Okay, here's the thing. I plan on making this the last chapter of Season 2. Now here's what I need you guys to do since no one has bothered reviewing or PM'ing me their view. I created a poll (you can find it on my profile) on whether or not you guys want me to continued Season 3 in this story, just make another part (ex. Seasons 1&2 were Part One, Season 3 would be Part 2) or create a sequel story based on Season 3. I will keep the poll open for a few days, allow enough votes to get up and then at the end of the few days, I'll upload either Part 2 of this story or a little Author's Note telling you guys that the sequel story is up.


Favorite Line(s):

Daryl simply returned her gaze for a moment and finally came to the decision that even though he could do a lot of fucked up things in this new world, he could never, in a million years, be able to hold his walker baby in his arms and put a bullet through its head. So instead,he gave a weak, wordless shrug of defeat. Tears immediately filled her eyes and as she collapsed in his arms, sobbing anew for a completely different, but all-together more frightening reason, Lori and Rick were getting into yet another horrible fight.

"Oh my God . . . Oh my God . . ."

Maggie's murmured words were the only things filling the air of the car as they drove down the dirt road towards the highway – or towards what Ethan hoped was the highway.

He was slouched against the window, feeling as numb and as dead to the world as his father surely felt (if his father had even survived) with Beth tucked in against his side, her eyes dull and lifeless as well, as his arm hung limply around her shoulders. In fact, they all felt dull and lifeless. Their entire lives had just come crashing to the ground around them in a fiery inferno. Glenn was the only one who seemed even remotely like he was keeping his shit together and that his brain was still working.

"Alright, let's just . . . let's just circle back to the highway." He finally spoke with a definite nod and the look of disbelief on Maggie's face was almost comical if they had been in the mood to laugh.

"Did you guys see dad?" She asked them. "Did-did he make it?" Ethan gave a weak shrug as Beth deigned not to answer. Every movement seemed excruciating in its effort to make, including talking. The two of them marveled at how Maggie and Glenn found the strength to do it. "Did you guys see him – did any one of you?"

Glenn closed his eyes and shook his head. "I couldn't see anything." He finally told her and fresh tears filled her eyes.

"We've got to go back there." She spoke and Glenn shook his head.

"We can't go back – there's nothing to go back to!"

"But what about our dad?" She asked, referring to her and Beth, and Glenn shook his head, suddenly finding himself weary. "What about Patricia and Jimmy?"

"Patricia didn't make it . . ." Ethan finally spoke, his voice coming out soft and quiet and Maggie glanced behind her at him, stricken, as Beth closed her eyes and sucked in a harsh breath that bordered on a sob, her arms tightening around Ethan slightly.

"What do you mean?" Ethan turned a dull look onto her.

"I mean that she's dead. That or she's a walker. A couple of walkers grabbed her when we were running from the house – I stopped to pull Beth away from them before they could latch onto her and when I had her free, momma and Lori were gone," He gave a shrug. "I don' know about Jimmy." Maggie shook her head.

"What if they didn't make it – Jimmy and dad? What if nobody made it?"

"They made it out, okay?" Glenn assured her gently and Maggie shook her head. "They had to! All right, let's just circle around to the highway where we left supplies for Sophia." Maggie, tears running down her cheeks, shook her head.

"No, the herd came from that direction." Glenn gazed at her for a moment before quietly asking her to stop the car. Maggie sniffled and nodded as they pulled the car to a stop in the middle of the road. Ethan and Beth watched numbly as Glenn and Maggie quickly switched seats so that Glenn could take over the driving of the car. Maggie started sobbing and Glenn shushed her gently.

"Hey, Maggie, look at me – look at me!" She nodded and did as she was told. "We're alive – we made it! Okay? I'm sure they are too. Daryl would not have let anyone be left behind – especially Tessa!" He cast a glanced behind him at Ethan as he said that and saw his friend's lips purse slightly. Maggie nodded then, fighting to hold back the tears.

Then, as Glenn told Maggie he loved her, Ethan vaguely wondered if he would ever hear his parents tell each other that again and developed a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"We've got to turn around."

