A/N: This chapter didn't go exactly how I thought it would, but I'm posting it anyway! I'm continuing the experiment of writing this as it comes to me without doing any sort of real planning, and it's so much fun! Thanks so much to those of you who have stuck with the story, and especially if you have taken the time to add a comment or review. I live for your comments, seriously! So here's a chapter with a bit of annoying Andrea, some walker action, and a little smut to cap it all off.

The first walker was easy to kill. A straight chop across the skull and down he went. Carol didn't even feel the usual panic when he approached her. Part of that was because she knew Michonne was standing right beside her with her sword ready, but she had also grown a lot more confident in her skills with the machete she'd found in the garage of Rick and Lori's house. Michonne had shown her just how to swing it with the right amount of force, and Carol was getting stronger every day. She didn't know if she was entirely ready to test her skills, but when Michonne and Andrea invited her to go on a run to a little strip mall no one had checked out yet, Carol knew this might be a chance to prove her worth. She knew Daryl wouldn't approve of her going on a dangerous mission without him, but she had to start taking care of herself and not depend on him or anyone else so much. Besides, she hadn't known whether or not they would run into any walkers anyway. She decided it was best not to tell Daryl she was going, so when he got up early in the morning for his hunt, she pretended to be asleep rather than having to lie to his face about her plans for the day. She felt a little guilty when she felt the soft kiss he planted on her forehead before he left.

Ostensibly, the purpose of their run was to restock their medicine and first aid supplies and to see if they could find any baby stuff for Lori. But Andrea and Michonne made it very clear to Carol that if they ran into trouble, they expected her to hold her own. She'd worked with both of them to develop her strength and confidence, but she'd spent more time with Michonne. She had begun to feel a little awkward around Andrea, because she seemed so unhappy all the time. Carol wondered if Andrea resented her for leaving her behind at the farm after she'd saved her life, but she was afraid to bring it up.

At the strip mall, they parked the car and cautiously got out, holding their weapons at the ready. The coast seemed clear, so they headed for the pharmacy to load their bags with whatever painkillers and first aid items they could find. They picked up some toothpaste, soap, and razors as well, and Carol was thrilled to find a few packs of newborn diapers and a pacifier. Two doors down from the pharmacy was a liquor store, which had been almost completely looted.

"Of course people take the liquor first, right?" Andrea said, shaking her head and smiling.

They found a couple of bottles of red wine and a bottle of vodka tucked under the counter, and Michonne stuffed those into her bag. "Maybe we'll have a little party tonight," she said, and all three women laughed. As their laughter faded, they heard a thump from the back of the store. Each woman slowly pulled out her weapon. Carol had her machete, Andrea carried a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, and Michonne had her sword. They locked eyes with one another and instinctively crouched down a little as they slowly made their way to the source of the sound.

It was a female walker, snarling and snapping her teeth and heading straight for Michonne. Michonne took her out easily, slicing her head off in one clean, smooth move. Two more walkers appeared then, and Michonne made a motion with her hand to signal that they should leave through the front door. Clearly the walkers were coming in through the back door and there was no way to know how many would follow. The front was still clear.

"No," Andrea hissed, with half a smile on her face. "This is Carol's chance to get some real experience. Come on, let's clear the store."

"Why?" Michonne whispered. "There's nothing here anyway. Let's go!"

Carol was frozen, looking from Michonne to Andrea while trying to also keep an eye on the two walkers headed for them. While the other two bickered, Carol took that straight chop to one walker's head and watched him go down. She couldn't help smiling at how easy it was.

"See?" Andrea said. "She's got this. Take the other one, Carol."

Carol widened her stance and waited for the next walker, a tall, broad man in overalls. While she watched him approach, two more walkers headed toward Andrea and Michonne. She glanced their way to see them start their own fights, and in that brief moment when her eyes left the big walker, he charged toward her, knocking her off her feet and sending the machete flying out of her grasp. Carol felt the wind knocked out of her as she landed on her back with the walker pinning her down. She recovered just in time to hold him off at arms' length. He growled and snapped at her, and she knew she couldn't hold him off long. He was too strong for her. She screamed for help, and Andrea rushed over.

"Come on, Carol, you've got this!" Andrea yelled. "You can take this asshole!"

