Sorry this is a few hours late. I try to post a chapter by now but I was writing and just spaced it. It's Monday. That is my excuse =) And since I also posted a chapter at midnight I'm hoping that makes up for it! I know I am getting into more peoples POV on here and I hope that I'm doing it in a way that isn't confusing anyone. It's harder when everyone has something different going on and I'm trying to make it as smooth as possible! Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Chapter Thirty Two

Carol was showered and dressed and out the door in less than fifteen minutes. She had been spending so much time in the house with Daryl that she had left all of the rest to the group and she felt bad. All of them usually pitched in and helped but there she was sleeping in a house in a warm soft bed and eating at a dinner table while her friends were still roughing it outside. She was such a shit.

The camp was set up so everyone had their tent facing the center where the fire was now burning. Dale was leaned over it cooking something that smelled like spam. When she approached he looked up with a wide smile.

"Good morning." He said. "I have to say, I'm sure glad you're back. You have no idea what bad cooks Amy and Andrea are."

"I'm sorry Dale." Carol said as she looked around their small camp. Amy was sitting cross legged on the ground with Glen, who to Carol's surprise, had his arm around her. They were laughing at something and no one else in the world existed at the moment from the way they were looking at each other.

Dale waved a hand at her. "Nonsense. You had a man to take care of. You must have done a good job too since he was out here before the sun, kicking T-dog awake." He laughed.

"T-dog? He went too?" Carol asked. "What about Rick?"

Dale glanced up at her and then away again. "That's what we would all like to know. No one has seen him this morning. We did see Lori but she took off without even eating. Didn't say a word to anyone."

Carol's heart sank. "What about Shane?" She asked.

Dale removed the hot pan and sat it on a log. When he looked up he glanced around to see if anyone was close enough to hear. "Tell me that all of that hasn't come to a head already." He asked in a tone filled with dread.

Carol sat down in a chair next to where he was knelt. "It did." She whispered. "He caught them last night." She looked around. "Caught them together."

Dale shook his head sadly. "I thought maybe that it was still going on but I was hoping..." He sighed and shook his head. "Well, I was hoping that Rick and Lori could have made it all work."

Carol nodded. "Me too, Dale."

"I hope Rick is alright. He's a good man and now he finds this out. Right when his son goes missing." he caught himself and then looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry Carol. I haven't even asked you if you're okay."

She smiled. "I'm fine, Dale. Daryl's going to bring them back."

His face softened a little and he smiled at her. "If anyone can bring them back to us it's him. Not that I would have said that a week ago. But it's the truth."

"Yes it is." She patted his hand and got up to go find someone she never thought she would ever look for.

She found him putting bags into his jeep. He had a freshly buzzed head and a deep scowl. He looked pretty beat up. Carol wished that Daryl hadn't done what he had done. Wished he would have thought about the trauma he was causing by pointing Rick towards that damn building. Shane had really pissed her off over the last couple days, and she knew that he brought this upon himself but she heard Lori last night. Heard the cruel things she said to him and then turn around and made him feel like she wanted him.

"Shane?" She asked tentatively.

He looked up at her but didn't offer her his usually cocky smirk. For once she wished that he would. "Mornin' Carol." He mumbled and tossed another bag into the back of his Jeep.

She walked up to him and touched his arm. "Shane, you want to talk about it?" She asked.

He looked at the hand on his arm and then his eyes met hers. "Ain't nothin' I really care to talk about." he said gruffly.

"Why are you packing? We haven't even got the kids back yet."

He finally did smile but it was bitter. "I gotta get away from this place. I ain't gonna hang around here just so I can play the villain." He slammed the back of the Jeep so hard that it caused her to jump. "I've been doin' that long enough."

"Shane, you can't just leave. You know what it's like out there." She realized then that she really didn't want him to leave. He had done some pretty bad things but he had also helped her several times when it came to Ed and she owed him for that. She couldn't give him what he wanted but she could try to look past the last few days and be a friend to him. Because he had been a friend to her when she needed one.

"I ain't got a reason to stay here." he turned and leaned against the back of the Jeep and she did the same.

"You aren't the villain, Shane. Your just a man that got himself mixed up in a bad situation. It happens. You still have people here that care. You still have friends." She said gently.

"Carol. You stuck a gun in my face. I know why, I get that. But I think that was you pretty much telling me that we weren't friends anymore."

She scoffed. "That? That was nothin', Shane. I had myself a Dixon moment. You just happened to be there. Wrong place wrong time kinda thing." She gave him a grin.

It worked. He actually laughed as he rubbed the back of his buzzed head. Some of the tension was draining away from him and she was happy to see it. "I am sorry for what I did. There wasn't any excuse for that, I know it. Drunk or not, I still knew what I was doing. I just did it cause I wanted to."

She shook her head and gave him the most serious look she could muster. "Shane, I realized that it really wasn't your fault at all."

He scowled at her. "What?"

She shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't control yourself. I'm a seductress and the opposite sex is enchanted by me. So it wasn't your fault. You're a victim Shane. And not my first either." She shook her head.

He stared at her for a few shocked seconds and then laughed. Not just a small one either, by the time he was finished he was holding his stomach and wiping tears out of his bruised eyes.

She gave him a look that was mildly offended. "It actually wasn't suppose to be that funny, Shane." She said dryly.

He settled himself down enough to lean back against the jeep next to her. "You are somethin' else, Carol. I think I just might miss you the most."

"I never thanked you." She said suddenly, all joking gone from her voice. "I never thanked you for all the times you tried to help me. For those times you looked out for Sophia and I. You're a good man, Shane. We all have faults, but it's those faults that make us human. They make us real. But on the inside I think you are good. And I wish you would stay."

