The next morning when I climbed out of bed I was still angry, even though I had run miles around the fence. I was less than completely irate, but more than annoyed. It would probably be good if I stayed away from everyone today. After using the bathroom, I made the morning trek back to see Lori, but she and the baby weren't in the cell. They were already outside.

When I got down to where the group was, Rick stood up and started talking. "If we're going to really settle in here, I think we need to start thinking about giving people a bit more privacy. There's a row of offices just outside of the cell block. There are gates at either end of the hall. I think that we should start moving the furniture out and setting up our living quarters in there. Most of the offices can sleep two, and there's more than enough of them for everyone. There's even plenty of room for food storage and an infirmary. We could always stock some provisions in the cells, just in case, but I think this will be better for everyone in the long term. I'd like to hear what everyone thinks about this."

I ate my breakfast as everyone debated the pros and cons of moving. It seems as though the biggest con was that there was so much work to be done in the field that everyone wondered if it would be a good use of time. Rick turned to me. "What do you think Stella?"

I knew what he was doing. He was asking my opinion first to cement my position within the group. Rick was no dummy. It was a way to rebuke Daryl without confronting him directly. "Well it wouldn't take more than a few days to get everything moved out, even working at it part time. I think that it would make everyone happier in the long term. Living in the cells isn't really condusive to a happy lifestyle."

My piece said, I stood and started collecting the breakfast dishes. "I'll bring these in, but would you mind washing these?" I asked Beth.

"Sure, no problem."

After dropping the dishes inside I grabbed a backpack and some extra bullets and headed back out. On my way down to the cooking area I stopped at my car and collected my canteen and my bow and quiver of arrows. I rejoined the group and started packing some things for a light lunch. Rick came over to me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going out hunting today. I need the space Rick. I'm not used to being around so many people. A little fresh air will do me good." I looked up at him, I could see he was about to protest. "Rick, this is not a debate." I finished packing what I needed and swung the bag onto my shoulder. "I'll be back in a bit. Don't worry." Whistling for Gertie I headed off towards the gate.

A hand clamped down on my arm. "You can't go out there alone. It's not safe."

Without turning to look at him, I pulled my arm from his grasp and walked out the gate.

I had made the right decision. The fresh air and exercise was doing me good. Whenever I thought of Daryl, I still became angry. I mean, this morning, telling me what I couldn't do? Luckily the thoughts came few and far between. The terrain was challenging and the ever present threat of walkers kept my focus on the task at hand.

A few miles from the prison I found a marsh. This was the perfect hunting ground for me. Gertie began bouncing around. She knew what was coming next. I set my things on the ground so I wouldn't be thrown off balance and then I let Gertie go. She bounded into the wetlands and with a great rustle of leaves and wings a flock of terns took flight. I managed to bring down three.

Gertie ran back with the first one in her mouth. I took it from her and looked at it. There was a big puncture hole in it. "Try to be a little more gentle. Not everyone wants to eat something a dog has chewed on." I admonished her before I sent her back in for the other two. While I was waiting for her to come back I kept my eyes on the marsh. Sure enough the terns circled around and landed not too far away. It was going to be a good day.

When I unloaded my bag, Glenn whistled. "We should send you out more often. Geez."

I smiled, grateful for the compliment. "I was lucky. There's a marsh not far off and this flock of birds was very reluctant to leave it." So reluctant in fact, I managed to get nine of them. The whole trip didn't even take four hours. I even stopped and ate lunch. "I lost an arrow though, I hate that. I guess I'm lucky. Gertie's usually really good at finding them. Probably wouldn't have any left if it wasn't for her."

"Daryl makes his own, you should ask him about it." When I didn't say anything Glenn cleared this throat uncomfortably. "Hey, thanks for saying we should move in to the offices. It'll be nice to have a room without a door that has holes in it."

"For you and me both, believe me. Is everyone in there clearing out the space?"

"Yeah, everyone except Carol and Lori. Seems like once it was decided on, everyone wanted to get it done. I managed to get clean up duty from lunch. Can't say I mind. Getting some of that furniture out is a nightmare."

"How about this, if you dress these birds, I'll go take a quick shower and then go help them." I had mud caked up to my thighs from wadding in the marsh.

Glenn stretched out his arms, palms side up and looked at the sky. "Thank you." He said theatrically. "That's a deal I'll take anytime."

I laughed. Personally I thought I was getting the better end of the stick. I left Gertie basking in the sun. She deserved it after all her hard work.

Just as I entered the cell block I heard a dull thud from my room. I rushed in. Carol was standing there, her hand over her mouth. She turned when she heard me. "Stella, I'm so sorry. I was just going to grab a book, you said I could borrow one any time and it just slipped."

I looked down. A water pitcher was on the floor and the water was all over all my clothes. It must have been a very full pitcher. Even my sneakers were soaked. I sighed, trying not to get irritated. "That's alright, I have a few things in the car that I can wear." They weren't really appropriate for moving furniture, but I wouldn't be moving the heavy stuff anyway.

"I'll hang it all out to dry. I really am sorry."

"Thanks Carol, don't worry too much about it. Accidents happen." I grabbed my shower stuff and went out to the car. I had to look for a few minutes before I found something that would work.

After scrubbing all the dirt off I felt somewhat human again. I looked at the clothes I had to wear and groaned. The sundress was more suitable for a day at the beach than clearing out offices. At least I had found a sweater to go over it. Jack and I had a fight about what I was packing for clothes when we left Maine. I wasn't ready to admit that there wasn't going to be any reason to ever wear a dress again. So in the car the dresses went, along with the strappy sandals that would be adorning my feet any minute. At least they didn't have heels on them. Those ones I left in the car. I had to admit though, looking in the mirror, it felt good to be in a dress again.

