Author's note: Gaaaaah! Issues! Issues! Issues! Once again I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It's better than the one I originally wrote-which by the was the reason this isn't out any earlier. Plus some guys issues…sigh why can't guys be like Rick or Daryl? Life would be ten times easier for me. Anyway I still have conflicting thoughts about it. Gaaah! I really need a beta-reader or someone to help me sort through these thoughts and concerns. Is Mara too Mary-sue or worse too Victim-Sue? And is her and Rick's relationship to romancy so far? Gawk, I need some chocolate. Anyway thanks to everyone who reviewed you so totally made my school day better. Other than that I maybe-probably-most likely rewrite this chapter if no one likes it. So please to me a favor and answer me honestly so I can work on this.

Question: Mara isn't too useless is she?

Question 2: Her and Rick's relationship thus far…too cheesy or romantic or fast-paced?

Question 3: Relationships so far with Daryl-ya or nay?

Question 4: Out of all the names Daryl has called her, which one should he stick with?

Question 5: What happened to Mara?

That's all for now. Please please give me some feedback causing this all bugging me.

~Cassandra

Disclaimer: If I owned the Walking Dead, I would be getting bucko bucks…instead I have to work at some crap job to pay the bills. Life sucks. -_-

The store was empty compared to how Rick expected it to be. He had imagined hundreds of walkers lurking around. Not just one who Daryl easily taken care of with his crossbow. However Rick couldn't say he minded the fact much. Especially when Mara insisted on coming. The thought made him grin a little inside. She was always telling Rick how he took on too much responsibility for his own good, but the woman was just as bad. "Rick, I want you to know that if I am popping your personal space bubble, that I'm sorry. Just a little nervous here." Mara whispered a slight blush on her face.

Rick shook his head. In the little time he knew Mara, Rick could tell it was hard for her to admit such things as being nervous or scared. She wasn't like other women in that aspect. Her feelings were hers-not to share. Even more so, Mara seemed to detest the idea of needing rescue. Hence the axe in her hands and the way she saved Rick from Daryl's knife attack. Mara prided herself in being self-sufficient. And her admitting something like a little nervousness in somewhere that should terrify her, was a big gesture of trust. "We all are, Mar. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, you know I prefer it when you're closer to me in these situations. It makes me worry less." Rick assured.

Mara's blush only deepened a little more. She looked away with a strange hurt expression on her face. Rick bit his lip confused. Did he say something wrong? "I know…it's just that….this is where I…" Mara stuttered, unsure how to say it.

It wasn't every day someone came along with 'visions.' Nor was it every day that those visions just abruptly stopped-minus a few times in the present future. But the sad unexplainable truth was that this was episode four. The episode Mara barely got through before being carted away on her siblings' camping trip. Meaning that soon enough she would be almost as blind as the others when it came to this world. Something Mara did not look forward too. "Just don't expect too many visions from me anymore." Mara admitted.

Rick gave her a worried look, but turned back to Daryl who was already heading up the stairs. "We'll talk about it later, Mar. I promise. Until then you keep invading my personal space bubble-you hear?"

Mara gave him a soft smile. "You got it, Officer Friendly."

Rick moved going up the narrow stairwell. It was surprisingly empty just like the store was. The fact made his senses go off like an alarm, but he kept it to himself. If anything were to happen, he'd react accordingly. Until then, there was still a man stuck up on the roof. Asshole or not, Rick couldn't just leave him there. They stopped at the door T-Dog had locked. Sure enough the padlock had stayed intact. A miracle in itself, as well as a good sign. Rick motioned for T-Dog to come up front, which the man did quickly. In a snap the padlock was broken. Without a second though Daryl kicked the door open running out on to the roof. "Merle! Merle!" Daryl screamed.

Mara bit the inside of her cheek as she walked alongside Rick on to the roof. She knew this was going to happen since day one of her time here. It was something expected-even when she had warned T-Dog of the chances of dropping the key. Still she couldn't help but be overcome with guilt as Daryl spotted his brother's severed hand. "No." Daryl said in disbelief, "No. No! NO! NO!"

