Here we go again! I'm glad I got another one out for you guys today. :) Feel more than welcomed (debatably encouraged) to review with your good/bad/ugly comments and criticisms. Thank you for reading, it makes me happy to get to story-tell! ENJOY!

16: Small Herds

I was right about Daryl; over time he slowly got more and more… grumpy? That seems as accurate a way to put it as any other. Whatever relatively heartfelt talks we had the day before were in the past, and I couldn't help but think I should've enjoyed them more. The next day I made him stay at the house while I went hunting, since he still needed to rest even though he didn't want to. On my way to the gate I spotted Lori hunched over. "Annie, is that you?"

"Are you alright?" I took a few steps towards her but her hand shot up to stop me.

"I'll be fine. Could you take Carl hunting with you today?" She turned her face in my direction, "I'd have him stay with Rick, but he's taking T-Dog and Glen to get a few things."

"Of course. I'll make sure he's safe." Like clockwork Rick walked up and asked to be let out. I obliged. Once they were gone I found Carl and we got on our way.

-o0o-

I felt a pull on my shirt and turned around. Carl pointed towards the East. I looked. A small herd of walkers was meandering through the woods. Two groups in such a short time? I didn't like that. When I looked back at Carl he had pulled out his gun. I shook my head and grabbed the ax I was carrying, handing it to him before pulling out my knife.

"You think we can take them?" I smiled at him and gave him the thumbs up. As I trotted towards the undead I couldn't help but remember those lazy afternoons playing Left 4 Dead with my brother. In some ways this was like it, in some horribly disturbing ways. Once we reached them I took out the first two, Carl followed along taking out another three, and then with three more jabs we were done. There was a small look of fear in his eyes.

"Were you scared?"

"Only a little." I patted the hat down over his eyes and started walking again.

"By the time you guys leave you'll be totally fine." I smiled at him for a second but the look on his face was confusion. Time for a nice change of subject. "What's up with your mom, buddy?"

"She's having a baby."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "How do you feel about that? Having a little brother or sister?"

"I haven't really thought about it." We talked about it for a while before I saw something I had never seen in these woods yet. My own turkey. I pulled an arrow out, and aimed. Plunk. My own dead turkey. "Nice one!" He ran over and grabbed it. "What did you mean by the time we leave?"

"Well, you aren't going to stay here forever, you know."

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Well," we heading towards home. "Sometime soon one of you will want to go, and then it will be most of you."

"Do you want us to?"

"Only if y'all want to." There were several strides of silence.

"I won't ever want to go." I kept quiet. "And if we leave then you're coming with us."

"That would be nice."

-o0o-

The three others were waiting for us outside the gate when we arrived. The rest of the day was spent productively. After dinner was done, the dishes were cleaned and the leftovers were stored, I went through my nightly ritual of going onto the roof. When I got up there I found I wasn't alone.

"How's your head feeling?" He just kind of nodded with incoherent words that assured me he was still in pain. "I've got something for that!" I slid back inside and grabbed my pipe and stash from my room. "I must say I appreciate that they are keeping these plants alive." There was a slight laugh from him as I packed the bowl and handed it to him. "Doctor's orders."

He took it from me, "You ain't no doctor." He started to smoke. Not a doctor. Never will be. All that work for nothing. He handed it back to me.

I inhaled and exhaled with a sigh. "You know, you don't have to be mean to me." I inhaled again and held it. "So," exhale, "How did you sleep last night?"

"Didn't."

I looked over at him and handed him the pipe, "Well, make sure to sleep tonight. It'll help you get better." As silence fell I looked at the sky for a while, "You still on the couch?" He nodded and continued to smoke, "There's your problem. Stay with me tonight."

"Why?"

"Because that way I can make sure you get some rest. Can't go having you still healing when winter hits."

"Alright."

I raised my eyebrow and looked back over to him, "Really? Just like that? No fighting?"

He stood up slowly and hit my shoulder, beginning to crawl through the window, "Don't go getting used to it." I gathered everything and followed him in. Everyone was still huddled around the TV, but I followed him to my room. I unlocked the door, entered behind him, and locked it again. Quickly I changed into comfy shorts and a tank before clicking the lights off and sliding under the covers. He followed.

"If you're having any problems sleeping just wake me up, okay?"

"Sure."

I curled up on my side, facing the wall, "Goodnight."

"Night."

I stayed awake for a while, my mind too aware of the body next to me. Relatively happy, thankful for that brave rock out there in the wilderness that made this moment possible, fighting off those feminine feelings I occasionally got late at night. Eventually dreams took me, though.