"What the hell are ya doin'?"
She paused her movements and glanced up at the redneck, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his sudden question. "I'm checking your stitches. We've already been over that."
It was the next morning, and Madison had made her way to Daryl's tent after a long and heated discussion with Maggie about the walkers in the barn. She had wanted to make sure he didn't tear any more stitches, as well as find something to distract herself.
"I ain't talkin' 'bout that," Daryl grunted. When Madison simply stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate, he pursed his lips and revealed, "Dale came to talk to me last night."
"That's nice. Did you have a heart-to-heart and reminisce on the good old days?" She drawled sarcastically.
Daryl glowered at her and smacked her hands away from him so that she'd focus on what he was trying to say to her. "Don't pretend like ya don't know what we talked about. What the hell were you thinkin', steppin' up to Shane like you did?"
She huffed in annoyance. "I was thinking that I'm tired of him walking around like he's some sort of saint. I was thinking that I can't stand that bastard after what he did to Otis, and how he's trying to justify it to himself. I was thinking that there was no way in hell I could just stand by while he flat-out threatened Dale to his face!"
"Yeah? Well, now he's threatened you, too!" Daryl shouted at her. "This ain't some game, Mads! You can't just go 'round steppin' up to psychotic men like yer invincible!"
"I can look after myself, Dixon."
"I say the same damn shit, and yet here ya are. Lookin' out for me," Daryl gestured to the new dressing in her hand, which she had just been about to place over his stitches after having discarded the old one. "So I don't wanna hear yer shit just 'cause returnin' the favor."
Madison scoffed in disbelief. "Returning the favor?" She stood to her feet and threw the clean dressing at him. Daryl caught it by reflex. "You can put the damn dressing on yourself. Believe me, I don't need any favors from some stupid redneck like you."
"Goddammit, woman!" Daryl grunted as he stumbled to his feet and quickly reached for her arm before she could leave his tent, hissing as the movement pulled at his stitches, but mercifully didn't tear them. "What's yer problem?"
Madison whirled back around to look at him. "My problem is that you have the fucking nerve to act like I'm only looking out for you because I'm hoping you'll do something for me in return," she snapped at him. "I'm not that kind of person, Daryl. I don't have any ulterior motives and I sure as shit don't need you to do anything for me. I'm trying to take care of you because I care about you, and I already told you that, so I don't know why the hell you―"
"Well has it ever occurred to ya that maybe I'm tryin' to look out for you 'cus I care 'bout you, too?" Daryl cut her off angrily, staring her down evenly. "Or do you not think anyone cares 'bout whether or not yer okay, too?"
Her gaze narrowed. "Don't do that. Don't try to throw my words in my face."
"I ain't throwin' 'em in yer face, Mads, I'm askin' you a question."
Madison pulled her arm out of his grip stubbornly. "What the hell do you want from me, Daryl?"
"I want you to be smart. And safe," he responded, meeting her gaze evenly. "I want you to stay away from Shane no matter what, and I want ya to come tell me if he so much as even tries to bother you. 'Cus goddammit, I'll kill that bastard myself before I let him hurt you."
For a long time, Madison didn't know how to respond to that. Daryl was never the kind of man to admit to caring about anything, much less open up the way he just had. He always kept his emotions guarded and in-check. So to have him saying these things really caught her off-guard. "Are you gonna put your dressing on, or are you gonna let me do it?" She finally asked.
Daryl didn't budge. "Don't change the subject, Mads."
She pursed her lips. "What do you want me to say, Daryl?"
"I want you to promise that you'll stay away from him, an' that you'll tell me if he tries to bother you."
"I already told Dale that I can't―"
"I'm not Dale," Daryl interrupted her firmly. "An' you ain't leavin' this tent 'til you make that promise."
The two of them stared each other down for a long moment before Madison sighed heavily and relented. "Okay," she said, throwing her hands up. "Okay, fine. I promise."
"Hey, Daryl?" They both turned toward the mouth of the tent at the sound of Carol's approaching voice. "Breakfast is― oh." She seemed surprised when she saw Madison in Daryl's tent as well, the two of them standing close to each other. Given the fact that Daryl was shirtless and both of their faces were red, it was easy for Carol to misinterpret what had been happening. "I'm sorry for interrupting, I just―" She cleared her throat. "I just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready." She spared a small smile for Madison. "Good morning, Madi."
Madison managed to smile at her in return, because she adored Carol, no matter how annoyed she was in general on that particular morning. "Good morning, Carol."
After she walked away, Daryl begrudgingly had Madison put the dressing over his wound and then threw on one of his sleeveless shirts, following her out of the tent. They headed over to the other group members, who were gathered around the small fire Carol and Lori had used to cook the eggs over. Carol had already made both of them plates, holding them out for the two of them to take. Madison thanked her quietly and moved to take the empty seat near Dale, who was standing by the tent. She caught Shane's gaze on her as she passed him, but he looked away when he saw Daryl watching with a threatening look on his face.
"Madi," Glenn hissed, crouching next to her chair and whispering so that nobody would be able to hear. "Did you talk to your dad?"
She shook her head, her voice dropping to a whisper as well. "Talked to Maggie. Well, more like argued, really."
"And?"
"And she doesn't want us to say anything. Our dad will flip out." Madison paused. "But these people deserve to know. I don't care what my father thinks. He hasn't seen the things we have, and he doesn't understand."
