I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! I haven't been home so this chapter is late. I'm sorry! Hope you like it!

Chapter Sixteen

Carol volunteered to go with the first group to do some scavenging. They needed some more supplies since they weren't sure what they may run into on their way to the CDC. Lucky for her Shane had already volunteered earlier. Daryl was also going and Andrea decided that this was too interesting to miss. She had actually said that to Carol as they leaned against the counter in the kitchen. Lori hadn't said much to her for the rest of the morning.

"I think what we need to do first is hit up the jail if they have one. There may still be guns and ammo in there. Rick, he did pretty good with the gun's he brought but we could always use more." Shane said as they made their way down the sidewalk towards the tiny town.

They were all quiet until they reached the building that said police. Literally, a wooden sign hung beside the door with the word POLICE etched into it.

"Probably ain't gonna find much in there." Daryl said, his voice glum.

"Well, it's worth a shot anyway. We need more weapons." Shane said as he tried the door. It was locked and so he drew his leg back like he was going to kick the glass out.

Daryl shoved him before he had a chance to do it and then Shane turned on him, his face an angry mask.

"The fuck you tryna' do, dumb ass." Daryl growled. "You start bustin' out glass every geek around is gonna come runnin'."

Shane lumbered towards him, not stopping until they were basically chest to chest. "You wanna put your hands on me again, asshole?" Shane growled between clenched teeth.

Daryl apparently took that as an invitation because to Carol's horror he shoved Shane backwards and then ran towards him, ramming his shoulder into Shane's stomach. They both went sprawling onto the sidewalk.

"Oh shit!" Andrea cried as she rushed towards the two men.

They were rolling around on the sidewalk and every time either of them landed a punch Carol flinched. She knew she should do something but she wasn't sure what she should do.

"Stop it!" Andrea hissed as she grabbed at Shane's arm right before his fist came down. He was on top of Daryl now and when his fist connected with Daryl's brow bone his knuckles came back up slick with blood.

Carol watched, completely stunned, as Daryl shook off the blow and then brought his knee up and slammed it hard into Shane's groin. Shane hissed in pain and that distraction was all Daryl needed to shove Shane off of him. Shane rolled onto his back as he clutched himself.

Daryl wasn't done, he launched himself on top of the other man and punched him hard in the face twice before Carol finally snapped out of it and ran towards them. Andrea was standing there with her hands on her hips looking quite disgusted. Carol grabbed his forearm just as he was about to bring it down into Shane's face again.

"Enough." She said quietly and his arm froze but the muscles there were still flexed under her fingers.

He looked at her and blew out a breath. He looked pissed but he did push himself up and away from Shane.

Daryl picked up his crossbow and shoved his head threw the strap. He didn't even glance down at Shane before he stormed off back towards the house. He had a nasty cut above the corner of his eye that was bleeding freely and there was a small cut on the corner of his mouth and another on his cheekbone.

She spared a glance at Andrea before she took off after him. Andrea nodded to her as she stood over Shane. Hands still planted firmly on her hips, glowering. Shane's nose was busted and his eye was already starting to swell. It would look pretty ugly tomorrow.

She caught up with him quickly and fell in step next to him. He looked like he was still angry but when he glanced down at her he offered her a smirk.

"You okay?" She asked, not sure what else to say.

He snorted. "That wasn't nothin'. Shoulda seen me and Merle. Shane ain't got shit on him."

Carol just nodded. She wasn't a fan of violence really. She thought she had seen enough of that to last her a lifetime. But there was something about Daryl and Shane beating the crap out of each other that caused a different reaction than what she had expected. They were two grown men. Both strong. And watching them like that, well, the only word she could use to describe the scene was... sexy. She laughed out loud to herself, causing Daryl to look down at her with a questioning look in his eye.

"I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head back and forth quickly. "That wasn't funny. You should both be ashamed of yourselves."

He gave her a strange look and then studied her face carefully and then stopped in the middle of the road. "You enjoyed that." He accused.

She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "I did not."

He narrowed his own eyes as he kept on studying her. "You're face is all flushed and your eyes are big and bright like some kid. That's why you didn't stop it sooner."

She dropped her hands and started to walk away. "You're ridiculous, Daryl Dixon."

He barked out a laugh and caught up with her easily. He draped his arm across her shoulders, still laughing. "You get all hot and bothered by two grown men fightin'? I woulda never guessed it."

Of course he had jokes. "That is not even true. The two of you looked like animals."

"Hey, that wasn't me. He started it."

Carol just shook her head. "Let's just hurry. That needs to be cleaned. Dale has a decent supply of first aid stuff in the R.V."

"This really ain't nothin' to worry about. I've had a lot worse that went untreated. I'll live." He argued, not used to anyone making a fuss over him.

"Well that was before you met me. And I'll worry if I want. There isn't any hospitals or doctors anymore and you can't risk any of that getting infected."

He sighed. "Yes ma'am."

She smiled. "You know, Rick is going to have a fit when he see's the two of you."

Daryl just shrugged. "Let him. Maybe he needs to keep that dumb ass dog on a leash. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He's been tryin' to get under my skin all damn mornin'."

Carol frowned. "I haven't seen him say anything at all to you."

"He ain't got to. Hell even Sophia can see it." Damn, he wasn't going to bring that up.

"Sophia? What did she tell you?" Carol asked as they neared Dale's camper.

