Title - Bodies And Souls Collide
Chapter title - A Plan For Tomorrow
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Family/Horror
Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the show or comics.
Chapter Word Count - 2972 words.

A/n - Please leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:

"Merle saved my life, I owe him the same. Go."

With the finality of her words she shut the truck doors, racing off around the block. The building opposite the store was quiet as the geeks were still piling after the sound of Glenn's new car. Silently she managed to slip through a broken window and make her way to the roof. There were a few stray geeks here and there but nothing that she couldn't now handle herself.

The door to the roof of this building had been chained shut and so Teddy had to make her way back through the building to find something to cut it open. It took her an hour or so to find a set of bolt cutters in the storage room in the basement and she only hoped that Merle was still ok. Thinking only of the herd of geeks that would soon be tearing into the man that had saved her life she hurriedly cut through the thick chain and shoved the door open.

The noise of the door brought the attention of the dead that had been locked on the roof. They turned slowly, saw her, and began towards her. Teddy cursed her stupidity for not checking first and backed off down the stairs. She ran, knowing it would buy her time with how slow they were. She found a kitchen with an over turned chest freezer and climbed inside.

The smell of rotten food was overwhelming but much preferred that over being torn apart and eaten alive. The geeks were slow to trickle their way down through the building and Teddy gave it extra time just to make sure she wasn't about to get swarmed by them again. She moved slowly when she emerged from the freezer, gun in one hand and knife in the other. The sun was starting to set now and she could hear that down below there were more geeks. She shook her head, deciding to cross that bridge when she got to it and returned to the now barren roof.

Teddy made her way to the edge, peering across to find a sign of Merle but saw nothing. Frowning she wondered if maybe she was looking in the wrong area or even at the wrong roof but then she saw the flash of black going through the door.

"Shit!" She moved along the roof, trying to keep her eye on Merle but once he had managed to squeeze under the chain she couldn't see him. All she knew for certain was that she didn't see him come out of that building.

She made to head back inside but could still here them moving around just below. Instead she picked up the heavy chain she'd cut off earlier and re-secured the door, found a hidden spot on the corner of the roof and decided to wait until morning when she hoped most of them would be gone and she might be able to pick up a trail.

Screams woke her up. Agonized screams but not of physical pain. It was a deeper more emotional scream. Teddy shot up from her spot on the roof, looking around frantically. She could see four figures on the roof opposite, one she knew was Glenn immediately, always wearing his signature cap along with T-Dog. She assumed one was Rick and the other wielding the crossbow was clearly Daryl. He must have come for Merle.

Sticking two fingers into her mouth she released a high sharp whistle, waving her arm after to catch their attention. She gestured for them to go inside and she'd make her way to them. The street wasn't full anymore, nor was the building she was in. Just a handful of geeks that she could dodge past silently.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is.

"One handed?" Teddy held her hands up when Rick swung around, gun in hand. He immediately lowered the weapon, muttering an apology. "What do you mean one handed?"

"Merle, uh... He cut his hand off." Glenn explained. "It's in my bag."

"Jesus H Christ." Teddy bypassed them, closing in on Daryl who was pacing, wanting to find his brother. "I couldn't get back in here yesterday so I went into the store opposite. Took me a while to get up there, by the time I did I just managed to see Merle take off through the door. He didn't come out of the alley and he didn't go out the front of the store. I figure he either went out some back way, through a window or he's still here. Alright?"

Daryl nodded his thanks and moved on with his search. Teddy followed, Glenn and Rick close behind. She knew that giving Daryl that information on where Merle might be is going to keep him from completely flying off the rails. Finding evidence that Merle managed to cauterize his stump and bust out of one of the windows only proved to help.

Glenn had Teddy stay with Rick and T Dog whilst he tried to get the bag of guns. T-Dog asked her how she'd managed to stay up on the roof all night alone and she mentioned the freezer and the small herd she'd encountered. Rick made a noise and Teddy stared, waiting for him to open his mouth.

"What?" She demanded as they waited in the alley.

"It was stupid, going back alone." Rick pretended to check the barrel of his gun, peering around the wall down the street. "You should've waited and come back with us this morning."

"Some of us have a moral standing, Officer Friendly. When I owe a man my life I make damn well sure I live up to that."

"What difference did it make?" He snapped, turning on her. "You got yourself trapped on a different roof and Merle was still stuck. We would've realized he'd gone out the window whether you saw him go through the door or not. It was a wasted effort."

