Chapter 7

"Where … should we sleep?" Aaron asked as he eyed the huge building, Charlotte and Daryl looked at one another, it was clear they had the same idea.

"I say we clamor up to that first level of shit there and squeeze between, jus' in case." Daryl said.

"In case of what, walkers?" Aaron asked stupidly, Charlotte put her hand to her forehead.

"No, in case of living people." She replied, her voice had an edge of exasperation to it as Daryl handed her his crossbow and hoisted himself up onto the shelf, then helped Charlotte and Aaron up.

"The more time you spend out here, you'll learn real quick that you have more to fear from your fellow man than you do from the walkers." Charlotte said as she got comfortable in her stomach.

"I'll take first shift." Charlotte said as she carefully laid her rifle next to her, where she could reach it if she needed to.

"Sweet dreams, boys." She said as she saluted them.

Sometime later, Charlotte didn't know how long, but she knew it was nearing the end of her shift, Daryl was up next. A coy grin crossed her face as she scooted close to him and nibbled his ear.

"Daryl …" she purred into his ear, she grinned as Daryl shivered and squirmed, goosebumps erupted on his skin. She heard a growl escape his throat as she traced his ear with her tongue.

Daryl's body suddenly came to life, his hand shot out and gripped the back of her head and he kissed her roughly, his tongue boldly entering her mouth.

"Why do you turn me on when you know we can't fuck!" Daryl growled against her mouth between kisses.

"Because, its makes when we finally do get home even more fun." She said as she grabbed his hair and pulled him into another heated, passionate kiss.

It was then they heard it, rustling, rhythmic footsteps, and voices, the sounds of people.

"Hey!" Charlotte hissed as she jabbed the still sleeping Aaron with the mouth of her rifle.

"Wake up! We got company!" she said as she as she cocked the hammer back on her rifle and clicked the safety off as quietly as she could.

Sure enough, three men came into view, they had their weapons drawn, too and they were scouring the warehouse, luckily for Aaron, Charlotte and Daryl, they didn't think to look up.

"Take em out." Daryl hissed, his voice barely audible. Charlotte took aim and fired on the first man, she cursed under her breath as the round went right through his neck, meaning they would be dealing with him later.

"Oh, shit! What the fuck?!" One of them said as they took cover behind a stack of large crates in the middle of the isle and frantically looked around the dark warehouse.

"They were ready for us! They knew!" the other man said then suddenly, he was pitching forward, an arrow buried in the back of his head.

"Oh, shit … Oh shit …" the remaining man said, panicking as he was gunned down before he even had a chance to run, this time, Charlotte got him in the head.

"Someone tried to ambush you?" Rick said, his aging face serious.

"The key word here, law man, is tried." Charlotte said with a wink, Rick chuckled in spite of himself.

"How many were there?" Rick asked Daryl, choosing to ignore Charlotte's light take on almost being killed … again.

"Three, don' know if there were more, I'd say they probably belonged to a group, its jus' too hard to make it out there now." Daryl said.

Rick rubbed a hand over his face, this was a concern indeed, he just hoped he could make Deanna see it, too.

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"Shit, those people ain't nothing to mess with, they ain't pushovers like we thought." One of the men said as they sat around a dying camp fire.

"We're gonna do this covertly then, I have someone … someone on the inside of their little slice of apocalyptic paradise. We're gonna take em' down … from the inside." Their leader, a burly man by the name of Jessie said, a cryptic grin crossing his scarred face.

"Rick, let me get this straight, you are saying you want to put guns in these people's hands? In the hands of children?" Deanna said as they walked down the street together, Rick ran his hand frustratingly through his greying hair as he toiled with his thinning patience.

"Look … we were out there a long time, we know what it takes to survive out there, we know what kind of people are out there, and you have to face it, most of the people left aren't going to be the good kind. They are going to come, for this place, for what you have, or just for the hell of it. Some don't even have a reason … they just come, wouldn't you feel better knowing your people know how to defend themselves?" Rick countered.

Deanna opened her mouth to retort, but what could she say, he was right, this wasn't the world as they once knew it … and it was high time she started facing that fact. She halted her progress down the street and blew out a huge sigh.

"Okay, Rick, you win, what did you have in mind?" She asked wearily.

"BB guns? You're seriously going to teach us with BB guns?" Ron, Jessie and Pete's oldest son scoffed as he held the gun dismissively in his hand.

