I haven't slept much since starting this story and when I wake up, after making the coffee of course, which has become an integral part of my day ;) the first thing I do is get right back on here again to write more. I look forward to reading all of your reviews! They are so great and it's that (And the caffeine) that keeps me in the mood to write more. So thank you for them! I hope this is another one that you enjoy. Have a great morning! =)

Chapter Thirteen

They drove for about a half an hour before Daryl pulled over. The caravan behind him did the same.

"Stay in the truck." He grumbled as he went to open the door.

"No!" Carol grabbed his arm.

He sighed without looking at her. "Fine. Stubborn ass woman."

She scooted out on his side and helped Sophia out of the truck. It had been Rick and his family driving behind them and Lori pulled Carol to her as Carl and Sophia hugged one another tightly.

"I'm so glad you made it." Lori cried. She let go of Carol and then hugged Sophia. She turned back to Carol with tear streaked eyes. "When I turned around she was just gone. Rick swore he saw Daryl put her in the truck but I wasn't sure."

"She's fine." Carol reassured her softly. She kept her hand on Sophia's shoulder.

Andrea and Amy bolted out of the R.V. Andrea kept her arm around Amy and they were both crying. Shane pulled up behind them in his Jeep.

"You saved damn near the whole camp Dixon." Shane said as he ran towards them.

Andrea threw herself at Carol so hard that she actually stumbled backwards a foot or more. "We didn't see you guys. We weren't sure if you made it out or not." Andrea's voice was full of emotion.

Dale, Glen and T-dog were the next to join the crowd on the road.

"Is this it?" Carol asked. Searching behind everyone else for Jim and Jackie.

Dale patted her shoulder and she felt Daryl's hand slide into her own. "Jim and Jackie didn't make it." Dale said sadly.

"None of us would have made it if it wasn't for Daryl." Glen said quietly and then everyone nodded in agreement.

Daryl took a step back, clearly not enjoying the attention.

"You saved almost this whole group, Daryl." Andrea said thickly, "My sister's alive because of you."

"So what the hell do we do now?" Daryl asked, trying to get the attention off himself.

Rick looked over at Shane who nodded. "Stick to the plan I guess. Try our luck at the CDC."

The men decided to go over the map that Dale had in the R.V. Dale and Glen climbed onto the top and sat back to back to keep watch for more Walkers.

"Stay right here." Daryl said in Carols ear as the men motioned for him to join them. He glanced down at Sophia and then, to Carol's surprise, he took her hand and led her off with him.

Andrea was next to her now, watching them go with a mildly amused expression on her face. "Full of surprises, huh?"

Carol nodded. "That he is."

She looked over at Carol then, her expression serious now. "I know your tired of the questions. I do. And I know that your business is your business, but you have to tell me. Is any of this working? Or are the two of you really just going to fight it and play the friend card for the rest of your lives?"

Carol frowned. "Is any of what working?" She was surprised that Andrea was asking her anything at all. She had been the one that had been quiet about the whole thing. She had even defended her when Lori wouldn't shut up.

Andrea looked around but the only person near them was Amy, who was tucked into Andrea's side. Amy was the one that looked up and answered her. "Andrea messed the tent up on purpose because she knew that Daryl wouldn't let you go anywhere without him and she knew it was going to rain. And then when Glen went on his run she added some sexy smell good stuff to the list so she could try to get you to use it. She's trying to get you two to see what the rest of us have been seeing for days now."

Carol didn't say anything. She just stared at them, not really knowing what to say. Andrea was starting to look embarrassed.

"Look, I know that it wasn't my place to get involved and I didn't have any right to interfere but I didn't think either of you would do anything on your own. You would never just ask him to share a tent with you."

Carol still just stared.

"Carol, I'm sorry. I really was trying to help." Andrea said in a strained voice. "You're my friend and he's good for you. I saw that right away."

Carol laughed. She hadn't meant too but there it was. She covered her mouth. Andrea looked relieved and she gave Carol a warm look.

"Andrea," Carol said with a sad smile of her own. "I think you have way too much time on your hands. Maybe we should start worrying more about finding you a man than myself."

"That's exactly what I told her." Amy said.

They stood in silence for a while. Each lost in their own thoughts until the men emerged from the camper and Daryl and Sophia stalked towards her. Carol couldn't help but notice how close he kept the girl. It should have made her happy but it just made her feel that much worse. Daryl, in all actuality, barely knew them and already he had shown more concern for the girl than he her own father. Carol would never forgive herself for that.

~H~

Daryl noticed that lost look on Carol's face right away. He thought that maybe it was the news that Jim and Jackie hadn't made it but it was the same mask she had worn in the tent before he had turned off the flashlight. It made him feel powerless and that was something that he couldn't stand.

When she saw them coming she tried to smile but it was a pale imitation compared to the real thing. Andrea gave him a nod before she steered her sister off towards the R.V.

"So, what do we do now?" Carol asked. She sounded tired. Drained.

"There's a town maybe an hour from here. Rick said we should check it out and find a place to rest up. Then we can head for the city in the mornin'." He looked down at the top of Sophia's head. "Dale said that her and Carl can ride in with them but it's up to you."

Carol wasn't sure. The camper would be much more comfortable and she trusted everyone in it to keep the kids safe but after tonight she wasn't sure how she felt about Sophia being away from her. Sophia gave her a hopeful look. She looked back up at Daryl "You think it's a good idea?"

He shrugged. "That's where most of the guns are. She'll be better protected in that thing than she would be in the truck. We don't plan on stoppin' anywhere anyway. It's a straight shot from here as long as we don't run into any road blocks."

