Disclaimer- I do not own the Walking Dead

Shadowoftheblackdeat- They did, I couln't leave her behind.

Alwaysand- He hated having to swallow his hatred but Judith comes first.

I've been sitting on this chapter for about two weeks, I was never fully happy with it. I felt that something was wrong with it. However I've gone over it time and time again and can't work out what it is. Hopefully you guys still enjoy it.

Enjoy

Danny's POV

A horn sounds from behind us, I look behind me to find Michonnes car stopping at an angle behind Glenns, as if she had to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting him. When Daryl slows the bike to a stop, I climb off and give our surroundings a quick glance but thankfully the road we're on is surrounded by nothing but open farm fields. There's a couple of farm buildings over in the distance but nothing else.

Glenn gets out of his car and the rather aggressively slams the door shut. Maggie, Beth and Herschel climb out after him and even from this distance I can tell they're all a little pissed off at something.

Merle slams his door shut and stretches, "Who's the one that needs a shit?"

"Fucking car's broke down", Glenn tries to keep his voice calm but he fails tremendously. "It's got plenty of fuel but it just conked out".

Daryl sighs from beside me. "We could squeeze everyone into the other cars but the supplies won't all fit. And I ain't givin' up a single item".

Great. "So we're gonna have to split up if the car can't be fixed?" I ask a little reluctantly.

He just nods his head once at me, slings his bow onto his back and stalks off towards the car.

I walk up to everyone as they all now filter out of their cars once they realise we aren't going anywhere, I look at Sophia as she comes to stand near me. "You take point, everyone else can fan out every couple of metres".

She salutes, "Yes ma'am".

I scowl at her before grinning at her. We've got a really good vantage point here so it's probably too much of a precaution but there's no point in slacking just because we think it's fine.

Daryl, Merle and Glenn have opened the bonnet and all three of them are looking inside of it. Carol steps up beside me and bumps my arm with hers.

"If I had anything worth betting I would bet that they have absolutely no idea what they're looking at".

I bite my bottom lip to hide the smile as Glenn and Merle look over their shoulders at Carol's little jab. Daryl completely ignores her and finally reaches into the engine, presumably to try and find the cause of the breakdown.

None of this is ideal. If a herd or another group were to come through here we'd have to get into the remaining cars and abandon the supplies we worked so hard to get and that is the last thing we want or need.

I don't know how long he spends trying to find the problem but in the end he slams the bonnet down with a lot more force than is needed and then slams his hand on it.

"Fuckin' piece of shit. Ain't gonna be able to fix this without any parts, will be easier to go out and find another car".

I sigh, exactly what I didn't want. Now we have to split up. When we have a base and a group goes out it's easier because if something were to happen they have a place to come back to but when we're out on the road like this, it's harder to meet back up if something goes wrong.

Merle makes a noise of exasperation in the back of his throat. "Thought a trip that would take less than a day would be easy but look at this shit. We're on day two and we've gained a stow away and lost one of our cars".

"Thanks Merle". I say a little sarcastically. I don't think he means it to sound like he regrets coming out here but it's what it sounds like to me.

He stares at me, eyebrows pulled down in confusion and then he blinks and arches one of his brows. He mouths the word sorry at me before hooking his arm around my neck and yanking me into his side. "Who's gonna go out and find another car, could be nothing for miles or there could be one just down the road."

"I'll go" Daryl volunteers. Honestly not surprising. I knew he would go but if he's going he's taking someone I trust.

I peer at Glenn around Merle's arm. "Will you go with him?"

Glenn immediately nods, "Sure".

"Thank you".

Merle chuckles, "Aw, ya gonna 'ave to ride bitch on the back of Daryl's bike." He tightens his hold on me, "If ya ask him nicely he might let ya put ya arms around him".

Glenn rolls his eyes but lets Merle's comment roll off his shoulders. "Let me just let Maggie know and I'll be ready to go".

When Glenn walks off I pull out of Merle's grip and shove him away from me.

"We better get goin'" Daryl mumbles, "We don't know how long this'll take".

I grab his hand before he has a chance to step away from me as Merle walks away from us. "I don't like splitting up like this. So please be careful. If anything looks too dangerous don't do it. Just find any car that runs, don't matter what it is, and come back".

He places a kiss against my forehead. "I won't do anythin' risky but the same goes for you. If somethin' happens here, don't try and protect the supplies. Just get into the remainin' cars and get the fuck out. You 'ave a map, there's a town to the west of here. Meet me there".

