The Middle of the End

Fourteen

"Took over burnin' walkers so T an' Andrea could be here. Think maybe he caught on he ain't wanted right now." The group seperated, going off in different directions. Daryl showed me the remains of a stone building, said he wanted to move his stuff here and set up a small camp to get away from Shane and the prying eyes of everyone else. "You can too. If ya want."

"Actually that might be what I need right now. I mean, the group is great... but sometimes I'd rather be away from 'em, ya know?"

"Mhm. If Hershel lets us stay, we'll move camp tomorrow after breakfast." With the decision to move final, Daryl went off to find twigs to fashion into arrows and I took Alfie back to the RV so we could get something to eat.

With Rick and Glenn gone to get Hershel, Shane assumed he was in charge of things. He'd overheard Carl and Alfie talking about us moving away from the group and tried to start a fight with me. I walked off in the middle of an insult, laughing as he swore. I found myself standing in Hershe's dining room with Maggie and Patricia, asking how Beth was holding up when we heard a loud crash come from her bedroom.

"Oh, shit!" Maggie jumped up and we ran down the hallway. Her door wouldn't open. "Beth, you open this door right this instant!"

Beth was ok, considering her current state of shock. She'd just fallen out of bed.

I went back out to check on Alfie, and Carl asked me if I knew where Lori was.

He couldn't find her anywhere and was beginning to worry. "I'm sure she's fine, Carl."

"Yeah. Probably." Carl shrugged. "So are you and Daryl really Alfie's new parents? He said you were."

"We are."

"Are you boyfriend and girlfriend? Because you guys were kissing and Mom told Dad that you said you loved him."

"Why the sudden interest, Carl? Huh?" I smiled, feeling strangely giddy.

"Well you're pretty much like my mom's sister and I guess that would make you sort of my aunt. So I was just wondering. I like Daryl. I think he's a lot like you."

"What d'you mean?" I asked and we found a shady spot under a tree to sit.

"Well... how he acts around people, he's mean and angry, and it's a cover up. Like he's scared of getting close to anyone. And I can tell you guys really care about each other. You know what's weird?"

"You mean other than yourself?" I joked and he rolled his eyes.

"No. how tacocat spelled backwards is tacocat. Isn't that just weird?" Carl came up with the most random things sometimes. "Oh, there's Shane! Maybe he knows where Mom is."

We finished eating supper in the house, and Lori was still nowhere to be found. Andrea spoke up, said she'd gone after Rick at least four hours ago. Shane got mad and told her off, then took a car and drove away. it was starting to get dark, and Rick should have been back by now. Unless they'd run into some trouble.

I sat with Carl in the house until eight, Alfie's bedtime, and asked if he wanted to sleep over in Daryl's tent with us. Daryl didn't seem to care either way; I got both boys ready for bed and as soon as they'd settled down, sat outside with Daryl. Shane and Lori pulled up first, and I hurried over. There was blood on her head and Shane wanted Patricia to look her over. She'd somehow managed to get herself into a car crash.

"Carl?" she asked me. "Where's Rick?"

"Carl's asleep with Alfie in Daryl's tent. He's fine." I reassured, "Rick's not back yet."

"Shane said he was." Anger flashed in her eyes, "That son of a bitch!"

"Yeah, Shane's a walking sack of shit. I know. C'mon, we'll go check on the boys." We took our time walking the short distance from the house to our camp.

"Hey, Daryl. They still asleep?"

"Mm." Daryl grunted, stepping aside so we could get into the tent. He'd been standing in front of it, making sure they would be safe. It was kinda sweet, and you couldn't say he was completely heartless. Lori knelt over Carl, kissing his forehead as she whispered something.

Daryl poked his head in, "They're back."

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Rick, Glenn, and Hershel were alright. But the boy they brought back wasn't. His leg was pretty screwed up, but Hershel fixed it as best as he could. Shane let it slip that Lori was pregnant, everyone knew now. Carl was excited, wouldn't give her two seconds to herself.

Alfie helped Daryl move our things over to the new campsite, and I kept watch with Dale. "You heard about the shoot out?"

"Glenn told me." I nodded. The reason they'd taken so long was because, like I'd guessed, they'd run into some trouble. Three men tried to convince Rick to let their group stay on the farm with us. He refused and they didn't take it well.

Once they'd been shot, members of thier group surrounded the bar. Eventually they got out, finding that boy with a metal fence sticking through his leg. Not to sound cold, but I think they should have left him. The morality of his group was questionable and he could very well be dangerous. "Hershel said he should be on his feet in a week. I really hope he doesn't stay."

"So how are things? You and Daryl appear to be getting along pretty well again." he thankfully changed the subject.

"Really good." I replied with a smile. "Pretty sure you've noticed we're setting up camp elsewhere."

"Yeah, I've noticed. You need to get away, I can understand that. Some of the others might not."

"You mean Shane." I stated. "Well he can get over it. I'm not a child, I can make my own decisions without his 'help'."

"There is something seriously wrong with that man." Dale sighed, and we sat in a relaxed silence. Sure, he could be annoying sometimes, but his heart was in the right place and he meant well. Dale was our voice of reason, trying to set us in the right direction. In fact, Alfie had started calling him Grampie this morning. He nearly cried.

In the month and a half we'd been on the farm, I'd never been happied. Sure some of the things that happened sucked majorly, especially finding Sophia in the barn, but I had Daryl. And Alfie. I loved that little boy in the same way I loved Carl, but the only difference was that I saw him as mine.

Daryl still thought it strange to be called 'Daddy' but I could tell he was secretly pleased by Alfie's decision.

The next week was spent taking care of Beth, and making sure the captive, Randall, was healing properly. Carl and Alfie had been told to stay away from him, and Daryl asked me to do the same. He had a feeling the kid was bad news and I trusted his instincts. More often than not they were right. A day before Rick planned to drive him away from the farm he was taken from the house and locked in a shed. Dale was furious, and that seemed to amuse Shane, who clearly did not like him. To avoid any unnecessary drama I talked only to Lori, Carl, Maggie, and Glenn. From what I'd heard, Andrea had the hotts for SHane and that gave me more of a reason to dislike her. She didn't help with laundry or any of the chores, just sat on top of the RV all day with a shotgun working on her tan. Acting like a know-it-all, like she was better than everyone else. Sort of like Shane, actually.

"Auntie Lori wants your help in the kitchen!" Alfie said, startling me. I hadn't seen him and Carl walk over, and neither had Daryl, who was attempting to make arrows for his crossbow.

"I'll be back later." I waved to Daryl as Alfie pulled me towards the house. "Slow down, silly!"

|Sorry if this chapter seems rushed; I was in a hurry writing and want to get to season three. Season two is probably my least favourite because Andrea and Shane just really annoy me.

Anywayyy... let me know what you think!