Michonne had done her best to hide the way she felt from everyone. She felt terrible. She was exhausted and more than a little sorry each time she lost her breakfast before it had even begun to handle the gnawing that was in her stomach.

Still, Daryl looked at her with excitement, and she didn't want to ruin that. The rest of the group looked at her with something akin to anxiety, and she didn't want to heighten that. It was only Carol that looked at her from time to time like she had magically developed the ability to read her mind.

"Are you OK, Michonne?" Carol asked when they were filling boxes. "If you want to go lie down, there are plenty of people that could help me," she urged.

Michonne did want to lie down, on the one hand, but on the other she felt like she needed to keep working, at least in some small way, so that she didn't let the others down.

"I'm fine," she stammered, reaching down and picking up one of the boxes that Carol had designated for her as one of the lightest. As she stood, she was dizzied and her field of vision was lessened. For a moment she saw everything, and heard everything as distanced, like the scrambled channel on televisions when she was younger.

Michonne dropped to her knees, involuntarily, and felt the sharp ache of doing so, just before blackness engulfed her.

Carol had seen it coming, and was glad she had. She got there in time to catch Michonne by the shoulder and ease her down so that she didn't collapse with the force she was threatening to go down with. Carol carefully rolled her over, the sounds having drawn attention from Beth, Maggie, and Rachel who were in and out helping them.

"Is she OK, what happened?" Maggie asked, standing in the doorway with her hand halfway over her mouth.

"It's fine, Maggie," Carol said. "I want you to get a can of chicken noodle soup and go get that heating up." Maggie went directly to the shelves to look for the soup. Michonne was starting to come around and Carol smiled at her, rubbing her forehead a little. "Beth, go in the fruit boxes and find me some fruit cocktail, if you can find some in syrup, that's what I really want. Rachel, can you go get Daryl for me?"

The other two women went to their posts.

"What happened?" Michonne asked, starting to sit up. Carol pushed her back down.

"Not yet, just stay down for a few minutes," Carol said. "You blacked out, but I don't think it's a big deal. I used to do that sometimes when I was pregnant with Sophia. Are you hungry, Michonne?"

Michonne's head was fuzzy, but Carol was perfectly calm, so she didn't feel like she should be too concerned.

"Yeah, I am," Michonne said.

"I thought you might be, Maggie is making you some soup," Carol said.

Beth returned carrying a small can. She handed it to Carol. Michonne looked at her. Carol looked calm, but Beth looked terrified.

Carol pulled open the pop top on the can quickly.

"OK, let's sit up a little bit," she said, moving to help Michonne. "Beth, do you think that you can sit behind her and help me support her for just a few minutes, until she gets her sea legs back?"

Beth didn't say anything, but she did kneel behind Michonne.

"I feel a little light headed," Michonne said.

"Drink the juice," Carol said, handing the can to Michonne.

"Seriously? The syrup?" Michonne asked. She had always liked sweet things, but the syrup from fruit cocktail was its own level of sweetness.

"Yeah, when you were just lying on the floor unconscious, I don't kid," Carol said. "I know it's a little gross, but it's going to make you feel a lot better."

Michonne somewhat reluctantly drank some of the juice, taking a momentary break before continuing. They seldom got sweet things these days, and this was a little overpowering.

Daryl came into the door and immediately didn't know what to do. Michonne was sitting on the floor, leaning against Beth, and Carol was on her knees next to her, hovering over her.

"What's goin' on?" He asked, walking over.

"Everything's fine, Daryl, no need to panic," Carol said. She got up. "Keep drinking that, I'll be right back." Carol walked to Daryl and caught him by the arm. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

"You OK, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked before he turned to follow Carol.

"I'm fine, Daryl," Michonne said, sipping some more of the juice.

Daryl followed Carol outside and stood in front of her in the street.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Daryl asked. Carol wasn't wearing the same facial expression that she had in the house. In the house she had looked completely calm, even a little pleased. Now her forehead was wrinkled and she looked concerned.

"Nothing's wrong right now, Daryl," Carol said, "Michonne just passed out."

Daryl looked worried, but he didn't say anything. Carol knew that he was waiting patiently for her to tell him out to fix this, what he was supposed to be doing.

