Both Eyes Open - Daryl Dixon (under editing)

A family again.

At the sound of twigs snapping Carol looked up from the laundry, frowning, "What happened to you? You look exhaust-"

"Nothin' happened. Been hunting for four hours. I'm jus' tired." Daryl grumbled, setting his crossbow down and shrugging away the various handful of animals he had gathered, tied to the end of a few ropes on his shoulders.

He turned his back to her, setting the animals on a table, and began untying the knots that held them together.

Raising her eyebrows in annoyance, Carol sighed and mumbled, "I was only asking if you were alright."

Daryl internally groaned defeatedly, before looking slightly over his shoulder and nodding once, his way of saying sorry to the woman. A small gesture, but significant enough for her to acknowledge. With a small smile, she lifted the basket of clothes and walked past him, patting him lightly on the shoulder, a sort of reply to his nod.

He watched her walk away from him, down towards the waters edge to wash the clothes, and the strange woman from earlier replayed on his mind for the hundredth time since their encounter.

There was no telling what it was about her that stood out to him. Perhaps it was her strong determination, and ruthless, relentless movements, her seemingly experienced way of moving through the woods.

The way she held the bow in her hands, almost as if it belonged there, another ligament, and the precision of the shot in the walker, couldn't have been any cleaner, unless he himself had tried it.

Or maybe perhaps it was her indecipherable eyes. They seemed ever changing. One minute they appeared to seem kind and light hearted, and within moments upon attacking him, or spotting and taking down the walker, they appeared cold, harsh, volatile and completely unforgiving. Had she been expecting this? Or was she just built for this world? In an odd way, she reminded him of himself.

But his train of thought was stirred by someone walking past, and he shook his head clear of any thoughts of the stranger, before heading back out into the woods to try and find something slightly more substantial than only two large rabbits.

~~~

"Talk to me Dale!" Shane shouted.

"Can't tell yet..." Dale replied, going back and forth between lifting and lowering the binoculars to his eyes.

"Is it them? Are they back?" A high pitched girls voice asked hopefully.

"I'll be damned..." Dale said, his eyes following the swerving cars movements around the quarry.

"What is it?"

Lowering the binoculars and squinting in the distance, Dale said, "Stolen car's my guess..."

Everyone watched warily as the car sped over to their camp, and skidded dustily to a stop a few metres away from them, horn still blaring wildly, agitating many of the group members.

"Holy Crap- Turn that damn thing off!" Dale yelled over the noise as Glenn hopped out of the car.

"I don't know how!" He told him, raising his arms in confusion.

Suddenly voices were shouting on top of one another's, as Shane's grew loudest, yelling at Glenn, "Will you pop the damn hood, please?!"

"Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" He said getting back into the drivers seat briefly to open the hood of the car.

"Is she alive? Is she okay?!" Andreas frantic sister Amy asked Glenn.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Why isn't she with you?" She shouted, the car still blaring it horn. "Is she okay?"

"YES!" Glenn yelled in reply, leaning on the door of the car, looking round the group, "Fine, everybody is..."

People exchanged looks as Glenn glanced awkwardly around, and Shane stopped the car alarm, "Well, Merle not so much-"

"You crazy driving this wheeling bastard up here, you tryna draw every walker for miles?" Shane glared up at Glenn, leaning forward against the hood of the car, until Dale interjected, looking around the quarry,

"I think we're okay."

"You call being stupid okay?" Shane grumbled over his shoulder.

"Well the alarm was echoing all over these hills, it's hard to exactly pinpoint a source." Dale responded plainly, logic and attitude evident in his voice. Shane stood up and turned round, annoyed, hands on hips, staring down at the older man, who shrugged,

"I'm not arguing, I'm just saying!" Before he turned to Glenn, gesturing to him, "Wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

Glenn looked awkwardly around him before saying, "Sorry..." And then he gestured his head proudly toward the car, "Got a cool car..."

With a playful smirk Dale nodded, and the rest of the group seemed to ease up a little, until all heads turned toward the sound of another vehicles engine, roaring up the road. Everyone squinted, trying to see through the glass, Glenn smiled watching the van pull up slowly, as if trying not to appear intimidating.

Andrea jumped off the back, and ran towards her sister, both of them colliding in a hug, emotional. Everyone watched as the group reunited, and Lori and Carl turned to walk away, not noticing the new addition, tailing behind the returning members of the group.

"How did y'all get outta there anyways?" Shane asked, tilting his head toward Glenn.

"New guy, got us out."

"New guy?"

"Yeah. Crazy man just got into town. Hey helicopter boy!" Morales shouted toward the van. Come say hello. Guys a cop, like you." He turned to Shane, who watched as his old friend walked toward the group almost somewhat shyly, hands on hips and hesitant, until Ricks eyes met his own, and they stared at each other in shock.

Noticing the odd silence, Lori and Carl looked over, and time seemed to slow to a near standstill.

Overwhelmed, and gesturing to his son, Ricks eyes filled up, as he started walking over, and his son yelled, "Dad!" Before bolting over to him, tackling him to the ground in a hug.

Picking up his son, he walked over to Lori, who stood up, mouth slightly agape, before grabbing each other and their son in a hug, laughing and crying all the same, and the group watched in wonderment.

Lori caught Shane's eyes for a brief moment, but the small, smiling nod he gave her seemed to say enough, without actually saying anything at all.