Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Just little ole' Taylor.

CHAPTER TWO.
HEADING TO ATLANTA… AGAIN.

"Watch the knife," Taylor heard the voice come from someone but wasn't even sure who at this point. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins at a hundred miles an hour, making her ears ring and heart feel like it was beating through her chest. She did not want to stand by and be responsible for yet another person being hurt. No matter which way she approached the situation she had the risk of getting sliced by that knife, but that was okay, it was time to step up for Shane and Rick's safety.

"Daryl," Taylor's voice was barely a whisper from trying to regain normal control of her breathing. If he would become calm enough than nobody would have to try to snatch it or force it out of his hands. She grabbed the back of his shoulder and he spun around, she could see the tears burning at his eyes. This was not like him, and she knew he was only attacking out of anger and uncertainty.

"You… let this happen?" Her face dropped in remorse, similarly to Rick's earlier. She felt exactly as he did; hearing the words spoken aloud made a bigger impact than just thinking it in one's head.

"Give me the knife Daryl," Shane commanded with forcefulness thick in his tone. He stuck his hand out and waited for the knife to be commandeered to him... he was the leader after all. He looked over his shoulder slightly before turning his attention back to the knife sitting in his palm. He took a few moments to think and batted Shane's hand away. The raven haired man's face grew beet red with anger. Nobody at this camp has disobeyed him.

"Here," he handed the weapon over to Taylor who took it gingerly out of his hand. She gripped it tightly and let her eyes fall to look at the dirt, unable to face him. The only comfort the gesture provided her was that at the very least he still trusted her more than Shane.

"I'd like to have a calm, discussion, on this topic, you think we can manage that?" He awaited a response from the still very fuming man before him, once he received a slow nod he continued on, "what I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog interrupted suddenly. He knew as well as anybody that Merle not getting off that roof was because he dropped the key. Forget the fact that he was cuffed up there in the first place, the responsibility fell on him, in his opinion anyway. "I had the key… I dropped it," he tapped his foot as he spoke, it was hard admitting the truth like this.

"You couldn't pick it up?" He turned the whole way around now to face the speaker. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"I dropped it in a drain," his voice was low and shrouded with guilt. Everyone was feeling a little bit guilty at that point. He began to move closer towards the group, as pacing seemed to be the only thing that could ever calm his mind.

"If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He threw his hands down in frustration, as much as he wanted to lash out on everyone there he knew he couldn't. He couldn't do it while she was there, if she would just go away.

"Maybe this will… I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock."

"That's gotta count for something," Rick attempted to make T-Dog's efforts more viable. It was better than leaving him up there with an open door, a free for all meal, so to speak. Daryl ignored the comment and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He was not one prone to crying but he could not keep the tears back anymore. It was too much to take in at once. The last of his family... left to rot.

"The hell with all ya'll." He took a deep breath in and made an inward decision. There would be no hesitation after hearing that. "Just tell me where he is. So I can go get 'em." He looked over at Rick now with intensity in his eyes, he was not going to leave the subject alone until his request was granted. Hell he would go alone if he had to, he just needed to know where to find him.

"He'll show you… isn't that right?" Lori looked on with disdain. She only said it because she knew it was true. She didn't want it to be though. Her husband has only been back for a day and he was already going to be leaving her again- risking his life for a bigot hillbilly.

"I'm going back," Rick finally broke the brick wall of silence between her comment and his thinking. He knew what he had to do and that was to be honorable. He needed to go pick up the pieces that he left back in Atlanta… he felt the most responsible out of everyone that was there. Lori didn't even give him a second glance before returning to the trailer. She could not believe that he was really going through with it.

Rick walked away with a heavy heart, he knew she was going to stay mad at him whether or not he returned in one piece. He made his way back into the tent to gather up some things and change since he was not going back on his decision regardless of what anyone thought.

"Hey Taylor," Shane approached her before she could follow the broken hearted Daryl. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" His words did not match his body language as he was not requesting- he was demanding. He dragged her alongside one of the empty trailers.

"What Shane?" She glanced over his shoulder and saw her only hope of avoiding this conversation walk out of sight. He grabbed her by the wrist and tightened around it until the skin underneath was bone white.

"You need to get something straight right now… you will listen to me. Next time I tell you to do something, you won't delay, you'll just do it."

