A/N: I have a serious issue to address today folks…I am very "pro" therapy and feel that feelings should be expressed in a healthy way. I also believe in the power of recovery. Today, I ask you to pray for a friend of mine. She has shown her true colors to me now and I am absolutely certain that she is in fact…*deep sigh*….a fan-fiction addict.

No matter what people may tell you, it is a disease. She has texted me no less than six times in the course of two hours (and this is around midnight mind you) that she NEEEEEEDs more of the story. I am currently in fear for my own safety if she does not receive another chapter, so I had to oblige. With mental issues this severe, you can never be too careful. We are currently seeking treatment for her, but I feel that with support, we will be able to help her through this difficult time.

And on that note….ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**This chapter contains some risqué scenarios and is not recommended for anyone under the age of 16-discretion is advised**

DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC

Ch 7.

The early morning sun darted out from behind a large cloud, instantaneously heating the air and everything in its path. Summers in Georgia were killer, and it was going to be a very hot day for sure. Even from in the tent, Daryl could feel himself starting to sweat. Why the hell didn't the prison have any trees to shade people? Probably because the inmates would've attempted to climb them and get over the fences was his guess.

He rolled over onto his side with a groan, flipping on a small battery operated fan he'd found on their last raid. He wasn't ready to get up just yet. It'd taken him long time to even get to sleep, and it wasn't like he had much to do anyhow. By now, Carol and the crew were on their way to the mountains, and he was still stuck here. Man he would've killed to have been in the mountains right now. The cool air, the forest all around. Sounded like heaven.

Bet there ain't any damn walkers in heaven neither.

It had been hard letting her have her way, but it was even worse when he went to slip the knife into her bag when he saw her sleeping on the bottom bunk. Every fiber in his being was screaming to lock her up and not let her leave the shelter of the prison, but he knew he couldn't do it. Even here, she was still at risk of an ambush.

They all were.

He remembered the time during the walker attack that killed T-Dog and Lori. He'd just assumed the worst when he'd found Carol's knife. How could she survive that long with no weapon? It had eaten him up inside, knowing that she'd probably turned and he'd have to be the one to put her down. He couldn't imagine a much worse situation. After hours of sitting there with her knife in his hand, he finally mustered up the courage to open the door and do it. To his complete shock, instead he found her sitting there, her eyes still blue and her skin still pink, grasping onto life. When she looked up at him and smiled, it was like nothing else in the world mattered. She was still alive.

Didn't get that lucky with Merle.

He cringed at the image in his mind of seeing his brother turned into a monster. He knew the Governor had left him there to die without shooting him in the head so he'd turn. What a sadistic bastard. Daryl did what he had to do, but it ripped him up having to put his only brother down like a rabid dog. No one, not even the most fucking hateful person in the world, deserved to go through that. He was glad he'd made things right with Carol before she left. He couldn't have her blood on his hands like that.

"Daryl?"

His eyes popped open at the sound of Carol's voice calling him from outside the tent. What the hell was she still doing here?

"I thought you'd left already."

He opened the flap so she could come in. She looked like she was in a daze.

"You were right. I have no business out there, so we came back."

"Well…good." He replied, shocked by her announcement. "I should go talk to Rick. Once my ankle's better, we can go-"

"Can it wait for a while? It's so hot out." She said, fanning herself. "It's no wonder you don't have a shirt on."

Daryl looked down, realizing she was right. When the hell had he taken off his shirt? He immediately reached down to grab it so she wouldn't see his scars, but Carol came over and grabbed it away from him. She didn't move away either.

"Don't put it on." She said seductively. "I like being able to see your chest."

"But I-"

"Don't be shy…come here."

Carol leaned up against him so that they were touching. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face closer to hers. Daryl could barely breathe.

"Did you enjoy that kiss from last night?"

Daryl didn't want to upset her, but he could barely form words at the moment. "Mmm-hmm."

"Would you like another?"