It wasn't hard to find the corridor Rick had been talking about this morning. All I had to do was follow the noise. As I rounded the corner I walked into a kind of organized chaos. I walked down the hall to where most of the action seemed to be taking place.

"Hey," Rick said as he came out of the room carrying a chair. "You're back. How'd it go?"

"Good, it'll be tern for dinner and there should be enough leftover to make a soup with."

"Did you say turd?" Axel's shouted out from the room to my left.

"Tern, Axel, tern. It's a type of bird." I shook my head in disbelief.

"Oh, well that'll be okay."

I turned back to Rick who was trying to stifle a laugh. "Glenn's cleaning the birds, so I said I would come down here and help. I know I can't lift the big stuff, but I'm more than happy to do anything else that needs doing."

"No, that's fine. We're getting behind clearing out all the small stuff anyway. Come on, I'll show you what's going on. Nice outfit by the way."

I looked down at my dress and laughed. "Yeah, well there was an accident with my clothes." I followed Rick past a couple of offices that had already been cleared out, past the gate, then through a set of swinging doors. It was an indoor basketball court.

"Figured we could store the stuff in here until we decide what we want to do with it. Hershel's over there going through all the books and papers that we find. Seeing if there is anything useful. Chairs go over here, bookcases by Hershel. Anything else that you don't think is worthwhile can go in that pile right over there. There's some crates here to carry out the little stuff with. Got it?"

"No problem boss. By the way. Thanks for not giving me a hard time this morning. I would have gone regardless, but it was nice not to have to fight about it."

"It already seems like you've been in this group forever Stella. I trust you. If you say that you can do something, I believe you can. Especially after Lori told me how good you are with that bow." Rick smiled and headed back to the hall. Grinning, I picked up a crate and followed.

I hadn't been in one of the offices for more than a minute before Daryl walked in. I shut the desk drawer I had been emptying and walked right out. It went that way all day. Daryl would walk in, I'd walk out. Just looking at him made me mad. All the calm I had gained this morning was chipped away every time I saw his face.

After a while Beth and Maggie left to go start dinner and Hershel went to check on Lori and Carol. After about another hour Rick popped his head in the room I was in. "Hey. We're all calling it a night. Come on."

"I'll be right behind you, I'll just finish clearing off this shelf."

"Alright, catch." Rick tossed me his keys. "Make sure you lock the gates when you leave, alright?"

"Sure, no problem. See you in a few." I turned back to what I was doing.

A minute later I heard the door shut. I froze for a second as I was picking up a picture of a happy looking family of five. I could have kicked myself, I should have known. I waited but he didn't say anything. "Unbelievable," I thought to myself. "He's waiting for me to say something. Well, he's going to be waiting a long time." I threw the picture in the crate and then just swept everything else off the shelf in there after it. Done. I turned and walked towards the door. Daryl stepped in front of me. Still he didn't say anything. I went to step around him. He moved with me. I shoved the crate into his stomach as hard as I could and went to leave. Daryl tossed the crate aside and grabbed my upper arms. That did it.

I twisted out of his grasp. "How dare you lay your hands on me! You have no right to touch me at all! After what you did?" I was seething. "Haven't you gotten the picture yet? I don't want to be near you, I don't want to talk to you, I don't even want to see your face!" I went to shove past him, to get as far away as I could. Again, he reached out and grabbed me.

"You asshole!" I began to beat my fists against his chest. "Let go of me!"

Suddenly he shook me. "Stop!" he yelled.

I don't know if it was shock or what, but I stopped. I looked up at his face for the first time since he closed the door. He looked so miserable. All the anger went out of my body in an instant. For a long moment we just looked at each other. Then he yanked me closer and his lips crashed down on mine.

That nice, soft, lingering kiss I had imagined? Was that only yesterday? This was nothing like that. This was need and anger and desperation. His mouth was greedy as it slanted over mine. His teeth nibbled on my lip. When his mouth moved to my neck I gratefully sucked in air. I had forgotten to breathe. As his lips found their way to my collarbone, his hands swept my sweater off my shoulders. The fists that had been curled up against his chest, suddenly had bunches of his shirt in them. I was holding on for dear life.

His hands buried themselves in my hair and pulled my head back so he'd have better access to my throat. I moaned, lost in the sensations that were running through my body. Just as my knees turned to jello he ran his hands down to my thighs and scooped me up. My arms went around his neck. He walked over and sat me on the desk. All the while his tongue burned a path up my neck. I felt his hands slip up under my dress and my best pair of lace panties gave way as they were torn off.

The groan that escaped his lips as he entered me sent shivers all the way to my toes. As he began to move my arms and legs wrapped around him, urging him on. He grasped my head between his hands and started into my eyes. I could feel his breath in my mouth.

His hand slipped down between our bodies to loop under my leg, pulling it up. I tilted back, giving him what he wanted. I slipped my hands into the waistband of his jeans pressing him closer. The rhythm he set became more desperate. His hand gripped my thigh tightly, his fingers digging into my skin. The other cupped the back of my head, his fingers entangled in my hair. As the first waves of ecstasy rolled through my body I cried out. He buried his face in my neck. "Oh God Stella, hold on baby," he groaned. My nails dug into his back as the pleasure peaked and I felt his body tense under my hands.

For how long we were there like that I couldn't say. My whole body was trembling. Slowly he withdrew from me, his forehead resting on my shoulder. His arms released me and came to rest on my knees. They slowly reached up and pulled my skirt down. He stayed like that for a moment. Then he raised his head and looked into my eyes. There was something there, but before I could figure it out, he turned and walked away. It was another typical Daryl Dixon exit.

So? Hot or not? Definitely need feedback on this one