"You ever shoot anything with one'o these? If you can kill something with a BB gun, you can kill with anything." Daryl said, not bothering to hide his condescending tone from the petulant boy.

"Besides, real ammo is too precious to waste." Rick added as he motioned for Ron to step up to the line of targets.

"Okay, boy, you got a big mouth, let's see if you can back it up." Rick said as he handed Ron the BB rifle and gestured to the target in front of them.

Ron rolled his eyes and raised the rifle, but, before he could even aim, Rick's hand closed around the barrel.

"Wait, which way is the wind coming from?" He asked.

"Uh …. I don't know … north …. Northeast I guess?" He offered.

"Are you sure? Because wind direction is going to effect the track your shot takes, and that can be the difference between life and death." Rick said.

"This is stupid!" Ron said as he thrust the BB gun back into Rick's hands and turned to stalk off. His mother's arm around his stopped him.

"You just wait one minute, young man! This IS a matter of life and death, and no matter WHAT you think of Rick, or his group, you are GOING to participate, and you are going to listen to EVERYTHING they say. Do I make myself CLEAR?"

Ron jerked his arm out of his mother's grip and stalked off.

"I'm sorry." Jessie apologized, Rick waved her concern off, chuckling.

"Even at the end of the world, teenagers never change." He said.

"Well, like it or not, we can't make him learn when he doesn't want to." Charlotte said.

"I'll learn." A small voice said, all the adults turned around to see Sam standing there, his hands jammed in his pockets.

"Honey, are you sure?" Jessie said as she put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Great! That's great, come on up here, son. Let's get started, everyone." Rick said as he motioned for everyone to get started.

"Whatcha doin' out, kid? You know their ain't supposed to be anyone out walking around after dark." Charlotte said from the darkness of her porch as a small figure passed her and Daryl's house.

Sam jumped out of his skin like a frightened cat.

"I … I'm sorry I …. Uh …" he stuttered, looking anywhere but at Charlotte as she descended the steps towards him. Charlotte noticed this, she took hold of his chin with her fingers and forced him to look her in the face.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, boy, I'm as harmless as a one-eyed dog." She said with a wink and a grin, Sam smiled a little and his somber mood seemed to lift.

"Now, do you mind telling me why you are prowling around here at night like a coon up to no good?" She asked as she put her arm around his small shoulders and let him back to the porch, where they sat.

"Mom and dad …. They are fighting again." Sam said, as his gaze concentrated on his feet.

"I' am sorry to hear that, do they fight a lot?" Charlotte asked.

"I guess not, but when they do, dad gets really mean to mom." He replied as he played with the fabric of his sweater.

"Well, sometimes grown-ups argue, even moms and dads. This world isn't an easy world to live in anymore, not that it was before, but it can put stress on people and cause them to fight more." Charlotte replied.

"Most of the time dad just yells, but sometimes, he hits mom …. Like tonight, they had a really bad fight, I had to get out of there, I just …. Couldn't listen anymore." Sam said as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I am really sorry to hear that." Charlotte said, not really knowing what else to say as she put a hand on the boy's trembling shoulders.

"Is …. Is Daryl here right now?" Sam asked, eyeing the dark house nervously.

"He's out on a hunting trip, won't be back for another day or so I expect, why?" Charlotte asked, an amused glint in her eye.

"He's …. Scary." Sam replied.

Charlotte chuckled heartily at that. "But you thought I was scary a few minutes ago, too, right?" She asked, the boy wordlessly shrugged.

"Do you think I am scary now?" She asked, Sam shook his head.

"I think you're nice." He said as he looked up at her, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Well, maybe you might think Daryl's nice too if you give him the same chance." Charlotte replied.

Sam shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, we best be getting you home, your mom's probably going to be wondering what happened to you." Charlotte said as she stood.

"Can I stay with you? I mean …. Since Daryl's not here?" Sam asked abruptly.

"Sam, I don't know about that, your mom is going to be worried sick and …." Charlotte started to explain.

"Please! I just …. Don't want to go back to that house! Not after …." Sam trailed off, Charlotte suddenly got a horrible, sinking feeling in her gut.

"Sam, did your dad hit you, too?" She asked as she gripped the boy's shoulders and forced him to look at her.

Sam's eyes welled up with tears as he suddenly dashed forward and threw his small arms around Charlotte's waist.