"Maybe if you hadn't cuffed him to the roof in the first place I wouldn't have had to go back!"

"He was a danger to everyone!"

"Everyone in our group knows that the Dixon's listen to me. Anytime they get hot headed, you just come call me and I'll calm them down. It's how it's been for weeks. If you took a second before you took him down you'd know that."

"I didn't see you quick to jump in when he was beating on T Dog."

"I calm them down, I don't jump in to their fights." Teddy was clenching and unclenching her fists as T Dog was frantically making sure they weren't attracting any of the dead. "It's all about timing with those boys. If I'd cut in before I only would've gotten myself a black eye too. Who am I helping then?"

Before Rick could say anything more they heard a commotion other than that of the familiar groaning. The three of them took off down the road, arriving just in time to see a car take off and find Daryl fighting a teenage boy.

After finding the hideout and getting Glenn back whilst helping out Guillermo and his people, the group were heading back to the van. Teddy knew Daryl was still pissed that Merle was no where to be seen but he was remaining calm for the time being.

Once they realised the truck was gone, probably taken by Merle, they were racing back to camp. Teddy hoped that Merle wasn't dumb enough to go back to camp guns blazing but she knew what kind of temper he had even before having to cut his own hand off.

The exhaustion was just begining to set in not too far from the camp when they heard screaming and gun shots. Adrenaline buzzed through their veins as they sprinted the rest of the way, spotting the geeks and helping the rest in taking them out. It seemed to flash by in seconds and before Teddy knew it, she was looking down at Andrea, cradling her dying sister.

Silence passed over the camp as everyones eyes fell to them. Teddy hovered just to Andrea's left, torn between wanting to comfort, wanting to give her space and wanting to morn over her friend. After a few minutes she knelt on one knee, squoze Andrea's shoulder and pressed a small kiss to her temple.

"I'm so sorry. I won't be far, if you need me." She stood up and turned back to the group. "Give them space. We got bodies to clean up."

The group worked straight through into the morning, everyone keeping an eye on the sisters. Teddy went to check on Carol on Sophia as soon as she found Ed's body. Carol was keeping her daughter close and Teddy wondered whether she was happy or sad at Ed's sudden demise. She knew she shouldn't talk ill of the dead but Ed Peletier got exactly what he deserved.

"Tell me that you're on my side." Daryl's low voice pulled Teddy from her thoughts as he stopped to hand her a shovel.

"Your side about what?"

"She's gonna turn." He nodded towards Amy. "We gotta deal with it before that happens but the Sheriff and his wife don't agree."

"I get your point." Teddy nodded, rationalizing in her head. "But it's her sister... If it were Merle and someone else took the shot you'd flip your shit."

"Yeah, 'cept Merle ain't here is he?"

Daryl huffed and marched on to finish whatever task he had been doing previous. Teddy went on to help Glenn and T Dog dig the graves. She smiled gratefully when Miranda Morales handed her a thin piece of fabric when she kept having to push her hair from her face. Her curly brown locks were always a pain in the ass during summer, frizzy one second, stuck to the sweat on her forehead the next. She never thought she'd miss elastic hair ties so much during the apocalypse, much less when she was digging a grave for her dead friend.

When Teddy heard that Jim had been bitten she hurried over to where Daryl was talking to Shane and Rick. He was already on the warpath for Amy's soon to come change and now they had Jim to worry about too.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it."

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?"

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

"Daryl, he's still alive." Teddy interjected. "We can't shoot a living man where he stands."

"So we wait for him to start biting people?"

"No, we wait for him to pass and then take care of it."

"Like we've taken care of Amy?" Daryl scoffed, nostrils flared.

"That is for Andrea to deal with how she sees fit, just like looking for Merle was for you to decide."

"Quit bringing Merle up like it changes anything, girl!"

"I'm bringing him up so you can try a little empathy for a change."

"I hate to say it-" Dale interrupted. "I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right."

Teddy listened to the rest of the discussion, hearing mention of the CDC. Her mind drifted, no longer focused on Jim or even Amy. Did Rick really believe there would be anything left at the CDC? And Shane was even more deluded if he thought there was anything at Fort Benning. He was the one who told everyone about the military bombing the city, how could he possibly believe there was still any way out of this? Or maybe Teddy was just the pessimist her mother had always told her she was.

