A/N: I'm so, so, so sorry I took so long. I got really stuck, not just on this story but on other stuff I write for fun and just for myself. It sucked not being able to get any work done. I'd sit at my computer staring at the word document, looking at the same few paragraphs I had written. On Wednesday I finally got back into gear and here it is. Thank you so much for sticking around!

Thank you to ValeriNeria, Potter's Wheezes, and SeverusSnape'sLove for the reviews! And a thank you for the follows and the favorites.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.

Chapter Twenty-two

Rick stood on the front porch, his right hand resting on his Colt and his left running through his hair. His eyes scanned the empty street. An hour had passed since he had found her and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

At first he hadn't known what he was looking at but when he had realized it was a person his mind had blossomed with a number of scenarios, most of them unpleasant. Was it a walker? A stranger? One of their own?

He had cautiously stepped closer to the prone figure and when he had recognized her his stomach had dropped. He had checked for injuries first and had noticed the distressed look on her face. He could only guess that she had been having a nightmare.

Rick sighed. He was torn between two emotions, worry and a fierce annoyance, both directed at Marianne. He couldn't blame her, not really. She had figured out that he was the reason they had abandoned her. How could he have known she had survived? That night was chaotic and there had been too many walkers to count. He had eye witnesses that she and Jimmy had died. All he could think about was getting the rest of them to safety.

No matter how many times he went through the list of things that justified his actions, guilt still gnawed at him. It didn't change the fact that they could've gone back. They could've taken one of the cars and been in and out of the farm without getting trapped.

The front door opening snapped him out of his thoughts. It was Maggie coming to relieve him. He gave her a tired nod which she returned with more energy than he had mustered.

Instead of going straight to bed Rick went to Carl and put a hand on his son's forehead, careful not to wake him. He was still hot to the touch. At least he was sleeping. The cold medicine Maggie and Glenn brought back seemed to be working.

Rick managed to get a few hours sleep and woke up with the indignity of not being able to breathe through his nose. As he sat up and became more alert he noticed his sore throat and small headache. His body ached as he stood up and stretched, looking around the living room.

Glenn would be on watch. Maggie was gone too. Carol and Herschel were stirring. Daryl was already up and dressed, staring out the window. It was darker outside then it usually was.

Rick went to stand next to Daryl, wondering how he'd begin to address Marianne's sleepwalking.

"A storm's comin'," Daryl said without looking at Rick.

"Guess we'll hold off on scouting the area if it rains." Rick's voice sounded raspy and he cleared his throat. Daryl finally looked at him and tilted his head. "I caught Carl's cold," Rick answered Daryl's unspoken question. Both men returned to looking out the window. "Something happened last night we need to talk about," he said in a low voice. "With Marianne."

Daryl's head turned quickly towards Rick. "Is she okay?" Daryl made to turn around and go check on her.

"She's fine, for now." Daryl stopped moving and gave the man beside him a questioning look. "Does she sleepwalk?" Rick asked.

Daryl looked surprised at the question. "A long time ago."

"Well, she's doing it again. I found her on the ground in the backyard last night. She left the back door open." Daryl's gaze moved to the floor, his eyes looked distant. Rick wondered what the man was thinking. "Do you know what causes it?"

Daryl shrugged and looked up at Rick. "Something bad happened to her and she started sleepwalkin'. It only lasted a few months."

Rick nodded slowly. He knew Daryl was one for understating things so 'Something bad' translated into 'Something terrible'. Rick didn't think the fall from the tree was causing this. What else had happened to her out there? "We can't afford for this to go on for a few months. It's a danger to her and the whole group."

"We don't know if she'll do it again."

"True. But if she does we have a real problem. Do you know what stopped it before?"

Daryl nodded but didn't say anything. Rick held back a sigh. "I told her last night we needed to talk about it but I think it's best if you do it instead of me."

"I can do that." Daryl took a quick glance out the window. "Gotta get more firewood before it rains." He left before Rick could get another word in.

Morning came and went with no sign of Rick. No sign of anybody except Beth, who told her more people were sick. Rick, Lori, and T-Dog. Afternoon arrived and the storm that had been threatening for hours finally arrived. Rain pounded the house, sometimes so hard it sounded like gravel was being thrown at the windows.

There was a knock on the partially open door. She hoped it was Daryl but was disappointed when Hershel appeared. She wanted things to go back to the way they were between them. She knew it would be hard, with his guilt and her feelings of abandonment.

Against her will, she couldn't help but wonder how much she could trust him. With her life, she told herself but there was a tiny seed of doubt planted in her heart, where there were cracks her doubt could take root in. Despite this, in the solitary hours after Daryl had left her she decided she would try her hardest to get things back to normal.