"You're hurting me," she went to pull back which only made him hold tighter, he was like a pit bull and resisting was obviously not going to help the situation. She knew that he could easily snap her wrist without a second thought- and his bullshitting skills were at an all time high, he would easily be able to make up some story to explain it. "You are not my father, my brother, or-"

"Or what? Or Daryl?" He eyed her body up and down before continuing, "he won't be here to protect you forever, and as soon as he lets his guard down I will teach you a lesson you won't forget. You'll never question me again Taylor… that's a promise," she watched his eyes darken at the comment.

"I would rather slit my own throat," she spat in his face in a hopeful attempt to get away from him. Right now was not a time to test out his angry impulses but she could not let herself be threatened by him. The regret of leaving Daryl's knife back at the camp was eating at her now, she was cursing herself for such ridiculous mistake.

"You little-" he raised a hand, ready to strike when he heard a shout from behind them. He let his hand down and wiped his face off, releasing her wrist in the process. It was already the same shade of red as Shane's face and she knew it would be a matter of time before it bruised. She would handle that later.

"Taylor?" Daryl rounded the corner and stopped when he saw them. He raised an eyebrow and walked over slowly. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" she peered over at Shane who shook his head at her with malice in his eyes before withdrawing back to the group. After that blow to his ego he needed to find someone who would willingly boost it back up, and since Rick would be leaving he knew exactly who would to search for.

"Where'd you put my knife?" He watched her carefully to read her expressions since she was not speaking now. He knew she was not always an open book and sometimes required a little extra decoding to know what she was thinking.

"Oh… uhm," she pulled herself back to the conversation and frowned. "It's back by the campfire. On one of the chairs." She rubbed her wrist subconsciously and hid it behind her back when she noticed his eyes gravitate towards it.

"What happened?" He gingerly took her wrist in his hands and examined it. "This looks like fingers…"

"Nothing, nothing happened." She knew she had to avoid the impending conversation if she didn't want Shane to have an arrow in his head. There was something more important she needed to address anyway. "I'm going with you guys. You and Rick can't go alone." He let her arm fall back to her side knowing that eventually he would bring it up again and find out what Shane had done. It did not take much to figure out that it happened when he had her back here.

"No." He shook his head and started to walk away. Taylor jogged to catch up to him and met his much longer strides to keep up with him.

"What do you mean no? You didn't even think about it," she protested as per usual.

"I don't have to think about it. Now that I heard what happened with Merle I know that things didn't exactly go as planned. It sounds like you guys barely made it out alive last time. So no, it's not happening." He picked up the abandoned knife and wiped it on his pants before tucking it back into the holster belt.

"You can't make me stay here," she rolled her eyes and continued to follow him again. She was getting rather frustrated with him continuously walking away from her. "What are you going to do… tie me to a tree?"

"Maybe." He walked towards the tent and took one arrow out at a time to wipe them clean as well.

"And leave me to be walker bait?" She stopped in her tracks briefly in shock that he would even consider it.

"You're staying blondie," he pointed the back end of one of the arrows at her and smiled. This was not one of the times that she would return the favor, instead she scowled at him and ran up to fill the gap between them.

"I am really tired of everyone saying that, so is Andrea." She swatted the arrow down to the ground. He simply bent over to pick it up, and cleaned it all over again. He did not let her little tantrums bother him. That was something that set him and Shane apart- because one would not even think to let it go.

"Does anyone else call you that? Other than me?" He tucked the rag back in his pocket and glanced up at her, he knew it would only be a matter of time before her glare softened.

"Well, no."

"Then consider it a term of endearment," he unzipped the tent and went in and out within seconds.

"Term of endearment? You need a dictionary apparently. Terms of endearment are things like… honey, dear, baby… not blondie," she made sure her last word was dripping with resentment. Her whole life she had been mocked for the color of her hair, and apparently even in the end of the world it did not stop.

"Yeah… I don't say those things." Quite obviously, she let another eye roll slip with the annoyance of being caught somewhere in the middle with him. "And ya know you're always calling me a dumbass."