Equally guilt-stricken looks appeared on T-Dog's and Rick's face as they made their way to where Daryl was. Hesitantly Mara followed. Out of all people she knew it wasn't a good idea to stand in front of a Dixon when both grief-stricken and pissed. Hell, it wasn't a good idea to stand in front of anyone who just lost family. 'But Merle isn't dead,' Mara reminded herself, 'Simply gone until season three…whenever that is…'

An angry roar escaped Daryl, surprising Mara. She looked up to see Daryl pointing his crossbow at T-Dog and in turn Rick aiming his python at Daryl's head. Subconsciously Mara moved in front of T-Dog, causing Rick's grip to tighten on his python. "Let's all calm down, before someone does something stupid here." Mara said calmly.

"Calm down? Ya'll left my brother on a god damn roof to die!" Daryl snapped the crossbow shaking in his arms.

"Move Mara, this is between Dixon and I." T-Dog insisted.

Mara shook her head. "I'm not moving until he puts that thing down."

"Well you're out of luck, Lady. Cause I ain't gonna put my crossbow down anytime soon-not until I'm finished with this bastard." Daryl retorted.

Rick growled softly, "You pull that trigger and I won't hesitate. I don't care if every damn walker in the city hears it. You pull that trigger with anyone, but a damn walker in front of it-I'll make sure you end up like your brother."

A shiver ran down Mara's spine. She heard Rick threaten Daryl before, but it caused Mara to get goose bumps. It was so badass…so unlike the character she heard so much about. Not that Mara minded much, it brought out a new type of depth to Rick's persona. It just…it just made Mara feel strangely important when he did it. Daryl stared at Rick for a second then Mara. With an unhappy grunt, he pulled away. Rick held his python out for a second longer, but soon followed suit. Almost shyly Daryl looked over at T-Dog. "You-you got a do rag or something or something?" Daryl asked.

With a small look of disgust T-Dog pulled out a blue bandana. Mara watched half sympathetically and half incredulously as Daryl wrapped Merle's hand in the bandana. She couldn't imagine having to do that for one of her brothers. Granted they'd never be stupid enough or douche baggy enough to winded up needing to be handcuffed anywhere like Merle. Still Mara couldn't help but admire how far Daryl was willing to go for his older brother. "I guess the saw was too dull for the handcuffs…what a bitch." Daryl drawled to himself.

Mara eyed the saw knowingly. She took a heavy breath before turning to Daryl. "He must've used something for a tourniquet. If he hadn't, there would be ten times more blood."

The group stared at her in disbelief and shock. Rick had a small impressed smile on his face while Daryl simply cocked an eyebrow. Mara felt her face heat up a little. "What? They taught us what to do when someone lost a limb or something in basic. Nothing real big-but enough." Mara defended, "Besides Easton was a combat medic, before they elected him for officer school. So I know a tad bit."

Daryl shook his head. "Whatever you say lil bit."

He motioned for Glenn to come over. Reluctantly the young man did so, only to be pushed aside by Daryl. Without an word of apology or acknowledgement , Daryl placed his brother's hand in Glenn's bag. Silently Mara thanked God, she decided to leave the rucksack back at camp. As bad as she felt for Glenn, she certainly didn't want to be in his place. "Anyway, let's go. Short stack is right, Merle probably used his belt or something for a tourniquet. Otherwise there'd be more blood." Daryl mentioned following the blood.

Mara glanced behind her giving Rick a small sad smile, before chasing after Daryl. While she preferred being near Rick, Mara knew Daryl was just as capable-maybe even more capable than Rick at handling walkers. The blood eventually led them down a narrow hallway of some office building nearby. Slowly Daryl went in and out of rooms checking for walkers. Mara followed him as silently as she could. In honesty part of her somewhat hoped to get a chance to deal with a walker on her own. However there was only one walker living so far and Daryl quickly disposed out it. Mara grimaced watching it collapse to the ground. "I don't think I'll ever get over how disgusting they look."

Daryl pulled his arrow out, not bothering to look at her. "If you're squeamish around this shit, then ya shouldn't be here pipsqueak. It's not a shopping trip after all."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not here for a shopping trip, Daryl. I'm here to help in whatever small insignificant way I can."

"Then stop complaining about shit." Daryl replied walking out of the room.