Hershel came into the room and her thoughts dispersed. There was a rumble that shook the house. "I wonder if walkers get confused by thunder," Hershel said as he set his bag down on the bed.

Marianne half smiled and began unbuttoning her shirt. "I guess it could. Maybe lightening too."

"Let's hope they don't get confused our way," Hershel said as he pulled out the rolled up bandages made out of sheets, medical scissors, and what looked to be an antiseptic spray he hadn't had yesterday. He held the bottle up. "Maggie and Glenn found a couple of these yesterday. It's used on minor wounds but we can make an exception."

Hershel cut the last of the real bandages and she almost winced as he peeled them off. He inspected the wound, his face not betraying what he thought about it. After awhile he nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with what he saw. "There's still no sign of infection. Rick told me about what happened last night and it doesn't seem to have caused any damage."

Marianne had another reason to be mad at Rick. She didn't want anyone to know about last night. It was bad enough that he had been the one to find her. "Who else has he told?"

"Only Daryl." Hershel picked up the antiseptic spray. "This might sting."

It did sting and Marianne held her breath until he was done. The fresh bandages were put on and Hershel was about to leave but paused, looking like he wanted to say something. "You've got plenty of people to talk to. People who care. Daryl wasn't the only one who mourned you."

Hershel left Marianne sitting on the bed in shock. Having him tell her people cared about her was different from when Carol had, who Marianne wouldn't put it past to lie to her just to make her feel better. Marianne believed Hershel was a good man and didn't think he would lie about this.

Her chest constricted and she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried taking a deep breath to calm her roiling emotions but she failed. Her breath hitched as her mind turned to all the horrible things that had happened since the farm. Did they care enough about her to look past the murders and her failure to protect Jimmy? She imagined their faces as they found out. No, it wouldn't go well. They would never look at her the same again. Even Daryl would see her differently.

Another knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Maggie poked her head into the room and smiled. Marianne knew she couldn't smile back so she settled with a small wave. Maggie further opened the door and stepped into the room. She was holding a small pile of books Marianne recognized.

"Thought you might be bored out of your mind," Maggie said as she walked to the bed and sat on the edge. She handed Marianne the books and Marianne set them on her lap. "Yesterday me and Glenn went back to the street you were stayin' on to go through the rest of the houses. I also went into the house you were camped out in. I saw these books next to the bed and thought you might be readin' some of them. I don't think it occurred to Rick or Daryl you might've wanted them when they packed up the rest of your things."

Marianne looked at the books. The one on top was an Agatha Christie book she'd never heard of that she had started to read. She thumbed the pages and looked back up at Maggie. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did. It's the least I could after you saved my life," Maggie said. Marianne had almost forgotten about that trip to the pharmacy. It felt like it had happened years ago. "I wanted to thank you about whatever you've said to Beth. She's talkin' more and actually smiled a couple of times."

Marianne furrowed her brow and tried to think about which thing she had said that would've affected Beth but came up with nothing. "I didn't do anything."

"But you did," Maggie said. "I know we didn't talk a whole lot before."

"Except about peaches."

Maggie laughed. "Except about peaches. Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I consider you a friend. I hope you do too."

Marianne bit her lip. She didn't know today would be so emotionally trying and she hadn't even talked to Daryl yet. "Sure," she said lamely.

Maggie left after a few minutes and the only other person she saw was Beth, who brought her dinner. The rain eventually let up but daylight was thinning as night descended. There would be no trips, not even a quick one.

Daryl had been avoiding her all day, which was no small feat when everyone was stuck inside the house. She was about to go to sleep when the door slowly opened and the person she had been waiting all day to see came into the room. He successfully avoided eye contact as he walked towards the end of the bed.

Daryl stopped and awkwardly stood there, looking like he didn't know what to do with himself.

"You can sit down. I don't bite." A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. He walked to the other side of the bed and sat down. He kicked his shoes off before he stretched his legs out. She noticed he had on relatively clean socks.

"How's the pain?"

"Bearable. But it's startin' to itch. I think it's because it's scabbing over again."

There was a pause and Marianne knew what was coming next. "Rick told me what happened."

"I knew he would. He said we needed to talk but I guess he sent you instead."

"I wasn't sent here by anybody. I wanted'ta see how you're doin'."

"You avoided me all day."

"Didn't think you'd want to see me."

"I did and I do. I just needed to be alone yesterday. I was by myself for weeks. I didn't think it'd be so hard to be back with y'all."

"I figured it's been hard and now you're sleepwalkin'."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You need to."

She shook her head. "I can't."

"It's what stopped it last time."

"I don't think you understand. I can't talk about it. I don't think I can get the words to come out of my mouth. And you'd never look at me the same."