"I guess it was my wakeup call that she's got to eat more, and she's got to eat better. She's trying to feed Hope, take care of herself, and give the baby what it needs, and that means she's got to really take care to eat enough and to eat well," Carol said. "I need you to go hunting, Daryl. I don't care if you bring back enough for everyone or just enough for Michonne. Most of us can get by OK without a lot of protein, but I really want to get some good food in her, can you get me some meat?"

"I'll get it, Carol," Daryl said. "I promise I'll get it."

Carol smiled at him and squeezed his upper arm.

"I know you will, Daryl. Take some of the others with you, set them up fishing in the creek. I know we've seen some fish down there, and probably if they go farther up they'll find even more since it seems to get bigger," Carol said. "They can find some fishing poles over behind headquarters, I had Tyreese put some back there for when we needed it."

"Ain't no problem, Carol," Daryl said. "You just take care of 'Chonne until I can get back, OK?"

"Don't worry, Daryl, I have it covered," Carol said.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"What are you doing?" Tyreese asked, walking up behind Daryl who was almost frantically building wire into box shapes.

"Makin' rabbit traps," Daryl said.

"Why?" Tyreese asked.

"Carol said Michonne needs meat, and she looks worried. When Carol looks worried, I get worried," Daryl said. "So I'm goin' huntin' an' I'm gonna get some rabbits while I'm out there."

"Why don't you just shoot them?" Tyreese asked.

"Ain't my plan," Daryl said. "Rachel said they was a bunch of rabbits that lived down around the creek. I'm gonna trap 'em an' bring 'em back here and the long eared little fuckers are gonna make us more rabbits, that way if I can't find nothin' when I go out huntin', I'll know we always got somethin' here to eat."

Tyreese chuckled. "They're going to be awfully inbred after a bit," he said.

"Don't reckon it matters if the little fuckers are smart, they'll eat the same," Daryl said.

"It's a good idea, Daryl," Tyreese said, "if it'll work."

"It'll work," Daryl said. "I need you to do somethin' for me while I'm gone."

"What's that?" Tyreese asked.

"I need you to make me a pen for the rabbits, an' you gotta send Maggie and Glenn out to find one of them feed stores. Tell 'em to get every damn type of food they got there. I don't know what the fuckers eat, but they'll find somethin' they like when they get hungry enough," Daryl said. He finished shaping the last of the six traps that he had made and stood up, collecting up his traps on the rope he'd been threading through them. He slung them over his shoulder.

"I can do that, man," Tyreese said. "Be careful out there."

"I will be, I gotta come back," Daryl said, smiling. "'Chonne's countin' on me and she'd be pissed if I didn't come back. I'm gonna take some of them boys that are still wet behind the ears and put 'em to work fishin' too. It's time to start testin' out them fine smokehouses you built."

Tyreese smiled at Daryl and chuckled a little. "Good luck, see you later," he said, heading off to find Glenn and Maggie.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111

Daryl had led Jimmy, Junior, and Carl further up the creek where it widened a good deal.

"Alright, I'm gonna go huntin', but I'll be back for y'all before dark," Daryl said. "Y'all keep your eyes out for Walkers, and keep the kid between you," he said, gesturing to Carl.

"I'm not a kid, Daryl," Carl said, a little annoyed.

Daryl smiled a little at him. "I think you're all kids, kid," Daryl said.

Carl looked unhappy with him.

"Tell ya what, kid, you get me a string of fish and I won't think of you as such a kid no more, deal?" Daryl asked, ruffling Carl's hair.

Carl smiled. "Deal," he said.

"Y'all keep an ear out," Daryl said. "I'll whistle a couple a' times when I got somethin' good and y'all better hustle down to where we get water. I ain't leavin' meat out for a long time in case some Walkers decide to come along."

"We'll be listenin'," Junior said.

Daryl left the three of them digging around for worms and getting ready to settle down to fish. He didn't know what they would catch, but anything was better than nothing.

He wandered around, looking for rabbit tracks and finally found what he'd been looking for, including he saw one of the long eared creatures shuffling around in the brush.

There's a whole damn den of 'em 'round here. Daryl thought. He took a while to strategically place his traps and then left, if he caught something, the cage would keep the Walkers in the area from getting to it.

Daryl killed a few Walkers as he was wondering, looking for some kind of track of something that he could take back for dinner. He cursed quietly at them. The damn Walkers made hunting a pain in the ass. By now he'd have been able to acquire quite a bit of food if it was back before this whole thing happened. Now he had the added challenge of dealing with those nasty bastards either getting to what he wanted first or rustling around making so much noise that they ran everything off.