She stared at his empty space for a second. Daryl and Rick were completely opposite from each other. Not just in appearance, but definitely in personality. If it were Rick in Daryl's stead the response would be totally different. Rick probably would assure her, that no one in their right mind would ever get over such a thing. "Mara?" Rick whispered.

"I'm coming." Mara replied walking out into the hallway.

A sigh escaped Rick as Mara walked out behind him. It wasn't hard to spot how visibly more relax Rick was with Mara near. The minute the girl disappeared the muscles in his back tensed and his steps started to become larger-faster, as if no longer caring too much about the chances of danger until Mara was found. It was so obvious, that Glenn and T-Dog couldn't help but exchange glances. Rick was a married man, but he seemed more attentive to Mara than Lori. Though that could partially be blamed on Lori's strange sort of emotional detachment to her husband. While Lori did appear to love Rick, she just didn't seem to know how to go about it. Let alone how to interact with Rick minus the arguments or cold behavior. Mara on the other hand seemed to know exactly how to handle Rick-then again she also appeared to know how to handle Daryl better than anyone else so far. Hell the girl knew how to tread around people so well, T-Dog couldn't help but wonder if she were really human or not.

They soon entered a large spacious room. Mara moved a little closer to Rick, her hands tightening on Dale's axe. Her eyes searched the room in a W form just like her drill sergeant taught her. She was in a tactile environment after all-minus the guns and bombs and shit. However the only thing she spotted was two pre-killed walkers on the ground. It didn't take two guesses to figure out by who. "He had enough strength to take out these two sunvabitches." Daryl admired looking down, "One handed."

Daryl bent down for a second reloading his crossbow. Mara watched slightly in awe of him. Her father always talked about going hunting , but it was always with rifles rather than crossbows. And it was never animals, he was hunting rather than enemies of the country. "Toughest son of bitch, I've ever met..my brother." Daryl boasted proudly, "Give 'im a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

Mara grimaced at the imagining. Surprisingly her brothers weren't ones for bathroom humor-just dirty sex jokes. "Lovely…at least we know, my impression of him being a tool wasn't that far off." Mara muttered to herself.

Daryl shot her a glare. "Hey watch how you talk about my brother!"

"Sorry," Mara apologized, hands raised in surrender, "Just stating what we all were thinking."

Rick gave her a weary glance, before deciding to intervene between the two. Mara was quick witted and Rick had no doubt she could easily win any debate she wanted too. Unfortunately Daryl didn't talk with his words…he talked with his fists. "Any man can pass out from blood loss. No matter how tough he is." Rick mentioned.

A sigh escaped Mara has she ran a hand through her messy black hair. "He's right. With that type of injury and nothing to fully stop the bleeding or help the blood clot, there's no telling how long he's got." Mara replied, though she knew better.

Merle Dixon was alive and kicking. Even if it wasn't necessarily with them exactly. Daryl looked more and more frustrated. He headed towards a small room attached to the one they were in. Mara glanced down seeing the blood trail following Daryl's exact path. Rick gave her a look indirectly requesting her to stay close to him. She nodded trailing after him as Rick went into the room. "Merle? Merle?!" Daryl called loudly.

Rick stiffened. " Quiet down. We're not the only ones here."

Daryl gave him a peeved look. "Screw that. You two said it, yourselves-he's bleeding out."

A horrid odor greeted Mara as she entered the room. One that could only be describe as burnt meat-something Mara knew wasn't far off from what it actually was. Her face twisted up in both disgust and sickness. However it was the sight of the lit burner on a stove covered in charred flesh and blood that did it for her. Without another word, Mara pushed herself passed a worried Rick to a corner of the empty room where she threw up for the first time in years. She knew this would perhaps be one of the sights she would have seen if she made it in basic. But Mara was also sure that she'd react the same way then too. Behind her, Glenn patted her back trying to help soothe her pain. "You alright?"

Mara gave him a small embarrassed smile. "Yeah, I think that's all. Sorry and thanks for-you know."

"No problem. I had a lot sisters, before this whole thing. This stuff is normal for me." Glenn assured kindly.

She shifted awkwardly on her feet, not knowing exactly what to say. "Well, that's all I've eaten. I think it's safe enough for me to return."