"You don't know that. I still looked at you the same last time."

"You don't know what I did, what happened. It's so much worse."

"If you don't tell me, at least promise me you'll tell someone."

"I promise," Marianne said, even though she wasn't sure that she could keep it.

The rain continued on and off for two more days. Marianne had finally left the bedroom to sit in the living room. Everyone who was sick had been having lunch the past couple of days and she was making sure the soup didn't burn. She looked around at everyone and could tell they were all anxious. They were waiting for Daryl to come back from his patrol of the area which Rick had said they couldn't put off any longer on account of the rain.

Rick, Lori, and T-Dog showed no signs of getting better and now Maggie and Glenn were sick too. Carl was the only one that seemed to have improved. The group was far from running at peak efficiency. No one other than Daryl was fit to make supply runs but nobody wanted him going by himself. He couldn't even go hunting with the weather and Marianne could tell he was relieved when he could finally leave the house and be alone.

Marianne retreated to the bedroom with a small bowl of soup. She didn't think Daryl would be back for another hour and she was antsy to get away from everyone. Their worry was making her more worried, something she really didn't need at the moment or ever.

Right when she finished her soup, someone appeared in the doorway.

"Hey Carl."

"Mom says I can finally get out of bed. Wanna play Monopoly?" He held up a beat up old box of the game. "It was the only game I could find."

"What, no poker this time?" Marianne teased.

Carl smiled. "We don't have any cards."

"Hmm, we'll have to fix that some time. Come on, let's set the game up. You can be the banker."

"Cool. Beth is playing too."

Marianne had only played Monopoly once before in her life. It was in her high school economics class, when the substitute teacher was too lazy to teach and brought out a stack of the board game. She hadn't been terrible at it but she also hadn't been very good.

Beth soon joined them and money was distributed. Over an hour passed, the rain still coming down, and no one was close to winning.

"Park Place. That's me. Time to pay up," Marianne said.

"Oh man. How much is it?" Carl asked

Beth was closest and looked at the board. "Thirty-five dollars."

"You're lucky Beth owns the Boardwalk or I'd have a house already," Marianne said.

Carl was handing her the money when Hershel walked in, interrupting their game. "It's time for a group meeting."

Rick hadn't called a group meeting for days and Marianne wondered what it was about. The three of them followed Hershel to the living room where everyone else was already gathered, including Daryl, who looked like he had just returned. He was still wet and was dripping water onto the carpet.

Rick nodded when he saw the four of them enter. "Okay, let's get started. Daryl says the area is clear. We're running low on cold medicine and prenatal vitamins so Daryl and I are goin' on a run tomorrow," he said, not sounding at all up to the task.

"You can't go," Lori said, looking a little guilty that she was one of the reasons they needed to venture out.

"You're too sick," Carol added.

"I have to agree. You need to rest Rick. Push yourself and you'll take longer to recover," Hershel said.

"Can't someone else go?" Lori asked.

Rick shook his head, looking exasperated. "There's no one else. Glenn, Maggie, and T-Dog are worse off than I am. Marianne's injured. We can't risk losing Hershel. He needs to be here for the baby."

"I can go," Marianne said, making everyone look at her. She could already see signs of protest in their faces. "I'll drive. Stay in the car in case you need a quick exit. Be the lookout."

"You're not goin'," Daryl said.

"It's out of the question," Rick said.

"No it's not. I'll be sittin' on my ass the whole time." Lori shot Marianne a look and she guessed it was because of her language.

"You could hurt yourself even more," Rick said and Marianne scoffed. "Things can go wrong out there."

"And that's exactly why I'm goin' with y'all. I'm not trusting you with my brother's life. Not the way you are right now."

Rick turned to Daryl. "Convince her she can't go."

"I'm right here. I can hear you."

Daryl looked between Rick and Marianne. "If she's dead set on goin' there's nothin' I can do. If Hershel says she's okay, then let her come."

"Hershel?" Rick asked.

"She's healing fast. As long as she stays in the car, there shouldn't be a problem. She'll be fine."

Rick didn't look happy at all with Hershel's assessment. He shook his head. "I still don't like it."

"Rick, the two of us equals one healthy person. I'm goin' whether you like it or not."

Marianne and Rick stared each other down. It didn't look like either of them would back off but finally Rick did. "You're staying in the car," he said in his cop voice. "We leave after breakfast."

A/N: Chapter 23 will probably be out in a week.

On another note, who else wasn't prepared for the season premiere? My dad refuses to watch it and won't be watching TWD anymore. I hear there's a lot of people like that. I don't think I'll watch that episode again except for when I eventually get to that part in this story.