T-Dog gave Lori a slightly confused look over Tessa's head as she sat there against the passenger side door, her arm hooked around a still dazed Tessa's shoulders. "You want us to go straight back to that herd?" He asked and Lori glanced at him. For once, she had to be the strong one of the two friends and already, it was starting to take its toll on her otherwise fragile psyche. They were both in the same boat – her and Tessa. Both might be looking at a future without their sons and their husbands – raising a child alone and having to go through childbirth alone. The future looked bleak for them and for once, Lori was keeping her head and not Tessa. T-Dog shook his head. "Um, how about a no?"

"Look, the highway is back there. That's where they'll be - I know it!" She told him. "If anyone survived, they'll be there! Rick and Daryl and Glenn will go back to where we first broke down." T-Dog shook his head again.

"We're headed east. We're getting to the coast and we should have done that from the jump," He glanced at them. "Look, I'm sorry for you two's losses, but we've got a shot of getting out of here in one piece!"

"I've got to find Carl and Rick – they might have escaped with somebody. Hell, look at Tessa! She's got to find Ethan and Daryl!"

"Look, I hate to say it, but they're on their own! There's no way to even begin to start looking -!"

"Tessa – what the Hell are you -?"

T-Dog came to an abrupt halt with Tessa gritted her teeth together and after withdrawing the hunting knife she always kept in her boot, lunged at him, the sharp point moving so close to the skin of his jugular that she could practically shave him at the root. T-Dog froze as Lori grabbed at her, attempting to pull her back down but she wasn't about to move. Her cold eyes were pinned on the man's driving as he screeched the truck to a stop, and she shook her head.

"You might wanna rethink that decision, T-Dog," She advised him quietly. "Because I can tell you right now that we are going back to the highway and I am going to find my son and his father. And if you don't agree with that, then I will be more than happy to slit your throat, kick your body out of this truck and then leave you behind to drown in your own pool of blood. Just because you couldn't keep your wife from committing suicide back at the CDC doesn't mean that you can condemn other people's loved ones!"

"Look, Tess, we can't go back!" He told her quickly, his eyes quickly searching out hers. They moved away, however, when he saw no shred of humanity left in them. This woman wasn't kidding. "It's suicide!"

"What would you know about suicide?" Tessa asked him, her voice coming out quick as well but scarily level. "Jacqui left you - I get it and I know that must hurt. But if you don't take me and Lori back to the highway right now, regardless if they are alive or not, then the first time we stop, I'm either putting a bullet in my head or this knife through my heart because I don't even wanna begin to continue to go through this Hell without Daryl and Ethan – pregnant or not!

Tessa's eyes immediately filled with tears as T-Dog stopped the truck across from Rick's and Maggie's SUV. The tears filled her eyes as she saw Ethan stumble out of the back, tears filling his eyes as well. "Oh my God – Ethan!" Tessa called out as her son ran towards her. She pulled him tightly into her arms seconds later and held him close for a minute, tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Momma, I'm so sorry – I'm so, so sorry I lost sight of you!" He cried and Tessa shook her head, a watery grin spreading across her face as they parted and she moved aside a lock of her son's black hair before pressing a loving kiss to his forehead.

"Don't be sorry, baby, don't ever be sorry! You saved Beth – I should have been the one paying attention to you!" She looked away then, scanning the people behind him and he saw her face blanch slightly. "Daryl – where's Daryl?" Ethan shrugged weakly and Tessa turned a wide-eyed stare onto him. "He's not with you – he didn't go with you?" Ethan shook his head.

"He told me and Beth to get to Glenn and Maggie and then he went looking for you. I lost him after that momma, I'm sorry!"

Tessa's eyes filled with fresher tears then and she felt like her heart had turned into a lead weight and had plummeted straight down into her stomach. She had her son but where was Daryl? Where the Hell was Daryl?

The sound of a running bike pierced through the silence and Tessa felt her heart leap up back into her throat as she turned around. Slowly, like some horrible gushy scene in some shitty romance movie, she saw Daryl driving Merle's bike with Carol sitting behind him, down the highway towards them. Their eyes immediately connected and the look of relief that echoed in those beautiful blue depths of his eyes made her want to sob out again, something that she immediately did.

"Holy shit, Daryl – thank God you're alright!" She breathed out as he quickly drove through the grassy median separating the two sides of the road. Without even cutting off the engine, Daryl kicked down the kickstand and with eyes full of tears, dismounted from the bike and made a beeline towards her, Tessa doing the same.

