn't having any of it.

"That's why you've got two hands, Carlos! Come on. And not some namby pamby thing, all right? A good hard smack. Otherwise, Troy here will do it for ya."

Olly was no longer able to hold her tongue. "Is this how you get your kicks? She's just a kid! She didn't know she was doing anything wrong!"

Carver glared at her. "It's a shame Joel has already been set to work. It seems you're in need of more … guidance. Ah well, I'm sure it can be arranged." A knowing smile appeared on his face, which angered her more. She began to storm towards him, prepared to hurt him any way she could, before a small hand grasped on to hers and pulled her back. It was Clem.

Carlos, obviously seeing no way out of it, turned to his daughter. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry." Sarah was shaking now, unable to comprehend why her Dad was turning on her.

"Close your eyes honey. It's only going to sting for a second." Sarah did as was bid, her back arched slightly in fear.

Carlos was reluctant to hurt her and for that, Olivia was thankful. Carver, this monster, seemed to enjoy turning fathers against their daughters. He's done it to me and now... he's doing it to Sarah.

"Do it." With that, Carlos struck his daughter hard across the cheek. Sarah yelped in pain as the force of the blow caused her to fall straight to the floor. Her hand went to her cheek as she cried, which was now a royal red colour.

Carlos stared down at this daughter, dumbstruck. Then, he shook his head as if to snap himself out of his trance. "I'm sorry, Sarah." He attempted to aid his daughter before Carver intercepted him.

"Stop! You're not coddling that girl anymore. Let her sit there and think about what she's done." Bastard. "Troy, get Carlos to his post. Everyone else should have their assignments. It's time to get to work." Assignments? What fricking assignments?

Troy strolled over to Carlos, a smirk plastered on his face. "God damn, you really knocked the shit outta her, Doc."

"Everyone get to work!" Carver scowled at the lot of them, before turning to leave.

"Hey! What the heck am I supposed to be doing?" He turned back to her, a smile evident in the gleam in his eyes. "Ah, yes. You're in the garage today. Tavia will escort you there." With that, he strolled off. Pompous asshole.

"You're in the armory." Olly turned around to see who she assumed was Tavia talking to Clementine. Tavia then turned to the redhead. "The garage is past the armory, you're with me too."

They were both escorted through the main warehouse building again, past a lot of prying eyes. Olly wondered if any of them were stuck here, like Rebecca and the rest had been, or if they were assholes like Troy, Carver... and her dad. It wasn't long before Clementine and Olivia had to part ways, very reluctantly. As much as she didn't like the thought of the little girl being forced in to child labour, she'd much rather she do as she was told, so she didn't get hurt.

Tavia guided Olivia further in to the warehouse, until they came to an opening, which led to more outdoors. A path was perfectly crafted, using wooden fences, towards a lonely looking garage. "You'll be helping repair things that need maintenance."

With a puzzled expression, Olly questioned. "Helping?"

Tavia didn't say anything, just continued walking. Once they reached the garage, the door was pulled open and inside was a scrubby looking workshop, but it was larger than she expected. All around lay loose bolts and screws and odd electrical tools. She stepped inside and that's when she noticed a man in the corner. He was wearing a tank top which revealed a very scarred but well shaped body. He was wearing scruffy overalls in which the arms hung loosely around his waist. He was hammering in to some metal, the scars on his stretched with each hit. He had his back to her, but it was obvious who it was by his shaggy greying hair.

The garage door slammed shut behind her. Furious, she turned and kicked the door as hard as she could. She screeched with irritation, a fist flying towards the exit, hitting it once again.

"Good to see you, too." Joel turned to his daughter, throwing the hammer on the table beside him.

"Fuck you." Olly glowered at her Dad from across the other side of the room, her hands clenched in to tight fists.

He sighed heavily. "That's the way it's going to be, then." He returned to work, his back greeting her once again and a hammer slammed against metal.

She just stood there, staring at him in disbelief. Had he seriously just said that? "You're fucking kidding me, right? Look at what you did to me!" He didn't. "LOOK!" The unexpected tone of her voice commanded him to stop and turn. Looking at his daughter, he saw a lot of pain, confliction, fear and most of all... hate. He had done that to her.

"I know what I did." A silent pause consumed the room as they looked at one another. They both bore scars that would never heal, the only difference being, one set were caused by the other person.

"I searched for you. I gave everything in to finding you. I denied myself safety to try and find you! I killed for you!" Joel showed no emotion as she wailed at him, her high pitch tone emanated from her crying. "Did you even care? Did you even look for me?"

"Of course I looked! I searched for a long fuckin' time! Everything I have done is because of you!"

Now it was Olly's turn to be dumbstruck. "How can you possibly say that?" Her tone had quietened to almost a whisper, her voice strained as tears welled in her eyes.