He couldn't take his eyes off her mouth. "Yeah…"

Before anything else could register in his brain, Carol's lips were crushed against his own. He grasped at her waist while she devoured his mouth in a way he'd never experienced before. She was wrapped around him so tightly he could barely move. He'd wanted to protest when she pulled back, but before he could, she led him back to the corner of the tent where he'd slept. The next thing he knew, he was laying overtop of her. For a moment he was worried that he might be crushing her, but certainly she didn't seem to mind. She immediately pulled him back down into a fierce kiss that made his entire body light up on fire. Her hands were everywhere; raking their way up and down his arms and all over his back. He nearly died when she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing his groin into direct contact with hers.

Dear fucking god…

He'd never imagined anything feeling this good in his life. He didn't know what the hell he was doing, but he was having a damn good time trying to figure it out. She pulled away again and he searched her face, trying to read what she wanted him to do next. She was staring back, but she didn't look enthusiastic anymore.

"What's that thing on your neck?"

Just as he went to feel with his hand, something bit him. He jerked awake.

"OW!" He flicked the large ant off and rubbed the spot where it'd bit him. "Damn bug."

He looked around quickly, realizing he was still in the tent, but Carol was nowhere to be seen. Holy fuck. It'd been a dream! He hadn't had a dream that vivid since he was a teenager. What the hell was wrong with him?

He fell back to the ground, his heart pounding. How could that have been a dream? He looked down to see his sheets in a ball by his feet. He'd nearly sweated through his shirt too. Suddenly, he realized he had a bigger problem. It was straining painfully against his jeans.

Jesus H. Christ…

As far as Daryl could figure, he had two options. Ignore it…or don't ignore it.

This was definitely not something he'd been planning on. With the group in such close proximity inside the prison, doing anything of this nature wouldn't have been an option. There had been no way he'd ever have considered it with the open cells and the echoing walls. But he wasn't inside the prison no more.

Daryl groaned in frustration. Merle had always encouraged him when it came to having fun with girls, but try as he may, Daryl could never get up the courage to say anything, let alone do anything to one. The closest he'd ever gotten to it was one drunken night years before, when a stripper-friend of Merle's had let him feel her up. He woke up with a damn nasty hangover and a conscious to match, and never tried anything again after that. He'd let Merle think that there had been other times since then, but in reality he was just as happy to be out in the woods with a crossbow in his hands as he ever was around a woman. Up until now it hadn't been an issue.

Damn his conscious for always trying to make him do the right thing. The world had gone to hell and he hadn't complained about it. He'd save people countless times and never asked for one fucking thing in return. In Daryl's book, God owed him big.

Fuck it. I'm tired of always being good.

The minute he made his mind up, that was it. He reached down with his hand for the button on his jeans as he started to peel the zipper down slowly with the other. The pressure was killing him. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a shadow from the outside. He tried desperately to ignore it, hoping it was just the sun darting behind a cloud.

"Daryl? You awake?"

OH SHIT!

Karma was a fucking bitch. He looked up and saw the silhouette of a girl outside the tent flap. It was Beth. He quickly grabbed the sheets and attempted to cover himself before he had an even bigger issue.

"Uh, yeah just uh…give me a minute."

"Take your time."

Is she fucking kidding?!

"What is it?" He leaned his head out of the tent flap back enough to see her.

Beth smiled sweetly. "I know you've been stuck in here a lot because of your ankle, so I wanted to invite you to come up and keep me company for the day. Figured maybe you could watch Judith for me or sit in with the others during class time."

Daryl couldn't think of a worse way to spend his day. "I'm still in a lot of pain. Not really good company right now."

"I thought maybe you could do a class on tracking animals for the kids so they can practice hunting. They love it when you're around."

"Little kids like that shouldn't be out in the woods trackin' nothing." He argued sternly.

She looked a little stunned. "Well you know what I mean. Just thought you could use something to do to keep your mind off of the scouting trip. I know you'd wanted to go."

"'M fine."

"Right." She frowned slightly. "Well I'm just up the hill, in case you change your mind."

He knew she was upset that he didn't wanna play house with her, but dammit, did she have to walk away looking at him like he just shot her favorite dog? Maybe it wouldn't hurt him to come up and check on things and see Asskicker for a while. It'd probably help him to get his mind off of other issues. Bet it was a lot cooler in the prison too. He threw his head back on the pillow, his conscious winning the battle this time.