"Oh thank fuckin' God ya'll alright!" He muttered gruffly and tearfully as he pulled her into a fiercely protective embrace, his hands immediately flying to cradle her stomach. They quickly made sure she was okay - that she was free of bite or scratch before they moved from her belly to cup her behind the head, where he bent down slightly so that their foreheads touched. One of his hands slid into her hair as the other curved around the small of her back as he closed his eyes and swallowed around the lump that had been steadily forming in his throat the entire time before he kissed her long and deep. "Tess, if ya had died . . ." He wordlessly shook his head. "Unless I had Ethan, then I wouldn' have been far behind ya! I've already killed a man for ya - what's one more and who cares if it's me?" Tessa laughed and shook her head as Daryl parted from her, only to take Ethan into his arms in a tight embrace. Ethan clung to him almost as much as Carl was clinging to Lori, Daryl closing his eyes as he held his son to him and as he pulled Tessa back into his arms. He had almost lost them . . . he had almost lost her!

Beth and Maggie ran into Hershel's arms as well, as Rick continued to embrace both Lori and Carl. "Where are the rest of us?" Daryl asked after a moment, still holding Tessa and Ethan close (he swore to God he wouldn't ever let them out of his sight again!). Rick gave a weak shrug.

"We're the only ones who made it so far." He told him as Lori got to her feet, her eyes settling onto Rick's.

"What about Shane?" Rick shook his head and the look on Lori's face was almost indecipherable as Glenn glanced around at them.

"Andrea?"

"She saved me and then I lost her." Carol spoke up, her voice quiet.

"We saw her go down." T-Dog spoke and Tessa and Lori nodded as Daryl's arm wrapped more snugly around Tessa's waist as Ethan gently pried himself out of his father's grip.

"Patricia?" Hershel was the next to speak, and Beth and Ethan shook their heads.

"They got her too," Beth told him after a heavy swallow. "Took her right from me – Ethan saved me!" She glanced back at him and Ethan smiled a small smile as Daryl gently ruffled his hair and murmured a 'Good boy'. "I was – I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just . . ." She finally broke down into sobs then and Hershel hugged his daughter close as Maggie's lips pursed with emotion. Then, finally, she took her face out of his chest and turned them onto his eyes, hers wide and wet with hope. "What about Jimmy?" She asked finally. "Did you see Jimmy?" Rick nodded.

"He was in the RV and helped us get down from the hayloft of the barn after we set it on fire. It got overrun - quite quickly, too." He told her and Beth immediately let out another sob as she reburied her face in her father's side. Ethan tensed but Daryl's firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. Then was not the time.

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked, and T-Dog nodded as Lori sighed.

"There were walkers everywhere."

"Did you see her?"

Everyone stayed silent then and Daryl sighed. "I'm gonna go back -"

"The fuck you are!"

He immediately froze, as did everyone else when he tried to leave and Tessa snapped back at him shrilly. Eyes wide with rage and ebony hair tousled, she looked like the personification of a fiery rage. She shook her head. "I almost lost you, Daryl Dixon! I almost lost you and Ethan almost lost you! Our baby almost lost you!" She shook her head. "You go out there again and you better not come back because I will be through with you!"

Daryl stood there and blinked at her in shock for a moment before she shook her head, her look of rage crumbling in favor of a look of tearful weakness. She shook her head again and Ethan sighed as he placed a gentle hand on her back. "Momma, we can't . . . we can't just leave her!"

"We don't even know if she's there!" Tessa snapped back at her son in anger, tears filling her eyes again. "And I refuse to just sit here and worry myself half to death because he had to be a Goddamn hero and go find her!" The words felt like hot acid being thrown on him and Daryl shook his head weakly as he took a step towards her. He opened his mouth to say something but Rick interrupted him.

"Tessa's right, she isn't there," Rick agreed with a finite nod. "She isn't, Daryl. She's somewhere else or she's dead! There's no way to find her."

"So we're not even gonna go look for her?" Glenn asked as Daryl moved back over to Tessa. He pulled her back into his arms in a tight embrace and she punched his chest for a moment before eventually sagging against him, tears streaming down her cheeks as her back heaved in silent sobs.

"We gotta keep moving," Rick spoke. "There have been walkers crawling all over here since we got here."

"I say head we head east." T-Dog spoke and Daryl nodded in agreement as he patted Ethan on the shoulder before gesturing to the walker lumbering its way over to them. Tessa still wasn't allowing him to break away from her and he suspected that she wouldn't for a long time.