Joel placed both his hands over a counter, as if he would push it a way in a fit of rage at any moment. He breathed heavily, attempting to calm himself. "I searched for a long time. When we were flung off that boat, I saw you get washed away and I did everything I could to try and go after you... but I was hit in the head. I don't remember what happened after that. All I know is when I opened my eyes it was dark and I wasn't alone. A family, who had tried to escape too, saved me. I didn't stick around long... I got supplies and left as quick as I could in the hope that someone had saved you too."

Olly's sad eyes glistened as tears fell down her cheeks, silently. "Why did you hurt me? Why?! Why did you do this to me, Dad?!"

"Because you left me no choice!" Olivia's face morphed in to confusion. What did he mean? "Running up to us was your first fuckin' mistake after the way you treat Carver on your first meeting-"

"My first meet-?" Olly mulled over what he said, shock soon overtaking her. "How do you know about that?"

He sighed again. "He came back after that day, questioning me on whether I had a daughter. I knew he had met you, and he knew too. You didn't exactly leave the best first impression on a proud fuckin' man!"

"That's it? That's why you hit me?!" Olly arms went in the air, exasperated, before leaving to rub her temple.

"Then of course, you had to use your mother's smart mouth to go and insult him! Then to put the fuckin' icing on the goddamn cake, you attacked him!" Joel had stormed over to her at this point, his figure far superior to hers as he glowered down at her.

"I was trying to protect my group! The people who had taken care of me-"

"Yeah? Look how that turned out for you!" He gestured to the scars on her face. "Look at how it turned out for me!" He then revealed his own scars caused by Carver. "This is what helping people does to you! It gets you killed." Joel strolled back over to his work station, a hand running through his hair. He had gotten old since the last time Olly had seen him. "We better get some work done, Carver will come to check up on you soon." His voice was now a lot more gentle as he spoke. It almost sounded like it had done when she was growing up.

Olivia slowly walked over to where her father was. Looking at him now, she didn't know what to think. He claimed that all he had done, he had done for her... but the pain she had felt told her something different. "I know what Carver did to you."

The corner of his eyes, met hers. "Oh you do, do you?"

"I know he tortured you... What I don't understand is what happened afterwards. Why did you betray your friends?!"

Joel chuckled darkly. "'Friends.' Right. Sure, they were my friends. We planned for ages to get out of this shithole. Rebecca wanted to get out because she fucked Carver and got pregnant and didn't want Alvin finding out. Luke wanted to get out because Carver wouldn't listen to how he wanted to run things so he spat his dummy out. Nick would do anything Luke told him to, as would the rest of his little family and Carlos... Carlos was the only one I really cared for. He had Sarah and wanted to protect her. I could relate. Once I got out, I had planned to start searching for you again. Carlos said he'd help me."

Olly was shocked. She had no idea about any of this. It was obvious to her that Carlos had cared for Joel back in the truck, it hadn't occurred to her just how much. "Then, what happened?"

His eyes clenched shut at the memories. "I was caught trying to steal some pliers and the whole plan went south. Carver beat me until I bled a few times, trying to get me to admit to any help I had. Stubbornly, I refused, thinking I could take it. When I didn't, it got worse..." He refused to go in to any details. Olly wouldn't have been able to take it if he had anyway. "So, I wisen'd the fuck up. I started doing as I was told and ya know what, I'm glad of it! My life is a fuckin' breeze now."

Olly glared at him, her hands on her hips. "So that's it? You're content to be a fucking slave because it's 'easier'?!" He ignored her and decided to return to work instead. "You're not my dad. My dad wouldn't just give up like this."

"If I was still the man that brought you up, I'd be dead." Olly started poking around the workshop, no emotion present in her features. It was her turn to give HIM the silent treatment. "You're also not the daughter I brought up." She paused for just a second, that the only indication she'd heard him. "The little girl I brought up wouldn't kill... anyone. The little girl I brought up wouldn't show her frustration by hitting inanimate objects. The little girl I brought up wouldn't be so goddamn stupid and actually believe that I don't give a fuck about her. We've all changed." Olly turned towards him, only to stumble straight in to her dad who had, in fact, gradually been getting closer to her. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't want to do it and it killed me to actually see you think I meant it. I thought you, of all people, would have seen the truth. Evidently I was wrong."

She shook her head sadly, her eyes moving towards the floor. "Or maybe I've just lost sight of what is right and wrong these days."

Joel smirked. "There's no such thing as right and wrong any more. Only survival." He gently pulled her in to a hug, resting his chin on top of her head. The comforting feeling, she hadn't felt since the day this started, overwhelmed her. At first she fought against it, but he held closer still. Eventually, she clutched his tank tightly, crying hard in to his shoulder. Her knees almost buckled, but his strength kept her upright.