Daryl was determined though, and he was going to keep his promise to Carol. He would bring back some meat to eat, no matter what it was that he had to shoot.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Daryl had been stalking the deer for a little while before he finally got a clear view of him. He was a nice sized deer and he'd feed them well. Daryl was also a little thankful that he wasn't too far from where he'd set his traps. He'd need the boys to help him carry the deer back to the community, especially if he got rabbits too to lug back.

When he took the deer down, he was pleased with himself. The deer was more than he'd honestly hoped for coming out there. They still had enough time to get back before dark, too, even with their load.

Daryl whistled and covered the deer as best he could with some of the underbrush, hoping to disguise it a little until he could get back to it. He checked the area and it was clear from Walkers, at least for the moment.

He whistled again and heard a whistle answer him. The boys were coming.

As Daryl got closer to his traps, there was a man stooped down, bent over one of the traps. Daryl could immediately tell it wasn't a Walker, that wasn't the normal stance of a Walker.

"You better back the fuck away from my rabbits," Daryl growled, raising his crossbow.

The man stooped put his hands up, but hadn't turned yet.

"Don't shoot me," the man said, stuttering a little.

Finally he slowly turned around and stood up and Daryl realized it was a young man, he was maybe twenty-five. The boy, as Daryl now thought of him, stood up. He was a little taller than Daryl, and thin, but not starved. He looked like he hadn't grown into his arms and legs yet, so his overall appearance was gangly and awkward.

"What the hell you doin' fuckin' with my rabbits?" Daryl asked, not lowering the crossbow.

"Listen," the boy said, a half smile on his face, "I didn't mean no harm. You got five here, can't you spare one?"

"No, I can't," Daryl said.

"Man, don't be greedy. I saw that deer you got, you can't eat that deer and all five of these rabbits. I've been out here all day and all I got was three squirrels, I'm sick of eating squirrels," the boy protested.

"I can't spare no damn rabbit, this meat's for my family," Daryl said.

"How big is your family?" The boy asked. Daryl didn't say anything, it was obvious that he wasn't going to answer.

"Come on, man, I'll trade you. Three squirrels for one rabbit," he said, holding up the string of squirrels that he had.

Daryl eyed the boy. He had absentmindedly lowered his crossbow, realizing that the boy meant absolutely no harm at all.

"Come on, I'm sick of eatin' squirrel an' you got more than enough for your family," the boy continued. "You could spare one rabbit for three squirrels."

"Ain't my damn problem you can't hunt no better than you can," Daryl said. "You ain't gettin' one of them damn rabbits, they are for my wife," Daryl said. He could hear the rustling of the leaves and knew that the boys would be joining him soon.

"What kinda wife you got that can eat five rabbits?" The boy asked.

"My wife's pregnant, and she needs meat, we ain't eatin' the rabbits right now," Daryl said.

He felt sorry for the boy, it was obvious that the boy really wanted to trade for something different to eat, but he wasn't willing to give up any of the rabbits.

"You alone?" Daryl asked.

The boy smiled a little and looked around him.

"Why? Do you see anyone else?" He asked.

"Oh, a smart ass," Daryl barked. "I mean do you gotta group 'round here?"

"No, I ain't got no group. I come here from North Carolina. I left with my uncle and two brothers, but since my uncle didn't make it outta North Carolina, and my brother's both got killed when we was stayin' a spell in South Carolina, I reckon I'm all I got left," he said, "and these three squirrels," he added after a second. "So how 'bout that rabbit?"

"Damn it, I done said you ain't gettin' one 'a those damn rabbits, boy!" Daryl growled. "What's your name, kid?"

"Beau," the boy said.

Beau heard a stick crack behind him and saw three others approaching, two men probably about his age, and one younger boy. They were carrying poles and had ropes with some fish draped around their necks. None of them said anything.

"That your real name?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah," Beau said.

"What kind of a name is Beau?" Daryl asked.

"What's your name?" Beau asked.

"Daryl," Daryl responded.

"What kind of a name is Daryl?" Beau countered.

"Asshole," Daryl said, quietly.

Beau smiled at him again. "What about them fish? I could trade you these three squirrels for two decent fish," Beau said.