"Danny!" Merle calling my name stops me from answering Daryl. I look over my shoulder at him to see he's holding Riley. "He's woken up, think he's hungry". Merle lifts him up and smells him, "or he's shit himself and I can't help. Only got one hand, remember". With the smirk that's playing on his lips right now I'm betting he's extremely happy he only has the one hand.

"Can you at least shut the door so I can pretend that you're not trying to wake up Judith. I can only feed them one at a time". Merle's eyebrows shoot up and the playful smirk turns into a full on grin, I instantly know what he's about to say. Just as he's about to open his mouth I point a finger at him and say "no", making him clamp his mouth shut again. "Don't even think about saying anything you're thinking right now".

"And what am I thinking", he's challenging.

"That I have two boobs, you are never allowed to say anything about them, at all".

He squints at me and his grin drops a little, "I wasn't gonna say anythin' of the sort".

Daryl scoffs, "Yeah right. Everyone here knew that that was what you were gonna fuckin' say".

Merle pushes the back door closed and then shrugs. "Don't see an argument as to why you can't do it, was just tryin' to be helpful".

I squeeze Daryl's hand before letting go of it to go and take Riley from Merle. "You wouldn't be any good at having him by yourself".

He holds Riley out to me, "Riley and I would have a great fuckin' time. Shitty nappy be damned".

With a very dramatic eye roll I take Riley and can smell it instantly, he definitely needs a nappy change.

Daryl appears next to me. "Let me do it before I go". I willingly hand him over and peer through the back window of the truck, Judith is thankfully still asleep.

Glenn comes back over with a backpack on his back, "I'm ready".

I jerk my head in the direction Daryl went, "He's just changing Ri…."

"Fuck!"

I hurry around the truck as soon as Daryl shouts, slightly worried something bad has just happened. When I get round there I see Daryl kneeling on the floor over Riley, who's lying on someone's coat, and he's holding a clean nappy over Riley like a shield.

"What's wrong?"

He moves the nappy a little but immediately puts it back, "He pissed on me". He leans back just enough for me to see the wet patch on the front of his shirt. I laugh at the sight of it as Merle claps his brother on the back.

I squat down beside him and take the nappy from his hand. "Let me, go and change your shirt 'cause Glenn's ready to leave". He places a kiss against my cheek and hands me the nappy.

"We'll be back as quickly as we can". I nod and watch him disappear around the other side of the truck and then two minutes later his bike starts up and he's gone.

Maggie and I have stood here and watched the sky get progressively darker. Not from the sun setting but because of thick dark grey clouds that are coming in. It's not looking good, Herschel says it's gonna be a big storm but I'm hoping it's just gonna rain.

Sasha comes over to join the two of us. "Looks bad, ya think Herschel's right?"

I shrug, "I hope n…." The loud thunder that rolls over stops me from finishing that sentence. "Maybe it's just gonna thunder". I say a little wishfully.

"You want to bet on that?" Sasha chuckles.

"No, I'll probably lose".

The thunder gets louder as the lightning starts to light up the dark sky. With it the wind starts to pick up.

I look at everyone standing around the cars still keeping watch. If this is as bad as it's going to get then we can stay here but if it gets worse we might have to abandon the spot. I see the the rain moves like a curtain across the field, when it finally reaches us we're instantly soaked through.

Herschel hurries over as the wind whips my soaked hair against my face, to the point it actually stings.

"I think we're on the outskirts of a possible hurricane", he raises his voice so I can hear him clearly over the rain and wind.

"Are you sure?"

"I've seen enough hurricanes to know what they're like but no I'm not a hundred certain. I know you don't want to do this but I think we need to go somewhere that will provide protection if it is".

I let out a long and heavy sigh. He's right. I don't want to go anywhere but the protection of all these people is the priority. Daryl would rather me do that then sit here and wait for him.

"Okay. That farmhouse over there in the distance. I think I can see a barn for the cars".

Herschel nods his approval. "I'll get everyone ready to head out".

I thank him before going over to Merle who's leaning against the bonnet of our car with Sophia. "Merle". He looks down at me as I stand beside him looking out at the road ahead. "Herschel says there's a chance this storms gonna get worse". Merle nods like he's already thinking that. "I think we need to get off this road".

He thinks about it for a second, "You gotta plan on where to go?"

I point towards the vast open fields. "There's a couple of buildings over there. Can you get the binoculars so we can check it out beforehand".