"If you're sure. It isn't a pretty a sight."

"Yeah-I'm sure." Mara mumbled, heading back towards to the kitchen.

Rick gave her a concerned look as she walked in. Daryl, T-Dog and him were now looking at a window nearby by that was obviously shattered by the escape artist Merle. Mara took her place beside Rick, who shifted to make room for her presence. "You okay?" he asked softly.

"Fine. Embarrassed, but overall I'll live."

Daryl snorted from beside the window. "If you can't handle the this shit shorty, then it'll be amazing if ya live past a week."

Rick watched trying not to laugh at the death glare Mara was giving the redneck. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced up at him before turning back to Daryl. "I see your brother's escaped. Ain't that a bitch and a half?"

Daryl tensed at her words but said nothing. Glenn's eyes widened. "He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why not?" Mara shrugged, surprising Daryl, " He was left alone on a roof top to die. He had no idea we would be coming back. The poor asshole probably figured he was on his own-I mean it makes sense, if you put yourself in his shoes."

Daryl eyed the small woman trying to make heads or tails of her. She seemed to be rather close to Officer Asshole-enough to be willing to get hurt defending him. Yet her protection appeared to branch outside of that of just Rick Grimes, as Daryl saw when she jumped in between T-Dog and his crossbow. Furthermore she was the first person to offer to help save Merle. Something Daryl didn't quite understand given her obvious dislike of his brother. "As much as I hate to admit it tiny is right." Daryl grouched, "Merle probably figured he'd be better off surviving on his own, then chance you damn assholes trying to come back for 'im."

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog asked, "Just wandering in the streets, maybe passing out? What is his odds out there-"

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks!" Daryl spat turning to Rick, "You couldn't kill him. He ain't too worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"There's a difference between trying to kill him and deciding not to." Mara corrected shooting Daryl a look, "Rick didn't try to kill your brother. He handcuffed him to a roof for beating the shit out of people-including me."

Daryl eyed her slightly surprised by her words. Merle wasn't the type of man to hit a woman. Insult them maybe, but not hit. However by the look on Mara's face, and her still swollen cheek, Daryl knew she wasn't lying. Moreover he knew his own brother- knew how Merle was like when high-and it wasn't like Merle at all. "He may not be worried about one dumb dead bastard. But what about a thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story?" Rick questioned.

Daryl frowned. "Why dontcha take a tally? Do whatcha ya want-I'm gonna get him."

He moved to leave, but Rick pushed him back. "Daryl, wait."

"Get yer fricken' hands off me!" Daryl snapped.

"Knock it off you two." Mara ordered, getting between them both, "God, you're worse than my brothers fighting over the last piece of pizza. I swear you guys have more testosterone than you can handle."

"Ya got somethin' to say pipesqueak, cause if ya don't I'm going to find Merle."

Mara turned glaring at him. "First off, choose a damn nickname and stick with it. It's bad enough I have to be called short. Could you at least be consistent? Secondly-pull your head out of wherever you have it stuck in and actually think for once. Merle's loss enough blood. So much so even someone like me can tell you, he didn't get that far- few blocks or so at the most. And I know that doesn't make you feel any better, cause I know it wouldn't do a lick of damn for me. But only an idiot would decided to go out there alone. Now if you're willing to be a calm level headed person, we'll be more than willing to help you look the next few blocks for him. However we need to get those weapons first and you need to keep your head out of your ass. You too, Rick. I'm getting tired watching you two at each other's throats every five seconds. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Rick replied with a small smile of humor.

Mara turned her gaze to Daryl, who looked down licking his lips. As much as he hated to admit it, the chick was right. "I can live with that."

"Good. Now anyone else have an issue I need to resolve for them?" Mara grouched.

Glenn and T-Dog exchanged slightly scared glances. "We're good." T-Dog assured.

"Good." Mara replied.

It went silent for a second as all eyes went towards Mara for some strange sort of guidance. Her face heated up at the attention. Why did she have to open her big fat mouth? Rick would have handled the Daryl situation perfectly fine with the same results. But like always she had out shine the main character. "Well now what?" Daryl piped up.