Glenn swallowed and looked over Madison's shoulder at Dale, who was looking at the two of them. Despite the fact that he couldn't hear them talk, he knew what they were talking about. When he nodded at Glenn, the younger male sighed before moving to stand in front of the tent. "Um, guys?" Everyone paused what they were doing and looked at him. "So... the barn is full of walkers."
"What?" Several voices demanded at the same time, each one full of just as much disbelief as the other.
"Yeah, uh... Madison's family, they've been keeping walkers in the barn," Glenn told them.
"Did you know about this?" Shane accused, turning on Madison angrily. He scoffed. "Who am I kiddin', of course you knew, it's your family!" He stormed toward her. "Why didn't you say nothin', huh?!"
"You best back the hell away from her," Daryl growled, instantly standing from his chair.
Shane turned toward him with a scoff. "Or what, Dixon? You gonna cut off my ears and add 'em to your necklace too?"
Fury lit up every inch of Daryl's face as he stomped over to Shane. "Or I'm gonna kick yer fuckin' ass, that's what!"
"Enough!" Rick exclaimed, quickly moving between the arguing men before the situation could escalate any further. He shot Shane a pointed look, telling him without words that he needed to back down. Shane huffed and moved away from them, shooting Madison and Daryl one last glare as he did so. "Madi?" Rick asked, glancing at the brunette who still sat in her chair. "Did you know?"
"Not until Glenn told me," she admitted. "They kept it a secret from me. Knew I wouldn't be okay with it."
Ten minutes later, the group was gathered outside of the barn while Shane peeked through a small opening in the door, looking in at all of the walkers inside. He turned and stomped back toward Rick with a scowl on his face. "Man, you cannot tell me you're alright with this."
"No, I'm not," Rick agreed. "But we're guests here. This isn't our land."
"For God's sake, this is our lives, man!"
"Lower your voice," Glenn said nervously.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea spoke up, agreeing with Shane.
"It ain't right. Not remotely," Dale said. He tried to say something else, but Shane cut him off.
"We either got to go in there, we gotta make things right, or we just gotta go. Now, we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time and―"
"We can't go," Rick cut him off.
"Why, Rick?" Shane demanded in annoyance. "Why?"
"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol said quietly.
Shane scoffed in disbelief. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."
"Shane! We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick told him firmly.
"I'm close to findin' this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago," Daryl added, pacing back and forth near Madison and Carol.
Shane laughed mockingly. "You found her doll, Daryl, that's what you did. You found a doll," he snapped at him.
"You don't know what the hell yer talkin' about!" Rick stepped in Daryl's way once again, putting his arm out to keep he and Shane separated.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said! Now, you get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours!" Shane shouted, ignoring Rick as he tried to get him to stop and shut up. "And let me tell you somethin' else, man! If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction, man!" Daryl lunged at him, and Shane lunged right back, the two of them trying to get hits in at each other as several people ran forward to keep them separated. Madison grabbed Daryl's arm firmly, shaking her head at him when he glanced at her. He huffed, clearly angry, but he backed off.
"Just let me talk to Hershel," Rick said. "Let me figure it out."
Shane whirled on him furiously. "Man, what are you gonna figure out?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Lori stepped in his way and pushed him back when he tried to move toward Rick.
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it," Rick explained, always trying to be the rational one. "This is his land."
"Hershel sees those things in there as people," Dale spoke up. "Sick people. His wife, Madison's grandfather, their neighbors..."
"You knew?" Rick asked, surprised.
"Yesterday," he admitted. "I talked to Hershel."
"And you waited the night?" Shane snapped.
"I thought we could survive one more night. We did," Dale snapped right back at him. He turned back toward Rick. "I was waiting 'til this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."
Shane huffed. "The man is crazy, Rick. If Hershel thinks those things are alive―"
"You watch your fucking mouth!" Madison exclaimed, finally speaking up as she stormed toward Shane with nothing but anger in her eyes. Daryl grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, pulling her back. "Talk about my father like that again and I'll knock out your fucking teeth!"
"Won't you come at me then, huh?" Shane taunted her. "You're every bit as crazy as your piece of shit daddy, you stupid bitch!"
"Don't you fuckin' talk to her like that!" Daryl roared, dropping Madison and trying to lunge at Shane himself again. T-Dog, Rick, Glenn, Andrea and Lori all intervened once more, but not before Daryl managed one good punch to Shane's jaw. This only served to piss Shane off even more, and he shouted in anger, trying like hell to get past everyone so he could fight Daryl.
The loud growling and the banging of the barn doors as the walkers inside of it tried to get out, attracted by all the noise, was the only thing that snapped everyone out of it. Lori wrapped her arms around Carl and hurried away from the barn instantly, while others started to walk away as well. Madison stood at Carol's side, allowing the older woman to hold her hand tightly, while Carol stared at Shane in fear. He and Daryl were glaring each other down, their chests both heaving heavily and their fists clenched. T-Dog and Rick stayed where they were, glancing between them and ready to intervene if they tried to fight again.
Eventually, Shane scoffed and stormed away. It was only then that Daryl turned around, his eyes scanning over Madison's body to make sure she wasn't hurt, even though Shane hadn't even got close enough to do any damage anyway.
When he was sure she was alright, Daryl turned and stomped off in the opposite direction Shane had went. Madison watched him go with a frown on her face. "Just let him cool down," Carol told her softly. "After what just happened, he certainly needs it."
"Yeah," Madison agreed with a sigh. "I think everyone does."
Carol only hummed in agreement.