"Help me!" Carol screeched, pulling her leg up under the walker to push him off a bit more with her knee. She turned her head to the side, trying to make herself as small as possible, wishing she could push herself down into the floor, and she saw a broken whiskey bottle lying on its side on the shelf next to her. She let go of the walker's shoulder with her right hand to reach for the bottle, allowing him to fall closer to her face, then she managed to push the bottle between them and force it upward into his eye. His blood splattered all over her face and she closed her eyes and mouth tight. As soon as her eyes closed, she felt his weight lift off her. When she felt bold enough to look, she saw that Michonne had pulled him off her and was tossing him to the side, then stabbing him in the head with her sword.

Michonne pulled Carol up from the floor and handed her her machete. "Let's get out of here," she said.

When they got to the car, Carol crawled into the back seat and curled up on her side, sobbing. Michonne turned to Andrea in the front seat and yelled, "What the fuck was that back there?"

"What the fuck was what?"

"Why didn't you help her? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Andrea looked incredulous. "Are you kidding me? She was fine. She has to learn how to defend herself, even in sticky situations."

"How many times have I helped you when you needed it?" Michonne asked, fuming. "Defending yourself doesn't mean you have to always do it on your own. She needed help."

Andrea scoffed. "I knew she could get out of it. See, that's the problem. Everybody else thinks she's weak, but I have more faith in her."

Carol was tired of hearing them talk about her like she wasn't even there. "Shut up, both of you," she said in a quiet, controlled voice. "Just take me home."

Carol hoped Daryl wouldn't be home yet, so she could clean up and he wouldn't have to know what had happened. She couldn't wait to get the walker's blood off her anyway, but she knew if Daryl saw it he would flip. She hoped Andrea and Michonne weren't stupid enough to clue him in. When they got to her house, no one was there. Andrea said, "We'll stay until Daryl gets home so you won't have to be alone."

Carol wasn't sure why Andrea was suddenly being nice after she'd nearly got them all killed, but at the moment she didn't care. "Whatever," she mumbled as she headed up the stairs to the bathroom. She'd managed to clean about half the blood off her face when she heard Daryl's voice downstairs. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she assumed he would figure out something had happened since Andrea and Michonne were covered in blood and grime as well. She heard his footsteps pounding up the stairs and a second later the bathroom door flew open. As soon as he saw the blood on her skin and clothes, he roared, "What. The. FUCK!" and rushed back out and down the stairs. She didn't know whether to run after him or not. She decided she should get completely cleaned up before he saw her again – the sight of her would only make him angrier.

As Carol cleaned up and changed clothes, she listened to Daryl yelling at Andrea and Michonne below. She left the bathroom door open and Daryl was screaming, so she could hear every word now.

"You tell me what the fuck happened RIGHT NOW!" he demanded.

"Daryl, calm down," Andrea said. "Everyone's fine. You should be proud of Carol. She took care of herself today."

"Fuck you, Andrea," he said. "You tell me what happened." Carol imagined he must have turned to Michonne.

"We went on a run to that little strip mall—"

"The one we haven't checked out yet?"

"Yeah, Daryl," Andrea said. "We were there to check it out. We're perfectly capable-"

"Fuck that, just tell me what happened."

"We picked up some supplies and then went into a liquor store and there were a few walkers," Andrea continued. "It wasn't a big deal. Carol did great with her machete. She just had a big guy who knocked her down and—"

"Knocked her down? Where the fuck were you two?" Daryl was yelling again, and Carol wondered just how scary he looked at the moment. "Do you have anything to say about this?"

Carol heard Michonne's quiet voice. "Carol defended herself. She's alive. You can't protect her all the time." Clearly Michonne wasn't going to sell Andrea out by telling Daryl what had really happened.

"Andrea, you need to get over your fuckin' anger," Daryl said, a little more calmly. "It's makin' you do stupid shit. It sounds to me like you put Carol in danger."

"She's fine," Andrea insisted.

"You're mad," Daryl continued. "You're mad Shane's dead and you don't have a man. Hell, you're mad he was Lori's anyway. You're mad we left you behind. I wanted to go back for you, but that don't even matter. You're mad Carol's been protected by the group all this time and you haven't. You're mad at yourself for needin' protection. If you put her in danger again, you're gonna need protection from me. You got that?"

Carol heard Daryl coming up the stairs as Andrea said, "What the fuck is his problem?"