"Now we go get the guns." Rick answered looking at Glenn.

Glenn's explanation wasn't that hard to understand. Or at least it probably wouldn't be if Mara concentrated. However out of Glenn's whole speech and diagram, Mara only caught onto one thing-she would be accompanying Daryl and Glenn in the alleyway. The fact didn't really bother her too much. Like she said before Daryl was capable of handling walkers-Glenn as well. And Mara would be damned if she ended up being helpless anytime soon. What bothered her was the fact that this was it. This was the half way point. Now she didn't know anything outside of what she wrote in that black notebook. "You're not doing this alone." Rick voiced snapping Mara from her thoughts.

She blinked confused. Had she been that lost in her thoughts? "I don't even like you and I think it's a bad idea." Daryl backed.

Glenn looked up exasperated. "It's a good idea. K? If ya just hear me out."

"You heard the man." Mara defended, "Sit down, shut up, and let him speak before you gang up on his idea. A good strategy involves everyone listening."

Daryl rolled his eyes, but shut up nonetheless. Rick gave her a reluctant look but crouched down besides her. "Look if we go out there in a group, we're slow-drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look-" Glenn said moving objects on the ground, "That's the tank five blocks away from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley where I dragged you into when we first met, that's where Daryl, Mara and I will go."

"Why me?" Daryl asked.

"Your crossbow is quieter than his gun. Same with Mara's axe-as long she doesn't screech like she did this morning." Glenn explained.

"That was a onetime thing. Never to be spoken of again." Mara huffed.

"Just don't do it, this time." Glenn said.

Rick gave Mara reluctant look, but said nothing. As much as he wanted to protest the idea of Mara going anywhere without him, he knew it would only cause more harm than good. Mara wasn't the type to willing be told what not to do in terms of things like this. And while she might've confessed that her visions were dwindling, Rick didn't doubt one could very conveniently appear if he voiced any concerns on Mara's safety. Just like one had when he and Glenn went to get the van or when it came to who could come on this trip. He glanced at her once more. Mara may have not guessed it yet, but Rick was an expert when it came to her lying. Glenn continued his explanation. "While Mara and Daryl wait here in the alleyway, I'll run up the street-grab the bag."

"Which you got us elsewhere?" Rick asked.

"You and T-Dog will be in this alley here." Glenn pointed.

"Two blocks away why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way." Glenn admitted, "Walkers might cut me off. If that happens I won't go back to them, I'll go forward instead. All the way around to where that alley is, where you guys are. Whatever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards we'll met back here."

"Hey kid, what did you do before all this?" Daryl asked.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn answered earning a surprised look amongst everyone.

Mara chuckled, punching Glenn in the arm. "No reason. Let's go and get this done with, huh? Cause I'm hungry, for some reason."

"Probably cause you emptied your last two meals in the corner over there." Daryl muttered, earning a glare from Mara.

There was a snicker from the others, and Mara forced herself to not lash out. She tucked the axe back between her belt and jeans. Who knew. Maybe she'd get the chance to actually use it. Glenn stood up giving T-Dog and Rick a brief nod before heading towards the door. Daryl followed him, crossbow at hand. Mara sighed standing up to leave, she was stopped by Rick grabbingher wrist. "I'm not going to lie, I don't like this one bit." Rick confessed.

"I know, but everything is going to fine." Mara guaranteed, "I may not see much right now, but I can promise you that we'll survive this."

She didn't bother to tell him, that her promise only really guaranteed his, Glenn's, Daryl's, and T-Dog's safety. Just like all her other 'visions' did. Mara always figured she was in some sort of gray area when it came to that stuff. However Rick didn't need any more worry than necessary. "Just promise me, to stay safe. If it means running away, then so be it." Rick said.

Mara blinked slightly shocked. Rick had been the last person she'd ever expect to run, but then again he wasn't promising to run, he was asking her too. Something Mara knew he'd probably only ask for Lori and Carl to do. Which must meant she was more important to him, than she thought. "I can't promise that Rick. If Daryl and Glenn need my help, I'm going to give it. It's what my father would do. What my brothers would all do. And it's what you would do." Mara murmured softly.