She was so caught up in her own mind she didn't even notice Daryl take the pick axe and head towards Jim or see Rick pull his gun on him. She walked slowly back to the grave site, picked up the shovel and kept digging.

It was the gunshot that brought her out of her own head. She turned to run but stopped when she saw people looking at Andrea. She had done it. Slowly, so as not to startle her, Teddy approached and knelt down.

"You want a hand?" She asked, taking note of the smallest nod from Andrea.

She helped to wrap Amy's body as well as they could but that was all Andrea would allow her to do. After that she insisted on taking her to the grave herself. They had a brief sort of funeral and then everyone dispersed to continue with the clean up. Teddy instead headed out a little way into the forest until she came to a log and took a seat.

She re-tied her hair that had already come loose from the fabric strip. She let out a heavy sigh as she looked around wondering what was next for them. She didn't believe there was anything at either the CDC or Fort Benning but where else could she go? She was thinking for a while, loosing track of time until she heard a rustling behind her. She didn't turn, she knew it was someone from the camp and she didn't really feel like a chat.

"You should check when you hear a noise." Daryl's voice grew closer as he moved to stand at the end of the log.

"Footsteps were too precise to be a geek and there isn't a single animal that would walk right up to me like that."

"Huh." Daryl smirked down at her as he scratched his nose. "Maybe you weren't so bad at hunting after all." He sat down beside her leaving a gap between them. "What are you sitting out here for anyway?"

"I had enough of listening to everyone argue about what's next and what to do with Jim." Daryl nodded in agreement with her response and she snorted. "You're one of the worst, Dixon." He nodded again and she laughed, a real laugh this time. "What are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well Rick wants to go to the CDC, Shane wants to go to Fort Benning, I don't think Morales wants to go to either and Merle is still out there somewhere."

Daryl thought for a moment, opened his mouth to answer and then closed it again. Eventually he settled on a shrug and a shake of his head which Teddy nodded in agreement with. They sat for a little while more, heading back to the camp when the sun finally began to set.

Overnight Teddy had managed to come up with a plan for her next steps, the only trouble was she needed a car. She bid farewell to Morales and their family and watched as everyone else headed for their own cars. She had been supposed to be riding with Andrea, Dale and Glenn in the RV but she knew that the CDC was the wrong choice, for her at least.

"Teddy, c'mon." Glenn called but Teddy shook her head.

"I'm not comin' to the CDC."

"What?" Daryl, Glenn, Rick and Andrea all spoke at the same time but Rick was the first to step toward her.

"What do you mean you're not coming?"

"I think it's gonna be a bust... A friend of mine lives a few miles from here. Her father owns a farm, I figure if they're still there then it'll be safe. It's out of the way, far from the street. I know people there. If there's nothing where you're going you can come find us."

"And if you get there and they're gone?"

"Then I keep going until I find somewhere safe and you can catch up." Teddy shrugged. "I'll find a car on my way... Merle and Daryl have taught me enough to survive, I'll be fine."

"No." Rick shook his head, face holding a stony expression as he reached forward and gripped Teddy's wrist.

"No?"

"No. I won't allow it."

"Won't allow-" Teddy clenched her fists at her sides, holding eye contact with Rick. "You don't have a say over what I do or don't do, Rick. You are not my dad." She snatched her arm away and side stepped him.

"Wait." Daryl spoke up before she could reach the road. "No reason you should walk there. I'll take Merle's bike, you can take the truck."

"You don't have to do that Daryl."

"Wouldn't want that arrow I used to save you go to waste would I?" He shrugged climbing into the flatbed to untie Merle's bike.

Teddy helped him roll it down to the ground and move all of his stuff into the RV. She smiled her thanks, awkwardly patting his shoulder as he handed her the keys.

"You know Merle is a badass right? He's still alive somewhere and he's gonna be pissed when he sees you on his bike."

"Yeah, I'll take that argument when I see him."

"I'll keep an eye out for him whilst I'm out there... I'll tell him where you went."

"Thanks." He climbed onto the bike in question and made to put the keys in the ignition.

"Daryl-" She called as an afterthought. "Try not to fight Shane before the days over, alright?"

"No promises."

Teddy chuckled to herself before she loaded her own gear in the truck and climbed into the drivers seat. She ignored the look that Rick was giving her, waving instead to everyone else before she peeled away from the camp. She didn't look in the rearview, thinking only instead of how to get to the Greene Farm.