They stayed like that for a long while. It meant a lot to Joel for her to finally see, and hopefully understand, why he had done what he did. For so long, he had looked after himself because he had no choice. He never wanted to endure what he had by Carver's hand again... now there was Olivia to think of too. She had to wisen up and start looking out for herself more. If only she wasn't so pigheaded.

When Olly pulled away, Joel wiped away the remaining tear on her cheek and smiled down at her. The first proper smile he had achieved since discovering she was alive. "We need to get some work done."

Olivia scoffed. "You actually think I'm going to work for that asshole."

"For god's sake. Carver knows you're going to cause him trouble and it's what he wants! He wants to punish you." Rebecca's words, from the truck, echoed in her mind. "Please honey, I don't want to have to hit you again..." Olly's heart ached at the sound of him calling her 'honey' once again. Unaware, she nodded her head. "Good. Grab that soldering iron from over there, will you?"

Olly strolled over to where her father had pointed and picked up the bit of equipment before passing it to him. "Why are they even trusting me in here?"

He laughed. "They aren't trusting you, they're trusting me." He 'fired up' the soldering iron and got to work on repairing some loose bits of wire. Olly didn't really get what he was doing. It looked as if he was trying to repair some kind of transformer.

"So, it's that easy, is it? You do as your told for a little while and they start trusting you with deadly equipment."

"It takes a lot longer than just 'a little while'. Besides, a soldering iron is hardly 'deadly'." He mumbled, his concentration levels high. "Pass me that duct tape beside you, will ya?" She did as she was told with out being fully aware, her mind mulling over questions she wanted answering.

"Why didn't Reggie go through what you did? He helped the group escape, didn't he?"

Joel smirked. "Put it this way, I wasn't exactly 'polite' to Carver when he beat me."

Olly smiled at the thought. "That sounds like my dad." There was a comfortable silence between the pair, one she had worried she'd never feel again. Propping herself on the counter, Olivia took another look around the workshop. It was a mess. It reminded her of how her father's room at been back in Savannah... severely disorganised. Looking over at Joel, she noticed a scar on his lip, that ran from the bottom of his nose to his chin, which she hadn't noticed before. "Should I be doing something?"

He nodded. "Probably. You were always useless at D.I.Y though."

"Ha. Ha. Funny."

He chuckled lightly to himself. "Get your ass here then." She jumped off the counter and stood by his side. "Hold that." He gestured to a tiny bit of a wire covering, which he had stripped down to expose the wire inside. He moved to solder the wire to the other half which he had also stripped down.

"You'll come with us, won't you? When we leave, I mean."

He scowled. "What makes you so sure you're getting out?"

"I'm not you, Dad. I can't be happy slaving about, doing as I'm told... Not when the only thing I can think about is ending that fucker's life."

He stopped soldering and looked at her. "Has everything I've said gone straight over your head."

She didn't have the opportunity to respond before the sound of the garage door opening interrupted her. Predictably, in came Carver. "How's it comin', Joel?"

"Almost done. Just need to replace some of what I've stripped back and redo some of the copper coating and it'll be ready."

"Good. Good." His weasel gaze soon turned on Olly, assessing her behaviour. "How's the new member of our community holdin' up?"

Joel gazed at her from the corner of his eye before turning to 'the boss'. "She gave me a little lip at first, but she soon got in to it."

"Is that right? Tavia told me she heard her kick the garage door..."

Joel interrupted, a stoic expression clouding how he truly felt. "Yeah, I already punished her for that. She soon gave in and got to work."

Carver smiled. "Good. I'm glad I can count on you, Joel. She'll be one of us soon enough." Evidently Olly hadn't mastered the 'emotionless' look her father had as she unconsciously scowled at him. "Well, since you're almost finished here, Olivia will help out with building the fences. An incident there now requires extra hands to get it fixed. They're easy enough to find, I'm sure you'll manage." Once Carver's back was to the both of them, Olly 'flipped the bird' at him, satisfied by her father's snicker.

Once he finished laughing, they both shared a smile. It quickly faltered when she realised what her dad had just done for her. "Thanks for... ya know." He nodded lightly. "I guess I better get going, then." She began walking after Carver, before her father called her back.

"Oh, Olivia! I almost forgot." She turned to the sight of him rummaging through a bag of stuff. She gasped at the sight of her father's hat when he turned around. "Here." The memory of her being hit and watching it fly off, flashed in her mind. He held it out to her, but she refused to take it.

"It's yours. I had always intended to give it back to you, if I found you again. Looks like I don't have to now."

He shook the hat in his hand for a second, before slipping it on his head. "Speak soon, honey."