He goes round to grab them without another word, when he comes back he hands them to me. The vision is blurry from the rain but I can see a barn and a house. Out on the fields in front there are big lumps lying on the ground which I can only guess are carcusses of whatever animals were there. There are also a few forms walking around, with the aimless way they are walking they look to be walkers. I hand them over to Merle who then looks through them.

"They look like Walkers to me," he says. "Should mean there ain't gonna be people there." He lowers the binoculars. "What do we do about the supplies?"

"I don't want to abandon them, if we can push the car off the road to get it out of the way then…" I pause for a second and force my hair away from being stuck against my face "...I'll stay with the car until Glenn and Daryl get back".

Merle stands up straight. "Yeah, No! That ain't happenin'. He'd be fuckin' pissed at me if he came back and you were here; And you've got the babies, if you were here you'd be freakin' out the entire time wonderin' if they were being looked after".

I look through the windscreen over my shoulder. I can just make out Riley in his car seat. He's right. I trust Carol and Merle to look out for Riley, I really do but I haven't left him alone with anyone without either mine or Daryl's presence, and I don't know if I'm ready to just yet either.

"Then what do we do?"

"I'll stay…."Merle starts.

Tyreese steps in front of us causing Merle to stop mid sentence. "No man, We ain't been with you that long but I know the family dynamics we have here", I open my mouth to, I don't know actually. Deny that he's about to say I protect a certain few people more than others, which I guess is true but I'd also protect everyone in this group the best I can. He holds up a hand with a smile, "Don't worry that wasn't an accusation, I'm the same with Sasha. But I think you and Daryl would prefer if Merle went with you so I'll stay here with Sasha. We'll keep an eye on the supplies and we can let Glenn and Daryl know where you are when they get back"

I cast a look at Sasha who appears off to the side, she just smiles and nods. I then look at Merle who gives the tiniest of nods. He's okay with it but I don't know if I am. We haven't known them very long but they are good people and I trust them. It's just I don't like the idea of asking them to do this. If Herschel is correct this storm is gonna get so much worse and they'll be left out here in the open by themselves, but I also don't think I'm going to be able to convince them not to do this.

I relent, "Okay. But if people happen to come through here and they really want them then give them to them. Your lives are worth more than what it's in that car."

"Okay" they both say at the same time.

"Okay, as soon as this weather calms down we'll be straight back".

We waited in the house for hours, Riley and Judith screamed and cried for most of it as the wind rattled the front door to the point we thought it was going to fall off its hinges. The sofa pushed in front of it did nothing to put us at ease. A tree fell down in the front yard causing one of its branches to come through one of the windows.

The high winds and heavy rain slowed down about half an hour ago but we waited to make sure it had actually stopped enough that we could go outside, although that isn't the only thing that stopped us heading back up to the road.

Merle had been keeping an eye on Tyreese and Sasha as they hid the whole thing out in the car. Trying to make sure nothing bad was happening to them and to put my mind at ease for letting them stay up there. About twenty minutes ago he gave us all the terrifying news that a herd of at least a hundred was shambling down the road. He assured me that Tyreese and Sasha must have managed to hide themselves as none of the walkers stopped, they all just kept following each other until finally they disappeared out of his sight.

However, knowing that those two are okay doesn't make me feel any better, those Walkers are heading in the direction Daryl and Glenn will be coming from, and Daryl won't have the protection of a car.

Maggie and I stand in front of an upstairs window that faces the road holding Judith and Riley in our arms who we've only just managed to settle down. She's just as worried as I am and neither one of us knows how to make the other feel at ease.

"You girls ready to leave?" Merle shouts up from the bottom of the stairs.

Maggie and I share a look both very eager to get back there, we hurry down the steps just as Merle has moved the sofa and is opening the front door.

The front porch is a mess, most of the windchimes that were hanging from the roof are now in pieces on the floor. One of the hand rails on the front steps has lifted and is hanging off. Merle pushes it back into place as best as he can so no one accidentally hurts themselves when walking past it.

We walk as a group to the barn where one of the doors has blown open but as we get closer we see the cars are intact. Nothing flew inside or fell down, with our luck today I'm very surprised it didn't happen, but they say bad things come in threes. And We've had three so hopefully that means nothing else will go wrong today.

A few members of our group look a little deflated as we all get back into our cars, I know what they're thinking. That herd that passed by is heading in the direction we are going which means we're gonna have to turn back and find a different way. We're already at the end of day two and we're only about halfway to our destination. I know we'd planned a few stops throughout the journey but this has still taken way longer than necessary. We should have been there already or at least not far away from it but none of them are openly complaining about it which I'm thankful for.