Just something small, so you guys don't loose too much interest in the story. Hope you enjoy it =-) I was gonna make it longer but my son keeps pulling me away from the computer =-p

Chapter 8

"Where is Merle?" Tabatha asked, her heart plummeting into her stomach at the looks she was getting from the rest of the group. When no one said anything she felt like she was going to explode with rage. "Where's Merle!" she yelled.

"Tabby, calm down. We had to leave him, he was being reckless, he would of gotten the rest of us killed." Andrea said, stepping a little bit closer to Tabatha.

"What the hell are you talking about? You had to leave him?" Tabby could feel the angry tears trying to let themselves loose.

"It was my fault, I handcuffed him to the roof. He was drawing attention to us with his shootin." The man Tabatha vaguely realized was Carl's father said. Flashes of beating him in the head with a rock were only mildly abated by T-dog's confession.

"I was supposed to let him out. I lost the key. I'm sorry Tabby." he said, looking at the ground.

"Your sorry? Your fucking sorry? You left him there! How could you?"

"Tabatha! Get a hold of yourself. If we didn't stop him than none of us would of been able to come back to our families." Andrea put in, trying, and failing, to diffuse the situation.

"You stupid bitch! Don't you dare tell me to get a hole of myself! You wanted to come back to your families? Big fucking deal! What about Merle's family?" Tabatha barked, stepping up to Andrea until they were only inches apart.

"Daryl's tough, they don't even seem to like each other." Andrea said smugly, as if she had won the argument. The fist that connected with her jaw should of told her otherwise.

"Don't you dare act like you know them!" Tabatha yelled as she struggled to get back at Andrea and away from Shane's arms holding her back. "What about me, you stupid whore! Merle's the only family I have left! And you just sacrificed him!" Shane was finally able to get her into the RV, where Dale took over trying to calm her down.

By the time Daryl came back to camp the next day, Tabatha had stopped struggling, stopped arguing. She just locked herself away in the RV's bathroom, sobbing. She could vaguely hear the commotion of when they told Daryl, it sounded like Andrea had learned to keep her trap shut, but the others hadn't really.

"Tabatha!" Daryl barked through the door of the bathroom. "Get your ass out here, now girl!"

She unlocked the door, but kept were she was on the floor. When the door opened Daryl's face went from rage to concern. She was so pale, he'd only seen her this pale once, and that was the worst day of his life. He knew she cared about Merle, and he knew that Merle had always cared about her more than anyone else. She was the little sister he needed to protect, where as Daryl was the little brother he needed to toughen up.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "I'm gonna go get him." he stated simply.

Tabby started climbing to her feet, "Then let's go." she said, before nearly falling over before Daryl caught her.

"I'm going. You...you are stayin put." He said, pulling her out of the bathroom and back to one of the beds.

"I have to go, Daryl. I need to get him back. He's...he's all I have left." She said, trying to hold back more tears.

Daryl barely resisted the urge to tell her that she still had him. They were friends, he'd rather have that then not have her at all. "I know," he sighed. "That's why I'm gonna bring him back. You know Merle, he's a tough son-a-bitch. If anyone could survive, it'd be him." He paused and brushed the hair out of her face. "But ya gotta stay here, eat sumthin. You know Merle'l beat the shit outa me if he sees ya like this." He felt a little thrill when she laughed.

"You were always terrible in the humor department, Daryl. But thank you for tryin." She cuddled into his side and tried to relax. If anyone could find Merle, it would be him. Tabatha smiled a little, remembering when Merle had taken them out hunting one summer. She must've been 12, and Daryl was trying so hard to show off how great of a tracker he was. He had been so busy showing off that he didn't even notice that mud puddle pond. She could still remember how red his face was when he came back up, covered in mud, Merle and her laughing so hard she thought her sides would split. "Boy, I sure hope you is the one on my trail if'n I get lost." Merle had joked when he finally caught his breath. Tabatha missed those days, back when they were a family.

She fell asleep before they left, dreaming about the simpler times, before she screwed it all up by falling for her best friend.


Thank you to Alina Maxwell, eloquent dreams, and Miss E Charlotte for reviewing the last chapter =-). You guys are awesome! =-)