She nodded before strolling out the garage and pulling it shut behind her. A rollercoaster of emotions whizzed through her and it was almost too much. Everything had changed again and her feelings had been flipped backwards. All that hate, all that betrayal... it could now be forwarded to the right person. Carver. Joel wasn't the same man she had known for all those years, but part of him was still there and she would hang on to it. She had lost him once... she wouldn't lose him again.

It didn't take long to find the area where the fences needed repairing considering the whole place was marked out. The groans of walkers as she walked down the path, raised in volume. Indeed, walker activity had increased. "Hey there, darlin'." Olivia cringed at the sound of Troy's voice, an evident sweet talking tone to it. "You're in here to help out, right? Bill radioed. Best behave... otherwise I'll have to punish you." He winked at her instantly sending shivers down her spine. Fuckin' creep. She reached the end of the pathway, pushed passed him and entered the door on the far end and slammed it behind her.

"Oh, look who it is." Kenny's unimpressed tone sounded from the other side of the room. "I suppose anyone's better than that asshole, Troy."

She nodded in agreement. "I'm supposed to be helping you with the fences or something."

"Windows actually, some of them broke in here a little while a go. My name's Mike, by the way." A man Olly hadn't even noticed before, stepped forward and held out his hand in welcome.

She looked at it suspiciously before slowly shaking it. "Olly."

"Nice to meet you." He gave her a warm smile which she struggled to return.

"Are you two just gonna fuckin' stand there!" Kenny held up his hands, in one hand was a board and in the other a hammer.

Mike scowled at him. "Oh, so now you're willing to do some work."

"I'd just rather not nearly die again, asshole!"

Olly looked at the broken window quizzically. "What the heck happened?"

"Kenny decided it would be a good idea to start a fight with me, then that little girl, Clementine, came in-"

"Wait, Clem was here? She wasn't hurt was she?!"

"No, she was fine! Got sent right on her way, though." Kenny held the board up to the window. "Anyone gonna fuckin' help me here?"

Olivia tutted before moving over to hold the board down for Kenny. Mike took the job of cutting the boards. Kenny nailed it down as tight as he could before moving to collect the next board.

The door to the renovated store opened and in came Troy, a smirk on his face. He propped himself against a shelf, his gun still in hand. Olivia watched him cautiously from the corner of her eye and it didn't go unnoticed by her that his gaze was landing on a certain part of her anatomy. She gulped, immediately feeling uncomfortable. "Hey Olivia, come over her a minute."

"I'm busy, sorry." Olly's heart hammered in her chest. She did NOT like the look Troy was giving her. She obviously wasn't the only one who noticed as the others were giving questioning glances also.

"I said get the fuck here, now!" She paused mid step. Com'on Olly. There's no need to be afraid of that asshole. If he tries anything, I can take him down. She tentatively moved towards Troy, who grinned menacingly at her submission. Once she was close enough he moved them so they were out of sight and earshot. Now she was scared. He had a gun and she was unarmed. She was pretty certain this wasn't in his job description either. "What d'ya say me and you go next door, hm?" His hand reached round and squeezed her behind provocatively. Now, she was pissed. With a face of pure terror, Olly spat in his eye and rose her knee to his genitals. Using Troy's anguish as an exit time, she sprinted out of the store and speed walked down the pathway, more tears springing from her eyes.

That fuckin' bastard. That disgusting little... worm! He tries anything like that again and I'll cut his damn balls off-" Her inner rant was soon interrupted by a pair of arms that laced around her waist and quickly brought her in to another store. "Get the fuck off me! Don't fuckin' touch me!" A hand soon snaked around her mouth in an attempt to muffle her screams.

"Hey, Olly! It's me!"

Her throat hitched at the sound of his silky voice. "Luke!"

I'm cruel, aren't I? Sorry. This chapter has definitely been one of my favourites to write. So many feels! I hope it's now obvious what path I chose, but I need to make it clear that when I said "happier"... I probably should have said "happier than the other option". The other option had A LOT of upsetting scenes. I'm actually kind of glad you guys wanted the happier option because I'm going to love writing all the scenes with Olly and Joel. Still expect some conflict, though. It's to be expected. Oh and Troy's a creep!

Anyways, just wanted to thank you ALL again for reading.

A special thanks to 'jennn18' for another lovely review. Your comments are always lovely.

A special thanks to 'RogueMetamorph' for your review, it was much appreciated.

A special thanks to 'Hdawg', I hope this chapter answered your question.

A special thanks to 'thesameoldfearsx' for a kind review, I hope this chapter met your standards and was what you wanted.

A special thanks to 'Mythical Annie-Rose' for another REALLY kind review. I'm super glad you're enjoying this.