Michonne answered, "He's right. You are mad. You're so mad you can't see straight. Don't you ever put anybody in danger again." The front door slammed. A moment later it slammed again, and Carol knew they were both gone.

"Carol, this is fucked up," Daryl said when he entered the bedroom. He kept his eyes on the floor. "What were you doin' goin' on a run with them? What were you thinkin'?"

"I was thinking I need to start taking care of myself, contributing more."

He raised his eyes to hers then, chewing his bottom lip. "You contribute plenty. You can't do dangerous shit like this, Carol. Don't fuckin' do this to me."

Carol crossed the room to Daryl and placed her hand on his cheek. "I didn't do this to you, Daryl. I did it for me." He shook her hand off and turned away from her. "Daryl, come on. . .I'm ok. . ."

"This time!" he yelled. He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her a little. "You can't do shit like this, Carol! I won't let you!"

"Let go of me, Daryl," she said calmly. She'd had enough of being manhandled in her life, and she wouldn't put up with it now.

He let go immediately. "I ain't gonna hurt you, Carol. You know that. You're the one hurtin' me."

"I don't mean to hurt you," she said softly, stepping closer to him again. "I just want to be. . . stronger. I want to be safe with or without you."

"But aren't you with me?" He looked up at her with sad, confused eyes.

"Of course I'm with you," she said. "That's not what I meant. Daryl, you can't control my every move. You can't be with me every second."

"I'd like to control your every move if it meant keepin' you safe," he said. "Hell, you're mine, ain'tcha?"

"Yes, but I'm mine first."

He ran a hand over his face and sighed. "I don't know what that means."

"You're the first real decision I've ever made on my own. I never made my own choices before, and nobody's taking that away from me. Not even you." She paused, taking a deep breath to stop her tears from falling. "I didn't even choose to be a mother. I was trying to get away from Ed when I found out I was pregnant. And then I didn't know what to do. I was glad when I found out I couldn't have more babies after Sophia. I didn't know how I could protect more than one kid from him. If I knew how to make my own choices, I would've left Ed a long time ago."

Daryl pulled her closer then, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment before pulling back to look at her again. "You don't have to think about that anymore."

"I know," she whispered, her eyes on his mouth.

"You really are mine, though," he said with a little smirk. He ran his thumb over her lips. "This is mine," he said, licking his own lips. She whimpered a little, and he slid his thumb down over her chin, past her throat and between her breasts. "This," he said, sliding his hand between her legs and cupping her there, "is mine. Right?"

She knew he could feel her heat through her jeans. "Yes," she whispered. "Daryl. . ."

"What?" He moved his hand against her, stroking her through her jeans.

"You know what. . ." she said weakly.

"Tell me," he said, his voice husky. "Tell me what you want me to do."

"Daryl, please. . .please fuck me. . ."

"You don't have to beg, Carol," he said, raising his hand to her face. "You never have to beg me. I just wanted to hear you say you want me." He kissed her then, slowly backing her up to the bed. His tongue slid into her mouth, slowly stroking her tongue, and Carol whimpered again, feeling herself growing wetter. She knew he was still a little upset with her for putting herself in danger, and she was still upset that he was too protective. But right now all she could think about was getting their clothes off and taking him inside her.

She let him pull her shirt over her head, then she unhooked and removed her bra while he slid her pants and underwear over her hips. She lay back on the bed and raised her hands over her head, opening her legs a little. He gave a little growling moan at the sight of her, and she watched while he quickly took off his clothes and lowered himself to the bed, propping himself on his elbows above her. She could feel his cock throbbing against her thigh, and she shifted under him, opening her legs wider. "Now, Daryl," she said. "Right now."

Her arms were still above her head, and he raised one hand to grab both of her wrists and hold them there. He thrust his cock into her hard and fast, burying himself deep inside her. She struggled a little to free her hands from his grip, and he held them tighter, then thrust into her even harder. Something about the way he held her in place as he fucked her made it even hotter. She opened her legs a little more and lifted her hips, wanting more. He fucked her harder and faster then, their bodies slamming together and his hand still holding her arms over her head. When he felt her coming on his cock, he held himself still inside her and found his own release. "You're mine," he whispered as he released his grip on her wrists and pressed his face into her neck.

"Yours," she agreed, kissing the top of his head and smiling.