"Man, shut up. You can come with me, I reckon that Carol can cook up enough to feed one more mouth for the night," Daryl said. "And gimme them damn squirrles," he added as an afterthought, snatching the string of squirrels from Beau. Beau flashed him a broad grin.

"We got us a deer over there," Daryl said, addressing Jimmy and Junior now. I got to get the rabbit traps. Beau can prob'ly show you where the deer is and y'all can haul it back."

"Come on," Beau said, skipping formal introductions and showing the others where the deer was. He reckoned that these were Daryl's kids and Carol must be Daryl's pregnant wife. Beau shook his head a little. It looked like Carol had probably been at this baby makin' thing for a while, since the oldest of the three following him probably wasn't too much younger than he was.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

As soon as Daryl had left good and Tyreese had sent Maggie and Glenn on their way, Carol asked him to help Michonne to the house.

Michonne protested his assistance, insisting that she felt much better now, but Carol told him to walk with his arm around her in case she should decide to black out again. His job was to make sure that she didn't hit the ground, and he didn't have to wonder if she was in a good mood about it.

"You know I'm not going to ignore a direct order from Carol," Tyreese said, walking with her toward the house. "It's nothing personal."

"Whipped!" Michonne said.

Tyreese smiled.

"You're a fine one to be talking about what a woman can make a man do," he said. "Last accounts I had your husband's trying to become a rabbit farmer."

Michonne had no idea what Tyreese was talking about. She wasn't really mad at Tyreese for following Carol's orders and helping her, but she didn't like the idea of everyone looking at her like she was weak. Now they'd be looking at her like she didn't even possess the ability to cross the street without assistance, and that wasn't how she wanted anyone thinking about her.

"You know, sometimes we do what we do out of love, not out of being whipped," Tyreese continued, "but I'll forgive you for your snarly attitude. I know my wife was vicious when she was pregnant."

Michonne growled at him. "And now everything I say or do is going to be hormones, right?"

Tyreese chuckled, but didn't respond. He helped her to the couch.

"You want anything? Extra pillows, blanket?" He asked.

"I'm good," she said.

"If you want it, you better ask for it. Carol's on her way over and you don't want her to catch you wandering around. She's serious about putting you in your place right now," he said, laughing a little at Michonne's pouty face.

Boy Daryl's got him a handful! He thought. She looked like she could burn holes through him with her eyes right now.

"I said I'm good," Michonne said, turning over on the couch to face the back of it.

Tyreese chuckled again and left the house, almost running onto Carol carrying a pot.

"Need help?" He asked.

"No, it's not heavy, it's just a can of soup," she said. "Did you get her settled?"

"Your patient is as settled as she's going to be. She's in one fine mood right now," Tyreese said, smiling.

Carol smiled back at him.

"I can handle Michonne's moods. I've gotten used to it. I think I'm actually immune to her glaring," Carol said. "That's a good thing because I've probably got at least seven more months of dealing with it."

Tyreese patted her on the shoulder and then started down the steps. Carol stepped inside and fixed a mug of soup, bringing it to Michonne and sitting the pot down on the floor next to her.

"You brought a whole pot of soup?" Michonne asked, rolling over and accepting the mug from Carol.

"Yes I did, and you're going to eat all of it," Carol said. "I don't know how many calories you're burning a day just by trying to keep everyone going in your little triangle, but I'm going to put all of them back in with interest."

Michonne snickered at her. She wanted to be mad, but Carol seemed to be in a really good mood right now, and it was a little contagious.

"It would also help if you would quit deciding to be such a harsh critic of my cooking," Carol said. "I mean I know that not much of what we have around here qualifies as delicious, but it's not bad enough that you need to be running off behind the house every day."

"Believe me," Michonne said, "it's not my choice."

"Well then, tell the baby to stop being such a harsh critic," Carol said.

Michonne smiled and drank some more of her soup.

"Good?" Carol asked.

"Actually, it is," Michonne said.

"Good," Carol said. "Listen, from now on, if you're hungry, you let me know. I don't care if you're eating every half hour, but I don't want you skimping on food if you get hungry."

Michonne thought it was a strange concept. She hadn't paid much attention to it at the prison, even though she knew that she ate four or five times a day when she was pregnant with Hope. She hadn't thought of it, there was just always Hershel or Carol pushing food at her all the time. Since they'd been here and had been working on setting up the community and figuring out how much supplies they had to sustain them, they'd all taken to eating less. Sometimes it was because they didn't want to stop working, other times it was because they were hoping to stretch supplies. Feeling at least a little hungry was a pretty common sensation. Now she knew that Carol was right, she was going to have to eat more if she wanted to keep up her health, keep feeding Hope, and make sure this baby got all that it needed.