"We should stay off of tha main roads. Tha bigger tha roads are - tha more walkers tha' are prolly roamin' 'em." He spoke and Ethan nodded.

"Yeah, I got him, deddy." He replied as he picked up his father's already strung crossbow and fired it. It pierced the walker right between the eyes and the heavy body fell to the pavement dead. He went to fetch the arrow as everyone fell silent, including Tessa. It was as if Daryl himself had done it.

And for some reason, that made everyone feel infinitely better

They weren't long down the road before gas became an issue.

They had turned down a stretch of side road and not long after, they heard the honk of Rick's truck bringing up the rear. Daryl immediately pulled over, Glenn doing the same with the SUV. Bike still running, Daryl and Tessa turned around at the waists to watch as everyone exited their vehicles and Rick and the others quickly moved up to join them.

"Baby, turn it off . . ." Tessa murmured, patting him on the side as she spoke, and Daryl nodded as he did as he was told and allowed her to get off the bike before turning around at the waist again to watch as Rick approached them.

"Are ya out?" He asked and Rick nodded.

"Been running on fumes for God only knows how many miles." He answered darkly and Daryl cursed under his breath.

"Well, we can't stay here!" Maggie quickly spoke up, rifle in her hands and Glenn shrugged.

"We all can't fit in one car, though, either." He replied and Rick shook his head.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning."

"You mean spend the night out here?" Carol was the one who spoke next, her arms moving to cross in front of her chest and Carl nodded as he shivered slightly.

"I'm freezing."

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori asked as she rubbed Carl's chest through his maroon colored sweatshirt and Daryl glanced at Tessa as Ethan moved to join them.

"If ya guys go out lookin' for firewood, ya stay close, okay?" He spoke up as he bent down to pull out his crossbow and jacket. He handed the jacket to Tessa before slinging the crossbow around his shoulder. She pulled on the heavy leather jacket as Daryl turned back to Rick. "I only got so many arrows. How are ya on bullets?" Rick pursed his lips as he moved to stand beside him.

"Not enough. What about you?" Daryl nodded in agreement and it was Rick's turn to curse under his breath as he turned to face everyone again.

"Well we can't just sit here with our asses hanging out!" Maggie spoke up again and Hershel shot his daughter a reprimanding look.

"Watch your mouth," He told her and Daryl fought to roll his eyes as he turned to face the woods, his keen eyes scanning the surrounding tree line for walkers. When he was content that he didn't see any, he turned back to the group. Tessa was the same with Ethan, though, always telling him to watch his mouth but as far as Daryl was concerned, there were a lot more dangerous things to worry about in this new, fucked up, twisted world, than your child's language – especially when that child was Maggie's age. Of course, Tessa was starting to grow out of it and starting to not mind the Dixon mouth that was almost inevitable for Ethan to grow into and for that, Daryl was thankful. It put her mind on more important things – like surviving from day to day. "Everyone should stop panicking and listen to Rick."

Rick nodded. "All right, we'll set up a perimeter," He began. "In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie suggested and Rick shook his head.

"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn reminded him gently and Rick pursed his lips again.

"Look, I know it looks back and we've all been through Hell and worse, but at least we found each other!" His eyes lingered on Tessa and Daryl's then and they swallowed hard and nodded in agreement. They had. They didn't know what they would have done if they didn't (in fact, the both of them were pretty sure it involved bullets in the head, but like they were about to tell them that!). "I wasn't sure – I mean, I really wasn't – but we did! We're together! Now, we need to keep it that way." Everyone nodded at that as Rick continued. "We'll find shelter somewhere – there's gotta be a place around here somewhere!"

Glenn sighed. "Rick, look around. Okay? There are walkers everywhere – they're migrating or something, I don't know, but it's not safe to stay in one place for long!"

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify and hunker down and pull ourselves together - where we build a life for each other!" He shook his head, his words getting more and more passionate as they continued on. "I know it's out there, we just have to find it!" Lori and Tessa's eyes connected then when he finished speaking, as did Daryl and Rick's and it was like something unspoken transferred between the four of them. Not one of them wanted Lori and Tessa giving birth on the road – in some ditch somewhere or in the back of some car or truck, even though it sounded pretty inevitable. They wanted somewhere stable and somewhere safe for them to hunker down and give birth and then rest and despite the silence that pervaded everyone, they could tell that the others were thinking the same thing.