She debated for another long moment but then finally nodded. Sophia hugged her tightly and then took off. They both watched until she was in the camper.

He studied Carols face. She looked worn out and it was hard telling how long it would take them to find a place to hole up. "Maybe you should ride with Dale too. Get some sleep or somethin'. It probably sleeps better than the tent does."

She shook her head. "No."

"Suit yourself then." He shrugged indifferently but he was grinning like a kid on the inside.

She got in beside him and shut the door quietly. It was an old truck with a bench seat so their wasn't anything keeping her by the door. She slid all the way over next to him and then yawned loudly.

"You sure you don't wanna ride with them? You need to sleep." He wanted her there but he didn't want her to be exhausted.

"I can sleep here." And to prove her point she slid down and curled up on the seat with her head in his lap.

His grip on the steering wheel was so hard that his knuckles were white as bone in the dim light. He glanced down and then back up at the road and then back down. He really needed to start thinking about something else. Anything else. Anything at all other than her head in his lap. Think about the Walkers. Think about the CDC. Think about anything else.

He looked in the rear view mirror and saw that he was way ahead of the others. The speedometer said he was pushing 85 miles an hour. He eased his foot off the accelerator and then hit the breaks a bit.

Her breath felt hot on his thigh. He was learning how to deal with a lot of things. Things he laughed off now would have surely caused him to go into fits a week ago but he was about to have to tell her to get her fucking face away from his crotch. Not that he was opposed to things like Carol's face next to any part of his body, especially his crotch but, he needed to drive and he couldn't think about driving right now. He normally wasn't a praying man but right then he was praying that she wouldn't move her head any further. She might find herself getting offended and then he'd surely just want to die. Why was all this always so damn awkward? This woman was surely going to kill him.

She raised back up and looked at him. As soon as her head was away from him he blew out a breath, causing his cheeks to puff out. He hadn't known he was holding his breath at all. "Why are you so tense?" She asked as she arched an eyebrow at him.

"I ain't." He said in a voice that was way more husky than he would have liked.

"Yes you are. Did you want me to ride with Dale? If you want some time to yourself then that's okay. I've been like your shadow for the last few days."

He glanced at her again and she was looking at him intently with those blue eyes. "No. If I didn't want you around don't you think I would tell you that? I ain't known for my winnin' personality around here, ya know? I kinda say shit that people don't wanna hear." He snorted.

She nodded. "I noticed."

"So then quit askin' stupid questions then."

From the corner of his eye he could see her smile. And then she surprised him once again by leaning in and kissing him on the jaw. His breath caught in his throat and he swerved but righted the truck quickly. His skin felt hot where her lips had just been.

"The hell was that for?" he grumbled.

"For just being you." She smiled and laid her head back down on his lap but his mind was too preoccupied with that small kiss to think about much else.

She seemed to be asleep just a few short minutes later. "I damn sure ain't no prize, woman." He said quietly as he laid his hand on her shoulder.

~H~

She heard what he said right before she drifted off and it caused her to frown. It was obvious that Daryl Dixon did not see himself clearly at all.

She didn't know how long she had slept when she felt him shaking her shoulder. It didn't seem like she hadn't slept much at all and she was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. She thought she could sleep for a month if she ever got the chance. She felt like she couldn't wake up all the way but she still raised up and looked at him groggily.

"We're here." He said quietly and then he frowned. "You alright?" He cupped her face in his rough hand and ran his thumb across her cheek bone. This woke her up a bit and she found herself leaning into his hand.

"I'm fine. Just tired." She said sleepily.

His hand lingered for a moment but he eventually pulled it away and hopped down from the truck. Rick and the others were already out of their vehicles and looked to be waiting on them. Carol glanced around. It was still dark but she had no idea what time it could be. The town wasn't much of a town but it was kind of cute. About seven building on each side of the street made the town an actual town. The rest was just houses of different styles. The breeze blew and she could hear the sounds of wind chimes in the distance.

"I figure we can check out one of the houses. All of us can hole up in one for tonight if we can get it secure. Looks like the windows have already been boarded up on a few of them." Rick said to the others. "We can get someone to stay on watch. That's somethin' we should have done at camp and somethin' I think we should do from now on no matter where we end up.

"I can take watch." Daryl said.

T-dog shook his head. "Man, you been drivin'. You gotta drive when we head out in the mornin' too. Me and Glen can sleep in the camper, just like we've been doin'. We'll take watch." He nodded towards Carol then. "Looks like you got somethin' else to take care of. Looks to me like she's already asleep on her feet."

She tried to open her eyes a little wider. They were all looking at her and she sighed. "I'm fine." She argued but she could hear the slur of her own words.

"I'm thinking maybe the shock of everything that's happened to her today is catching up with her." Dale said wisely. "You need to find yourselves a bed so she can sleep this off."

She was about to argue when she suddenly felt like the earth shifted under her feet and she felt strong arms wrap around her before she hit the ground. And then there was nothing but darkness.

I just realized something. I'm constantly putting these two in these awkward sexual situations. lol I'm not even TRYING to do that. It's just sort of funny and so I always end up going there. And to think, a few chapters ago I called you all perverts. I'm totally ashamed of myself for that since this story is full of THAT and I'm the one writing it. So, my sincerest apologies ;) And I spent all of two minutes thinking up this story before I dashed to the computer like an addict and just started writing. I know what's going to happen only about an hour before the rest of you. XD So, it's just a journey for all of us I suppose so bear with me through all of the sexual tension. Because I suppose, dear readers, that it is ME that just may be the pervert here ;)

Okay... I think I may go nap or something. I'm being deliriously charming this morning and it is quite frightening! 3