Rick sighed closing his eyes frustrated. "I know. You're too much of a hero for your own good, Mar."

Mara's face broke out into a smile. "Hey, that's my line Robocop-"

"You comin' or what?" Daryl called from the doorway.

She turned to see him and Glenn waiting for her patiently. Mara gave Rick one last look, she squeezed his hand. "Everything will be fine. If you're Robocop, then Daryl is Robinhood and Glenn is the Flash."

"Just be safe." Rick requested as Mara followed the others out the door.

Glenn started to walk, basically following Merle's trail of blood back to the roof. Mara took in a deep as she realized that she would once again have to climb down and up large ladders. Maybe she should have gone with Rick. Daryl eyed her as they made it to the first ladder. Like always Glenn led the way, the only question was who would go second. "After you." Mara smiled.

Daryl rolled his eyes, but went nonetheless. "I can see why that asshole was worried about you. Ya can't even climb a damn ladder without havin' a panic attack."

"Shut it." Mara snapped shakily climbing up.

"Guys, can you fight later? We really don't have time for this." Glenn begged.

"Why? We had time for her to flirt with Officer Friendly over there." Daryl muttered.

"We're friends."

"Men and woman can't be friends, ankle biter. It's just not how the world works."

"Why not? Me and you are frienemies aren't we? And you don't like me."

Daryl glanced down at her in disbelief. Despite barely knowing her a day, Daryl somehow knew exactly what she meant to say. In her strange reality, this trip had somehow supposedly made them friends. He frowned at the thought. Dixons didn't make friends-hell they didn't need friends. Especially not with some short squeamish nosy girl who wore a bow in her hair like a little kid. "We ain't friend anything, ankle biter." Daryl snapped.

"Whatever you say, Daryl. Whatever you say." Mara muttered as she made it to the top of the roof. A bright smile made its way across her face at the realization. She had done it! She had made it to the top without a panic attack or having to sing that ridiculous song. Now all she had to do was climb back down….great.

She eyed the height feeling suddenly dizzy. "You can do this, Grayson." Mara comforted herself, "It's just a little height. Nothing to be scared of. Just picture first sergeant yelling at you-yeah I think that did it."

Slowly Mara made her way down, ignoring all Daryl impatient comments about hurrying up. For all she cared he could fucking wait. This was the third time the past two days, she had to overcome one of her many fears and if that didn't earn her a bit of leeway on time, then they could suck it. Finally she made it safely to the ground earning an indignant snort from Daryl. "If yer done praising yourself, can we get back to getting the guns-so we can find Merle?" Daryl snorted.

"Hey, I just overcame one of my greatest fears. If I want to take a moment of self admiration, I think I'm damn well entitled too." Mara snapped.

"Seriously guys, shut up. You'll attract walkers." Glenn hissed.

"Sorry." Mara mumbled sheepishly.

Glenn nodded moving behind a trash can. Daryl and Mara followed close behind. Once in position Daryl bent down pull back the string his crossbow. Mara unhooked the axe from her belt, clutching it tightly. "You have some balls for a chinaman." Daryl drawled lifting the crossbow up.

Glenn sighed frustrated. "I'm Korean."

"Whatever."

Mara rolled her eyes. "Just be safe, Glenn."

"Yeah, as safe as walking out into a crowd of walkers can be." Glenn said to himself.

Mara gave him a half smile. "Let's not think about that part."

Glenn nodded running out through the gate. Mara moved so her back was against the wall near the opening. If any walker tried to get through there, it's would get an axe to the head. From behind Daryl had his crossbow ready to go. So far everything seemed to be going down pretty well. Until the sound of footsteps came from behind Mara. She spun around on her heels in time with Daryl jumping out from between the dumpsters. Her eyes widened as they caught sight of some kid wearing a wife beater. "Woah! Don't shoot me! What do you want?" the kid cried.

"Lookin' for my brother he's hurt real bad. Have you seen him?" Daryl said his tone surprisingly calm.

"Ayudame! Ayudame!" the kid started screaming.

Mara's eyes widened as her brain quickly processed what he was saying. "Shit! Daryl, this is not good." Mara called over from where she was, "He's calling for help. He has friends-but more importantly shut him before he gets Glenn killed."