"I will, Carol, but I really don't think I can finish this whole pot of soup right now, I'm getting full," Michonne said.

"Then I'll keep it for you and heat it up for you when you're ready for more," Carol said. "I think you need to take a nap. Sasha's got Hope over at headquarters, so you can rest a while. When you wake up you can come down there."

"OK, mom," Michonne said, smiling. She was tired, so she did welcome the prospect of at least a short nap now that she was full.

"Do you want another pillow or anything before I go?" Carol asked, getting up.

"No, I'm fine." Michonne said, closing her eyes.

Carol took the pot and slipped out the door.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Daryl's coming!" Stella called. She and Dominique swung open the gates and started killing the Walkers that were hovering around.

Carol stopped what she was doing and turned to watch the group coming through the gates. Daryl was weighed down a bunch of metal contraptions. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on there. Behind him came Carl, carrying what looked like a decent amount of fish, and behind him were Jimmy, Junior, and some new boy lugging a very large deer.

Carol beamed. When you sent Daryl out to do a job, he got that job done, and he did it big. She started toward him as he was peeling off the contraptions he had tied to himself.

"I ask you to bring me meat and you bring me another mouth to feed?" She scolded. Daryl could see that she was teasing, her face didn't have a bit of annoyance in it.

"How's 'Chonne?" He asked.

"She's doing just fine, Daryl, no worries. She's inside feeding Hope right now, but she'll be out here to see all this before you know it," Carol said. Daryl smiled at her.

"Did your man get my pen built?" He asked.

"What are you talking about, Daryl?" Carol asked. Tyreese hadn't told her about the rabbits or the pen that he'd been busy fashioning in the backyard behind headquarters.

"Tyreese knows what I'm talkin' 'bout," Daryl said. "We gon' grow us our own meat. I got us five rabbits to start with an' I'ma get us some more just as soon as I can."

Beau watched the scene in front of him. He was starting to wonder about Daryl's family now. He figured the woman that Daryl was talking to was Carol, and if she was pregnant, she probably could stand to eat a couple of rabbits, she was pretty twig thin. He still didn't know anything about the guys that were helping him carry the deer, or the youngest boy, but he was certain that the two people who opened the gate for him were not part of Daryl's family.

"What'chu wanna do with the deer?" Beau called.

Having shed the cages, and leaving Carol to admire the rabbits through the wire, he turned back toward the four boys behind him.

"Any of y'all know how to butcher a deer?" He asked. Jimmy and Junior shook their heads.

"I do," Beau said. "I can also clean them rabbits like they had zippers."

"We ain't eatin' the fuckin' rabbits tonight, tonight we're eatin' some of that deer," Daryl said, "but you can help me clean it. I reckon if you gon' eat supper here you might as well earn it."

Carol walked over to join Daryl and sized up the boy in front of her. He was tall and skinny, with dirty blonde hair and a baby face. He smiled at her, a crooked smile, and nodded his head, his hands being full.

"How do, ma'am?" He said. "I'm Beau."

"Nice to meet you, Beau, I'm Carol," she responded.

"I figured as much," Beau said. "Daryl said you'd be willin' to let me get a mouthful outta your supper."

"I'm sure we'll have plenty," Carol said, already planning out the meal in her mind.

Michonne came out of headquarters carrying Hope, curious to see what was taking place outside. Tyreese had also started through the yard, wondering if Daryl had actually brought back any rabbits for the pen that he'd built.

Beau watched the two newest people approaching. By now Beau and the others had put the deer down, content to let it lie there until they'd been given further instruction. Beau wiped his hands awkwardly on his dirty pants.

"I could wash your clothes for you," Carol said. "We've got plenty around here, I'm sure we could find you some to wear in the meantime."

"That would be right nice 'a ya," Beau said, "but if it's all the same to you I reckon I'll wear these 'til we finish cleanin' whatever we're gon' clean today, 'cause I wouldn't wanna go gettin' no one else's clothes dirty."

"That's fine. I can warm you up some water to take a bath afterwards too, it looks like you haven't had a bath in a while," Carol said.