"That's because you usually are one, and I am never saying that as a good thing." He shrugged at her comment and moved forward to give her a hug before leaving. It was another small token of affection that she rarely got to enjoy, but her anger got the better of her as it usually did and she stepped out of his arms to storm off. They both rejoined the group who was currently in the midst of a debate. It was obvious that everyone was torn over the return to the inner city. T-Dog and Glenn now planned to join the other two. That made four which were much better odds but did not satisfy Taylor enough. She had to be there.

Rick bartered with Dale over a very much needed tool while Glenn and Daryl hopped into the truck. Dale reluctantly handed it over with the comfort that he would be getting something out of the deal. Taylor watched all the interactions vigilantly to pick the right time to make her move. The horn blared from the truck and broke her of the concentration.

"Come on let's go!" Daryl called out from the back of the van. He never felt more impatient before that moment since he was really never prone to it. Being a hunter and a tracker he always had the utmost patience but right then it was all thrown out the window. She stared up from the bed of the truck with her hands on her hips. She couldn't have been more exasperated if she tried. He nodded down to her without saying a word and she bit back some choice words she would have liked to have given him.

Rick climbed in the drivers seat and started up the engine. She had about four seconds to make a decision on what to do. Taylor approached his side and signaled for him to roll down the window, and he did so obediently.

"It seems like you're in charge of this operation."

"Yeah… I guess so." He looked down at her with hooded eyes, he already knew where this was going. "Do you have anything to protect yourself with?"

"I have this," she pulled out a pistol and waved it in front of him. "It's Andrea's… she lent it to me," she smirked when he glimpsed between her and Glenn a few times.

"Glenn, get in the back and don't say anything." He nodded and clambered to get into the bed of the van without a single word. "Don't make me regret this," he told her sternly as she buckled into the passenger seat.

"I wouldn't dream of it Ricky." They exchanged wry smiles before heading up the dirt road. In the back Daryl took one look at Glenn and grimaced. He had a feeling he already knew why he was back there now. He evacuated the very back and made his way to the seats and sighed loudly.

"Are you kiddin' me? Damn it Taylor," he gritted his teeth and backed away, kicking the side of the van once before slumping back down to the floor. As he sat in the back T-Dog and Glenn kept an eye on him not wanting to risk another explosion. Rick was in the dark as to why it was a huge deal but those two did know and they were afraid there would be impeding consequences.

Shane snuck into Lori's tent and quickly spotted Carl. She glanced down at him and tried to mask the sad look that was plastered on her face.

"Go out and play with Sophia honey," she kissed the top of his head and sent him on his way. She looked up at Shane warily. Ever since the moment that Rick stepped out of that van and back into her life she had been battling the feelings for Shane. Only a day had gone by and she already felt like it was a lifetime of painful decision making that she had dealt with. He knelt down in front of her and kissed her passionately for a few seconds before pulling back to stare into her eyes. The eyes he had come to love getting lost in.

"I still love you. Whether he's here or not… I still do." She felt tears begin to burn in hot streams as they fell down. She wanted to say she did too but something was holding her back. It was obviously guilt that she did not want to deal with. Her husband was gone for less then fifteen minutes and she was here kissing another man.

"I don't know what to do anymore." She hung her head in her hands and began to weep quietly. The truth was never more apparent. It was unbearable for her to even think of who she was going to choose, and she new eventually she would have to.

"Hey… look at me." He held her face lightly with his hands and let a small smile form on his lips, "I know you'll make the right choice. For you… for Carl. Whatever way you want to look at it I know you'll do right."

"I hate myself for putting you through this." She let the tears fall again and he brushed them off quickly. He kissed her gently on the forehead before letting his fall to hold lean it against hers.

"Don't say that. This is nobody's fault," he whispered to her and held her in a tight hug. He didn't know what to do, the thoughts that prodded his mind were confusing and repetitive. His best friend was back… but at what cost? He knew he fell in love with Lori and the same was for her. The sexual tension began to heat up as the tent filled with emotions, hormones, testosterone She knew it was so wrong but she also knew it was going to feel so right. She leaned back out of the hug and pulled his shirt up over his head before feverishly kissing him.

"You sure?" He asked her with concerned eyes. The brunette never said a word just a small little nod and they began peeling each others clothes off. A lump grew in her throat as his kisses trailed down her neck to her chest. Right now her husband was probably out there battling the living dead- to save a life nonetheless- and she was about to make love to his best friend.