Daryl groaned. "Just that Shane has a thing for you and I need to step up if I don't want the two of you getting together."

"Sophia said that to you?" Carol asked, astonished.

"Well, don't say anything to her about it. She'll think I ratted her out."

"What else did she say?" Carol pressed.

"Nothin' really." He shrugged. "She might have mentioned comin' across Lori and Shane in the woods."

Carol stopped with her hand on the door to the camper. "What? What did she see?"

He shook his head. "She didn't say. But from the look on her face when she told me about it makes me think that maybe she seen enough that she's probably gonna have plenty of questions for you."

"Oh my God." Carol gasped. "She saw them... you know? She saw that? When?"

Daryl shrugged. "She didn't say when. I didn't really ask the kid for details, woman."

"Do you think that's still going on? Even though Rick is back?" She asked.

He reached across her and opened the door. He gave her a little shove and she hurried in. "I don't know. It's none of my business." he said as he climbed in after her and shut the door.

"That's just awful. She's married. Her husband is a good man and he isn't dead." Carol hoped that if Sophia had seen them that it was before Rick got back. She hated the thought of Rick being hurt like that. Shane was his best friend. Is his best friend."

"You worry too much. Ain't none of that your problem." He said as he followed her to the back of the camper.

He sat down on the bed as she knelt down and pulled a large box that had been stashed under it. "That isn't exactly true. These people aren't just anybody. These people are our people now. We can't have personal things like that interfering with our survival. We all need each other."

"These ain't my people." He grumbled. "And I sure as hell don't need these people. I can probably survive a lot better on my own."

She looked up from the box she was rummaging through. His words seemed to cut right through her chest. Maybe he didn't need anybody. Maybe he would be better off on his own. But she wouldn't be. Could he be thinking about leaving them? He had said he would stick around for a while. But what if he was thinking about leaving? And if he did then what would she do?

He was staring at her with a strange look in his eye and then suddenly he was there on the floor, on his knees, on the other side of the box. "What's wrong?" he asked as he reached a hand to her face and grazed his fingers across her cheek. His fingers came away wet.

"Are you thinking about leaving?" She whispered. She hadn't even felt the tears but she could hear them in her voice. She knew it was stupid of her but she couldn't help it.

He frowned. "What?"

"You said that you could do better on your own. So, are you thinking about leaving? I know you were thinking about it before."

"I said I can survive without these people, Carol. That don't mean I'm gonna try to survive without you." By the look that came over his face he hadn't meant to say that out loud. He almost looked scared. Like he wanted to run from the R.V. Like he had looked that first night when he had found her by the water.

She couldn't think of anything to say to that. Her mind drew a blank as her heart felt like it was about to explode from her chest. It was sad that those clumsy words had been the nicest thing that anyone had ever said to her. Could he not survive without her? She already knew where she stood in this. But she never thought that he could feel the same way.

"Would you fuckin' say somethin', please?" He whispered, his eyes still wide.

She sat up on her knees and instead of saying anything she reached up and placed her hands on each side of his face and pulled him to her. This time he kissed her back eagerly and then he shoved the box that separated them out of his way. Grasping her hips tightly he yanked her towards him until every inch of him was pressed up against her. And even that wasn't close enough. She needed to get closer. She made a frustrated sound as his hands traveled down her thighs and then lifted her enough so she could wrap her legs around him. He eased her down onto her back then ground himself against her, causing her to bite down on his lip to keep from crying out. After a few long seconds he stopped moving over her and the way he kissed her changed, deeper but less intense than before and then finally he pulled his face away from hers.

"We ain't doin' this here." He said reluctantly.

"What? Why?" She was almost embarrassed at the desperate edge to her voice. Almost.

"Cause I ain't havin' any of those nosy fuckers comin' in here and catchin' us, for one." he pushed the top half of himself up but the bottom half was still pressed against her.

"And for two?" She whispered, disappointment clear in her tone.

"And for two, I ain't my brother. And you're worth more than that."

"Worth more than what?" She wanted to cry. Her whole body felt empty, like him pulling away had taken pieces of her with him.

He ducked his head down and kissed her again but he was still braced above her, not letting himself sink back into it. "You ain't some cheap fuck on a camper floor. That ain't you. And as much as I hate to say it, it ain't me either. You're better than that."

She looked around. Yep. She was definitely on the camper floor but she didn't care. She sighed loudly. "Fine, Mr. Morals."

He pushed himself back up onto his knees and she raised up on her elbows and glared at him. He laughed and took her hands, pulling her back up. "Wasn't you the one that was insistin' I get cleaned up?"

She looked at the wounds on his face. She had caused his lip to bleed a little more than it had already. He reached out with his thumb and ran it across her own lip. There was a tiny smear of blood there. "Sorry." She said with a grin. She guessed it should have grossed her out but it didn't. It was him.

She worked quickly now. Cleaning up his face but he drew the line at band-ainds. "Are you crazy? I ain't puttin' them things on my face." He grumbled.

"Fine." She sighed as she cleaned up their mess. When he had shoved Dale's box to the side he had caused everything in it to spill out.

They made their way back to the house in silence. Carol was still a little miffed but she had to admit that what he said was really sweet. She had heard for so many years that she was worthless that it was alien to her to hear someone say otherwise. She could really get used to hearing things like that because she was starting to realize that they were true. Ed's Carol had been worthless but she wasn't Ed's Carol anymore. She was her own Carol.