"Carol, I'm in love with my best friends wife. Rick knows it. He knows we've been together this whole time. How can I stay and look them both in the face?" he asked, his voice hushed as he stared off across the fields.

"I can't answer that. But you have to try. Despite everything, you are still my friend. I still care about what happens to you. I'd never be able to offer you more than that," She added quickly, "But I think it should count for something. We need you." She most definitely did not want to try to lead him on. She would never do that to a man. Especially this man, who was so conflicted as it was.

He let out a heavy sigh. "It does, Carol. It counts for a lot."

~H~

"Look at me." T-dog said disgustedly. "I look like Tonto sittin' up here on the back of a damn animal."

Daryl glanced over at him. Maggie had suggested they go out on horseback so they could cover more ground and Daryl wouldn't tire as easily. T-dog had not been a happy man. "Tonto was an Indian." he said with a smirk.

T-dog grimaced. "I'm gonna get bucked off this damn thing. I'm not much of an animal lover. Animals always creeped me out."

"You're scared of animals?" Daryl asked.

The look T-dog shot him would have made a lesser man cower. "This big ass animal that could buck me off it's damn back and then stomp my head in, yeah, this animal is scary."

Daryl laughed.

Hershel had loaned him a map and him and Maggie had studied it for some before they took off into the woods. They made it to the creek, where Daryl had been shot, pretty quick but they didn't find the trail right away. It had taken a little over an hour for Daryl to spot traces of a trial once again but even that little bit was a hopeful sign.

Maggie hadn't said a whole lot, which made Daryl happy. He expected her to talk the whole time about ridiculous stuff that he didn't give a rats ass about. Carol wasn't like that either. She was quiet unless she had something to say that needed to be said. The girl was pretty smart too. Not only did she come up with the idea to go on horseback but she also brought some first aid supplies and food and water. The only plan Daryl had was marching into the woods with nothing but his crossbow.

They lost the trail quite a few times but he didn't let that discourage him. He always managed to pick it back up and he was glad to see that it was only Sophia and Carl's trail. So far no Walkers. There was one time he got concerned when he lost their trail and then picked up a larger trail that belonged to a group of people. But the two trails never crossed. He was still apprehensive about the kids being alone in the woods with another group.

He was impressed at how far the two kids had made it. There were two different creeks in the woods and he figured when they had crossed the other one that they had assumed that they were headed back towards the road. It was an easy mistake to make. He'd made it himself when he was a kid.

"I don't get it." T-dog said after a while. "I don't see a damn thing. You sure we're following a trail?"

Daryl just nodded and kept his eyes in front of him. They had covered a lot of ground. "Good call on the horses, Maggie." he muttered. He figured he had to say something.

T-dog rolled his eyes as he tried once more to adjust himself to a more comfortable position on the horse. "Yeah. Great thinking."

Maggie gave a nod but kept her eyes forward. "I just wanna hurry up and get Carol's little girl back to her. Figured this would save us time. And Ricks boy, of course.

Daryl decided right then and there that he liked this girl.

~H~

Sophia froze in the doorway when she heard the mans voice. Carl grabbed her by the shirt sleeve and yanked her back and slammed the door.

"We gotta get outta here." He whispered.

Sophia glared at him and he dropped his hand. She knew that voice. "I'm not going anywhere. He's hurt." She was sure that he was in bad shape too.

"Do you know who that is? Remember when you were talkin' about bad people? Well we just ran into one of the worst ones I've ever met."

"I don't care. He's Daryl's brother. The only family he's got left and Daryl thinks he's gone. I wont leave him in there to die. Stay out here if you're scared. You can keep watch or something."

Carl glanced around anxiously and then nodded. "I'll keep watch. But not because I'm scared." He added. "It's a good idea is all."

Sophia nodded and opened the door. She took her time approaching the bed. She knew what she had told Carl but he had been right. Merle Dixon was one of the scariest men she'd ever met. Scarier than Ed or any of Ed's friends. But he was Daryl's brother and she knew that Daryl would never abandon him. So, scary or not, she was going to help the man.

He was lying on his back but she couldn't get a very good look at him since the room was so dim. There were a few windows but they were covered up with what looked like dirty towels. She yanked them down and then Merle blinked at the brightness.

When his eyes found her they widened and then he frowned. "Why the fuck am I halucinatin' bout you, kid?" he asked in a voice that was barely a whisper. His lips were dry and chapped and she dropped her backpack on the floor and brought out the bottle of water.

"Mr. Dixon," She said gently as she unscrewed the cap, "I need you to sit up a little okay. You need some water."

He just stared at her for a second and then brought his hand up and touched her face. "Well I be damned. You're as real as rain ain'tcha?"

She nodded and then went ahead and slipped her hand under his head and raised it up. She put the bottle to his lips and he drank greedily. He coughed a few times and when he had consumed half of it she eased his head back down onto the dirty mattress.

He felt like he was running a fever. When she looked down she gasped. He had his right arm lying at his side and she had to turn her eyes away from the gruesome sight. His arm didn't end in a hand. It was a black bloody stump. She could see the bone and tendons and from the looks of it it was very infected. She felt sick.

"You're gonna be just fine, Mr. Dixon, okay?" She whispered as she touched his burning forehead with the palm of her hand.

"What the fuck are you doin' out here?" He wheezed.

"I got lost. But your brother's gonna find me. Us, he's coming to find us."

"Huh? The hell'd he be out here lookin for you for? That sorry ass daddy of yours needs to be lookin' hiself."

"He can't, sir. Your brother killed him." She said quietly.

This got more of a reaction out of him than anything she had said so far. He tilted his head to the side and frowned. "My baby brother? He killed your daddy? Goddamn, what else I been missin'?" He asked right before his head fell to one side and he passed out.