"Shut before you bring the geek down on us. Now answer me!" Daryl demanded, his crossbow still aimed at the kid.

The kid continued screaming. Mara bit her lip. If she weren't so worried about Glenn maybe needing her, she would go shut them both up herself. Reluctantly she turned her attention back to the street. She ignored Daryl's rough man approach to dealing with the kid and focused nervously looking for Glenn. She prayed to God, the kid's idiotic screaming didn't kill Glenn. Otherwise he wouldn't just have Daryl to worry about. Her eyes widened as she saw two grown men rush towards them. "Shit!" Mara yelled swinging the axe.

Amazingly it made contact with one of their shoulders. The man howled shoving her hard to the ground before pulling the axe out. Unfortunately the damn thing hadn't cut deep into the asshole. They moved towards Daryl shoving him off the boy, before proceeding to beat the shit out of him. A growled escaped Mara as she hopped back onto her feet, with all her might she tried to pull one of the men off of Daryl. She jumped on one of their backs waling at them. However her attention was diverted as she caught a glimpse of Glenn's figure in the alley through the corner of her eye. For a second her panicked eyes met his and then the next thing Mara knew she went flying into a wall. A sharp shot through her as the wall made contact against her small body. Suddenly Mara's vision began to cloud. She blinked trying to force the painful overcoming urge to sleep, but to no avail. The last thing Mara saw before blacking out was a figure of a man coming towards her.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Thanks to you guys, I get the motivation to keep writing. Wow! There's a lot of you guys this time-not that I'm complaining only makes me work harder and faster!

CapJen: I'm glad you are on the bandwagon for Rick/Mara and I have never really thought about the whole Daryl/Sibling Mara thing. Honestly I just figured if Daryl fell for some chick it wouldn't be a smooth going romance, especially if he doesn't know the chick. Anyway I'll keep the idea in mind if Mara chooses Rick.

Weirdunsualchick: I am so trhilled you see Mara as a badass, that's what I try to aim for without the mary-sueness. I hope Mara kept up your expectation of being a badass this chapter. P.S the crossbow is pretty sexy.

Jess: Thank you for the review, right now I am working hard to give both boys equal shots at Mara. Though admittedly knowing Rick two days before Daryl, has given him an advantage in a major way, well let's up the Mara/Daryl romance can compete, but I think that will even be a while thanks to both or their stubbornness. As for who'll she get with I don't know yet, I'm debating on whether or not I should let you guys choose later one. P.S the plan is to go through all three seasons hopefully.

Anna B: I made glad Mara seems realistic to you, that's my goal. If she ever doesn't, please let me know, I won't be upset.

TiraLu: Thanks for the review. I can't make any promises on who will get Mara, but whoever doesn't will get another OC of mine. Either way there will be fluffiness on both parts if that's alright with you. ;)

ScornedXRose: Thanks for the review, I always worry about writing character's in their own personal. And for some reason Daryl is pretty hard for me to write.

Azrael Blood: I always look forward to your reviews. Well here's more of Mara interacting with people outside of Rick-though he's still there like always. lol

Permentally lost in thought: Wow, I didn't even know I was doing that. Lol Thanks for noticing I'd definitely wouldn't have. As for Mara getting kidnapped or shot instead of Carl…let's just say I have plans-muwahahahah! Anyway I won't lie a little Rick torture does sound appealing as much as I love him.

Eminemchick17: I really do enjoy our chats, they make writing fanfics more fun lol. I look forward to reading whatever you have written for TWD or your next update of Delilah, either way I'm on the edge here. As for Daryl and Mara, I'm not too sure on their relationship yet. They seem to bicker a lot, but I kind of think Daryl might like it. You?

Munchimagic: I assure you if Mara gets with Daryl, that Rick won't go empty handed. He might not end up with the Asian OC I have in mind, but rest assure there will be someone for him just as cool as Mara.

X-shmanda-x: I loved the walker part too, all I could think when writing it was how I'd probably do the same thing. Besides that's basically what the guys did anyway. As for Rick protectiveness, I think it's sexy too. Lol Anyhow there was a bit more of that in this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks again for the reviews, I hope I get this much feedback again! Bye!