"Shhhh, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Come on, what do you say we go inside, and I'll make us some hot chocolate and we can read a few stories?" She said as she peeled the distressed boy off her and led him inside.

Charlotte's eye snapped open and she looked around, judging by faint light coming through the window, it was just after dawn. She say bolt upright as she suddenly remembered Sam.

She walked into the living room to find him where she had left him, sound asleep on the squishy couch, she smiled in spite of herself, she hated to wake him, but his mother was likely going to be worried sick about him.

She walked up beside him and gently shook him.

"Sam, come on, up and at 'em, boy. We gotta get you back home."

Sam stretched lazily and rubbed his eyes. "Da we haf to?" He slurred, still half asleep.

"I am afraid so, your mother is going to be worried sick about you, now come on …. Up, up!" She said as she ruffled his hair.

Jessie was waiting outside for them when they walked up to his house, a cup of coffee clutched in her hand, the bruise was evident on her face.

"I thought he went to his friend's house, that's where he usually goes when …" Jessie said as they met at the foot of her porch stairs.

"I think that is where he was headed, but I happened to be outside." Charlotte said with a grin, Jessie suddenly pulled her into a brief hug.

"Thank you for taking care of him, I hope he was no trouble?" She said as she ruffled the boy's hair.

"Naw, no trouble at all, ain't that right, champ?" She said as she grinned down at the boy.

"Charlotte's really cool, mom! We had hot chocolate, and she read to me until I fell asleep!" Sam said excitedly.

"That's great, now get inside and wash up, breakfasts' almost ready." She said, Sam gave Charlotte one last wave and ran inside.

"Thank you again, for everything." Jessie said as she put her hand on Charlotte's arm, her eyes gleaming with gratitude.

Charlotte watched the house for a moment after they had both gone inside, now she knew the reason why poor Ron had so much angst. Lord only knew how many emotional scars those poor kids had.

Charlotte noticed Pete eying her in the window, she stared right back and gave him a surly nod, not bothering to hide the malice in her expression, before finally turning back towards Deanna's house, suddenly remembering why she had woken up so early, with Daryl gone, it was she who had to take his place at the meetings.

'How convenient.' She said to herself.

"So how is the … self-defense training going?" Deanna asked Rick and Charlotte.

"Well, they are all fast learners, with a little more practice, some might even be able to start going out on supply runs with us." Rick said.

"Your boys are especially gung ho." Charlotte added.

Deanna chuckled. "Well, they always were, ever since the beginning, they were the reason Reg and I made it this far and were able to do all this." She said as she gestured around her.

"Thank you both for all you are doing for the community." She said as she put her hands on theirs.

Pete was waiting for Charlotte on her porch when she returned.

"Well, howdy there, Pete, what can I do for you?" She asked, trying to keep things pleasant as she walked up to meet him.

"That depends." He said cryptically.

"I m sorry, I don't follow." She said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I want you to stop meddling in my family, our family dynamics are none of your business." He said menacingly.

"I'm not meddling , it's not my fault that you scare your boy so bad that he runs away." She said casually, her eyes never leaving his.

In an instant, his hand shot out and gripped her arm so hard that she could feel the bones creak beneath the pressure, likewise, before he could blink, she had her desert eagle at his temple, careful to angle it where it couldn't be seen from the street.

"Do you know what this is? This is a desert eagle, this is one of the most powerful handguns in the world, do you have any idea what it would do to your skull?" She asked as she clicked the safety off.

Pete froze, and released his grip on her arm in true wife beater fashion, like she thought, he was really nothing but a yellow bellied coward, a person that only picked on those physically and mentally weaker than he.

"Now, that shit you pull on your poor wife and sons ain't going to work on me, asshole, I am NOT a victim, and if you ever threaten me or touch me again, I'll blow your brains out …. Or better yet, maybe I'll take you out there and shoot your knees out and let the walkers take care of you?" She said as she gestured beyond the fence with her free hand.

"Now, I suggest you get on back to your house, and remember, if you threaten me again, I'll kill you." She said as she shoved him away from her and holstered her weapon, but didn't clip it in.

Pete stalked off back towards his house, seething, this definitely wasn't the end, that bitch was going to pay, if it was the last thing he did.

Notes: Wow, sorry it has been so long. Boy the holidays were hectic! but I hope to get the subsequent chapters to not only this story, but the others out as quickly as I can. Thanks to you all for being so patient!