"Damn women..."

CDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC

From the moment Beth had startled him in the tent, Daryl's issue had disappeared in record time. He figured now was as good a time as any to go visit with the baby. Whenever he was going through something and couldn't talk to anyone else about it, he would talk to her. He'd have to watch what he said to her from now on though, since she'd probably be repeating him soon enough. Somehow, spending time with her always made him feel like the world wasn't such a shitty place.

He limped his way up to C Block, noticing that Beth had taken the kids to another part of the prison today. Just as well since he really wasn't in the mood to interact with her right now. Hershel was sitting with Judith on the far side of the room. With his leg the way it was, getting there seemed like quite a chore. He suddenly had newfound respect for the old man. If it'd come down to Daryl having to lose a leg, he'd probably just as well have put a bullet in his brain. There weren't no such thing as a one-legged hunter.

"She's been waitin' on you." Hershel said, handing her over to Daryl. "Howled all morning when you didn't come see her."

"Well, I'm here now, so she don't gotta holler no more." He lifted her up to his eye level. "Sides, she's probably just missin' her daddy."

"Maybe," Hershel relented. "But I think she missed you more."

"Don't know why…" Daryl pulled his head away from her when she went to grab at a lock of his hair. He was in need of a haircut pretty bad. "I'm basically just somethin' for her to drool on."

"That's just how she shows her affection. Soon she'll be talking so much you won't know how to keep her quiet."

Daryl made a face. "Not looking forward to that. The women around here already yack too damn much."

Hershel chuckled. "I lived with three women. I know better than anyone what that is like."

"Yeah, well I don't want to find out."

"How are you handling Carol being out with the group? I know you weren't keen on it."

Daryl sighed. "Ain't happy about it, but she's right. She needed to go out and prove herself."

"So you gave in then?"

He scowled. "I didn't give in. I just decided she was entitled to know how to fight."

Herschel didn't argue back. "She'll be all right. Rick will keep her safe."

"Yeah, everyone keeps saying that." He grumbled.

"I know Beth wants more training too, but I'm scared to let her go out there. It's bad enough I can't talk Maggie out of it. Now that she's married, she rarely comes to me for advice anymore, let alone for approval."

Daryl noticed that Judith was gnawing on a corner of his shirt. "Don't mean she don't want your opinion. Maybe she's just trying to come into her own without relyin' on you so much."

"I trust that Glenn will set her straight if she has any bad ideas." Herschel laughed. "In some ways, he's stricter with her than I am."

Daryl suddenly remembered how strict his father had been. Only it hadn't been with words. He and Herschel had that in common, only Herschel had gone on to become one of the best fathers he knew. Those girls didn't know how lucky they had it.

"You think they'll be back by tonight?"

"Depends on how far out they had to go." Hershel said honestly. "But I'd say, if not tonight, probably tomorrow some time."

"Every trip is gonna be like this now." Daryl predicted. "We're gonna have to keep going out further and further until we'd might as well just leave the damn state."

"Maybe..." Hershel hesitated. "But then again, the more walkers we put down, the safer we are. Hopefully these kids will be able to live long enough to see a world reborn. Then they can set up wherever they want and take up an honest way of living."

"The chances of either of us seeing that ain't so good." Daryl muttered, bouncing Judith on his knee. "But I'm gonna do what I hafta to make sure this one gets a fighting chance."

Herschel smiled at them. "You would have made a good daddy Daryl. Still might in fact."

He chortled. "Yeah right. I ain't playin' 'Little House on the Prairie' with no one."

"You never know. Someone could come along and change your mind."

Daryl knew exactly what Hershel was insinuating, and he didn't want to hear it. Before he could get another lecture, he handed Judith back to the old man and turned to walk away.

"Here, take her. I got stuff I gotta do."

A/N: I know I'm going to be getting LOTS of feedback about this chapter, so feel free to bring it on! It was quite an eye opening chapter for me (literally) and also one of my favorites to write so far too. Hope I didn't cause anyone to have any major heart arrhythmias (but if I did, I'm sure you didn't mind TOO much;) Now I'm off for some time with friends to help me cope with my perverted tendencies…hehe.