"I wash off in the creek every now and again," Beau said. "It's been right cold lately, so I don't do it 'less I really need to. It don't matter none, and the Nasties don't seem to pay me too much attention if I don't rinse off too often."

Carol could smell the boy from where she was standing, and he did have a stench that was comparable to that of a Walker. She hoped Michonne didn't get too close to him, that could very well make her sick and Carol didn't want her throwing up everything that she'd force fed her throughout the day.

"Well, you can get cleaned up here, after you've helped Daryl," Carol said with a smile.

Michonne approached and Daryl leaned over to kiss her.

"I stink and I'm dirty," he said, not daring to touch her with anything but his lips at the moment.

"I know, I can smell all of you," Michonne said.

"How you feelin'?" Daryl asked.

"I'm fine, Daryl," Michonne said, smiling.

Beau looked confused and scratched his head. The woman with baby had just very openly kissed Daryl, right in front of Carol.

"Um, I don't mean to be nosy, but…" Beau started.

"Then don't be," Daryl interjected.

"Daryl, be nice!" Carol said. "What's wrong, Beau?"

"Well, ain't you his woman?" Beau asked, wrinkling his forehead.

"No," Carol said smiling, "I'm not his woman."

"She's my woman," Tyreese said, chuckling. Carol hadn't realized that he'd come up behind her until she felt him put his hands on her shoulders. She smiled, feeling him squeeze her shoulders.

"So who's your family?" Beau asked.

"We're all family, here," Michonne said. She smiled at the boy. He was cute. "I'm Michonne," she said, "and Carol's man is Tyreese. This," she nodded toward Hope, "is Hope."

"Nice ta meet ya," Beau said.

"Alright, let's get goin' with this food, I could use some supper," Daryl said.

He tried to figure out what would be best. Cleaning the animals was going to be messy work, and he'd rather do it outside the community, but that would draw every Walker for a hundred miles. They'd already killed their fair share just trying to make their way back to the gates.

"Beau, you an' me are gonna go clean that deer on one of the other streets," he said. "Junior, Jimmy, can y'all at least clean fish?"

Both nodded.

"Alright then, y'all gon' go over to the other street and get to cleanin' them fish. I'll get the squirrels after we get the deer done. Tyreese, do you reckon you can put them rabbits in their pen and then bring me somethin' I can put the deer meat in for Carol?" Daryl asked.

"I think I could handle that," Tyreese said.

"I'll go find something," Carol said.

"Carl," Daryl said, "you can come with me an' Beau here," Daryl said.

"But I don't know how to butcher a deer," Carl said.

"You don't wanna be no kid no more, you gotta start gettin' more skills. You done shown me you can catch me a mess a' fish, now I reckon it's time for you to start learnin' how to butcher a deer," Daryl responded. Carl smiled.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111

Carol had gone to work preparing bath water as soon as they'd gone around to start cleaning things. Tyreese put the rabbits in their pen and offered them some of the food that Maggie and Glenn had brought back, along with some of the water. Then he took the buckets that Carol had given him and started off to find Daryl and get the meat from him that Carol would either cook or they'd start putting in the smoke houses.

When Daryl and the others brought the meat around, Daryl asked Carol what she wanted to cook.

"I'ma go out tomorrow and get some more, but what you want for right now?" He asked.

"I guess I'm going to make a stew," Carol said. "It should make a pretty hearty meal to go around."

"Here," he said, "put them three squirrels in it 'cause they ain't gonna make much of a difference and I'll cut you some stew meat outta the dear. Take this," he gave her a cut of meat, "and cook that up as a steak for 'Chonne, it's the best cut."

"I'll do that, Daryl," Carol said, accepting all the meat that he put into a pot for her.

"We gon' hang the rest a' this," Daryl said. "Tyreese said he'll get one of the smokehouses goin'."

"Sounds good," Carol said. "I'll have bath water ready for all of you to bathe before dinner."

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11

Beau accepted his bowl of stew with a grin and a thank you. He looked more excited about the stew than everyone else. Carol had prepared Michonne's dinner separate, so when she sat the plate in front of her, everyone looked at her.

"Eat," Carol commanded. "All of it."

Michonne looked at the plate and had to admit that the food looked delicious.

"I was just going to eat stew," she said.

"I know you would have, but Daryl special ordered your dinner," Carol said. "So you better eat it."