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure," Maggie spoke up, her voice soft and determined to be even. "For how long will we be able to stay there? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that it was safe – that it would always be safe!"

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel promised her and there was a brief silence before Rick began talking again, his voice calmer.

"We'll make camp tonight, over there," He told them, pointing to the cobble-stoned ruins of something. "We'll get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you guys?" Carol asked Daryl and Tessa, her arms still crossed in front of her chest and before either of them could answer, Beth walked up to Rick.

"What if walkers come through?" She asked him. "Or another group like Randall's?"

"Ya know tha' we found Randall, right?" Daryl suddenly spoke up, his eyes finding Rick's and holding his attention. "He had turned but he hadn' been bit." Rick stayed silent at his words and everyone could tell that a new air had taken over him. Beth gazed at him slightly apprehensively.

"How's that possible?" She asked and Lori nodded.

"Rick, what the Hell happened out there?"

"Shane killed Randall," Daryl spoke for him. "Jus' like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked, her voice taking on a certain edge that Tessa immediately noticed. Rick glanced at her before settling into a deep silence. Eventually, when he finally spoke, his voice was hard and quiet, a voice that not one of them liked.

"We're all infected." He glanced back at Lori then and the stricken look that crossed her face made him want to gag. Tessa felt a lump start to build up in her throat and immediately sought out Daryl. His hand grasped her and he pulled her into his side, his arm reflexively wrapping around her waist.

"Excuse me?" She asked and Daryl nodded in agreement as his arm tightened ever-so-slightly on her waist.

"Yeah, what do ya mean, Rick?"

"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

Everyone descended into another harsh, awkward silence and Tessa could feel the anger quickly flooding through Daryl's body as he tensed beside her. "And you never said anything?" Carol immediately asked.

"Would it have made a difference?" He asked with a wry laugh and Tessa shook her head.

"Did you know this whole time, Rick?" She asked and Rick shot her a slightly pleading look.

"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo -"

"That was not your call!" Glenn interrupted him, his voice getting angry as well. Daryl stayed silent but his eyes stayed locked on Rick and Tessa's grip on him tightened slightly. "When I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone!"

"Well, using that logic, I thought it was best that people didn't know!" He replied testily and immediately after he spoke, it was like someone had lit a fuse underneath them. Everyone stayed quiet but the look of betrayal shining in a lot of eyes were like daggers in his chest, especially the one that Lori sent him.

Daryl heaved a sigh and took Tessa's hand, where he pulled her away, Tessa readily complying as Lori took off after Rick. "Oh my God, Daryl, what if . . . what if . . ." Tessa trailed off in horror as he continued to drag her off and when he stopped and made sure that their conversation could not be overheard, he finally turned his eyes onto hers. She could see the apprehension and fear that flickered through his eyes as well at this most recent news and she shook her head. "What if . . . what if our baby ends up dying, Daryl? What if . . ." She forced herself to stop and collect herself before speaking again. "What if our baby dies in the womb and-and . . ." She blanched in fear at what she was proposing and Daryl immediately shook his head as he brought her closer to him.

"No, don' think tha' way, babydoll! Tha's impossible – it could never happen -!"

"How do you know that?" She interrupted him, her eyes wide with fear. "How do you know that could never happen? Look at history – how many babies have died in the womb and were born stillborn before modern prenatal care? How many babies were born stillborn before modern medicine?" She shook her head. "What if the baby is born stillborn and it . . . it comes back? What if it bites someone – what if it bites me?" Her eyes, which had remained wide, filled with another emotion, one that it took Daryl a moment to decipher. "Will you be able to kill our baby, Daryl? Because let me tell you, I wouldn't want anyone to kill that baby except for the people that created it - us!" Her eyes scanned his face, desperately searching it for something. "So would you be able to do it, Daryl? Would you really?"

Daryl simply returned her gaze for a moment and finally came to the decision that even though he could do a lot of fucked up things in this new world, he could never, in a million years, be able to hold his walker baby in his arms and put a bullet through its head. So instead, he gave a weak, wordless shrug of defeat. Tears immediately filled her eyes and as she collapsed in his arms, sobbing anew for a completely different, but all-together more frightening reason, Lori and Rick were getting into yet another horrible fight.