"That's right, 'Chonne, you gotta eat it," Daryl said.

"I don't think I could eat all this if I tried," Michonne said.

"I could help," Glenn offered.

"You'll do no such thing," Carol said. "Michonne's been busy all day growing another human being, feeding Hope, and trying to take care of herself, you've all done pretty light work in comparison. Let her enjoy her dinner, and if you can come up with a good reason why you should get the same thing, you can take it up with me after dinner while you're doing the dishes."

Michonne would have felt bad for the others, maybe would have felt guilty for eating the spread that Carol had given her, but she was starving and it was delicious, so she ignored the few people who were still watching her eat. It was pretty much the best meal that she could remember since this whole thing started, and though she felt sorry for everyone else, she was enjoying it.

Beau liked this group. He was beginning to put faces together, and figure out through watching their interactions who was who. The stew was damn good, and it had been quite some time since Beau had eaten much in the way of vegetables. Times had been pretty lean during the winter, so he'd been excited lately to have all the animals coming out of hiding.

Today, however, he'd had hot water to wash with, and soap. He was wearing clean clothes now, and the woman, Carol, had told him that she'd wash his. Now he was getting full on the stew and was starting to get tired a little.

"Beau, you weren't travelling with anyone?" Carol asked, refilling his bowl.

"No ma'am," Beau said. "Thank you," he said, when she finished filling up his bowl. "Stew's real good."

"You're welcome, and thank you for the compliment," Carol said, smiling.

"I been on my own a while now. My older brother was the last one with me an' I reckon he died at least six months ago," Beau said. He directed his attention to Tyreese then. "If'n she weren't your woman, I believe I'd have me a go at her," he said grinning, "looks like you got you a nice one."

Carol blushed a little at the compliment and Tyreese smiled at the boy.

"That I did, son, that I did," he said.

"So how's it work around here?" Beau asked. "When someone joins this, um, family, do they get a given a girl or do they pick one or what? I mean if I was to join would I have had to bring my own?"

A rumble of laughter rang through the group.

"You have to get your own," Glenn said, "you're just lucky if you run up on one you like."

Beau nodded and went back to eating his stew.

"Well, I reckon I'm outta luck then," Beau said, "'cause I ain't run up on nobody really 'til today. I seen me two or three people along the road, but I ain't seen a whole lotta people that I wanted to have much to do with. We got some rough 'uns on the road these days."

"We've always had them people around," Daryl said, "it's just that now we got Walkers to deal with and them kind of people to worry about."

"Walkers?" Beau asked.

"You know, Walkers," Daryl said. "The dead people that are ramblin' around outside, or ain't you noticed?"

Beau smiled at him. "Oh, you mean the Nasties!"

"That's a good name for 'em too, I reckon," Daryl said.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111

"Does that boy remind you of anyone?" Carol asked Michonne and Rachel while they were doing dishes. Everyone else was still lingering around inside headquarters, chatting and resting after getting their stomachs full.

Michonne snickered. "Yeah, he does," she said.

"What?" Rachel asked. "Who does he remind you of?"

"Daryl," Carol said.

"Really?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Michonne said. "Try to imagine what Daryl would have been like at that age, especially if he had a little more confidence."

"And cockiness," Carol said.

"He seems like a good kid," Rachel said.

"Oh, I think he is that, I hope he chooses to stay around after tonight. He might give that Chelsea a little something to keep her busy," Carol said with a laugh.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111

Michonne was trying to sleep, but Daryl was worried, and she knew that she wasn't going to sleep well until he was done with that.

"I'm fine, Daryl," she said for about the fourth time.

Daryl was hugging her, rubbing her stomach, just where he remembered her being mad about not being able to button her pants when she'd been pregnant with Hope. So far he couldn't tell any difference. She certainly hadn't gained any weight, though right now he could tell that she was full.

"You know you're being counterproductive," Michonne mumbled.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"You want me to stay awake to talk to you, but you rubbing me like that is making me sleepy," she said.

"You want me to stop?" Daryl asked.

"No, Daryl, honestly what I want you to do is keep rubbing and let me sleep. I promise you that I'm alright now, it was just a little problem, probably with blood sugar. I'm fine, and I feel fine, and I'd feel even better if you'd keep doing that and let me go to sleep," Michonne said.

Daryl kissed her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll let you go to sleep," he said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Michonne said, already starting to drift off.