***THE FINAL CHAPTER FOR PART 1 OF THIS STORY***

"100 Years"

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are

I'm 22 for a moment
And she feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars

15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live

I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a "they"
A kid on the way, babe.
A family on my mind

I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life

15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose yourself
Within a morning star

15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live

Half time goes by
Suddenly you're wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...

I'm 99 for a moment
And time for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are

15 there's still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you're on your way
Every day's a new day...

(oh oh ohs)

15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live

June 2010

Trinity and Daryl were making plans to return to Clayton for Dominic's High School graduation. Their family had grown considerably over the past sixteen years. DJ was on the verge of getting his driver's license and he now had four younger siblings. Trinity had told Daryl she wanted five children, and she meant every word of it. However, it happened over only three pregnancies. After DJ was born, four years later their fraternal twins Gabriela "Gabby" Elizabeth Dixon and Jared Lee Dixon were born. Six years following their birth, Trinity once again gave birth to yet another set of fraternal twins, Alexis "Lexy" Corrine Dixon and William "Liam" Albert Dixon. There household was normally chaotic, but the "Dixon Clan" as they were referred to by the locals, managed to keep everything running like a well-oiled machine.

Trinity taught music lessons a few times a week more because she wanted to than needed to. The dream of having a coffeehouse had become a reality for her, Sasha, and T-dog and it was quite successful. They called it the "Double D Café" in honor of "Dixon" and "Douglas", but they often did get teased about the obvious bra reference. Either way, the café had a reputation for presenting top-notch local talent and there were several music representatives that would come and check out the café to find strong talent.

Sasha and T-dog had now been married now for fifteen years. Sasha had struggled getting pregnant, and had suffered three miscarriages, but she had managed to carry two pregnancies to term and had a twelve year-old son they named Tyrone Jamison Douglas or "TJ" for short and a nine-year-old daughter named Ella Madison Douglas. Growing up as close as they had with the Dixon's, the kids considered themselves cousins and even called Daryl and Trinity Aunt and Uncle. Whenever there were family get-togethers, or vacations at the Dixon Compound, T-dog and Sasha were there just like the rest of the family.

When Merle and Carol suffered a horrific tragedy, T-dog and Sasha hurt for them just like the rest of the family. Family didn't necessarily mean blood to these people, and the love and support they all gave each other more than made up for the lack of blood relations.

Trinity and Daryl had their share of ups and downs throughout their married life together. Raising five children was not an easy task and when Gabby and Jared were four years of age, Jared started getting sick and losing weight. He was constantly eating and drinking, with an unquenchable thirst and hunger, but he kept losing weight. While the other kids were out playing, Little Jared could barely stay awake. What four-year-old would rather sleep than play?

It didn't take the doctor long to diagnose the little boy with Juvenile Diabetes. The best treatment option was putting the child on an insulin pump. It helped immensely with keeping Jared's blood sugar at a reasonable level, but it was a diagnosis he wouldn't outgrow, and he would need to be on insulin for the rest of his life. Trinity did whatever she could to help keep the youngster on a healthy diet, and Daryl was continuously researching different treatments and medications. His son's illness left him with a helpless feeling, but he couldn't let himself get defeated, knowing he had four other children he needed to be strong for as well.

Daryl and Trinity were now each thirty-seven years old, and more in love than ever. Their relationship was strong and inspirational to others. They spent so much time back in Clayton that many people forgot that they no longer lived there. They still ran across people from their past that never left the town. Rick Grimes and Daryl had become close friends over the years, and Trinity and Lori had remained friends as well. The relationship wasn't as close as it was with T-dog and Sasha, but the Grimes family had been out to the Dixon compound for a few weekends, and had been out to spend Thanksgiving's with the Dixon's in Asheville.

After Andrea's father had his fall from grace, Andrea graduated and went to College in New Orleans at Tulane University. She had become a civil rights attorney, and had built herself a successful practice. She had grown and matured over the years, and it seemed that learning to take care of herself had softened her outlook on life. She kept in contact with Shane when he was away at the juvenile detention center and the two began to date again when he was released at twenty-one years of age. Shane had originally wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement, but his past criminal record disqualified him from that career path. He ended up getting his start for a private security company and spent time either offering personal security for diplomats and wealthy high profile individuals, or doing private investigative work for people needing discreet information on other's that they thought were participating in suspicious activities. The majority of his investigative work was for spouses suspecting their loved ones were cheating.

Andrea and Shane had been married for fourteen years and had two daughters named Lizzie and Mika. They were beautiful little girls and well raised, but the oldest daughter Lizzie who was the same age as Gabby and Jared was prone to odd and sometimes scary behavior. When Daryl caught Jared trying to kill one of their barn cats, he was alarmed at the violent behavior his son was displaying. When he questioned him further about his actions, Jared informed him that Lizzie had chastised him because he was too "soft". Lizzie then told him that if he wanted to prove how strong he was, he needed to be able to kill the animals because they were "stupid". Daryl then had forbid Gabby or Jared from playing with Lizzie when they made trips back home.

Being the father of five children, Daryl's relationships with each of them was a unique experience. DJ was the spitting image of his father both physically and personality wise. Very few of Trinity's features were evident in his older son. DJ was not a talker but an observer who was more comfortable in small groups or blending into the background with little notice. He was a well-behaved kid and a decent student, but just didn't like all the drama that came along with being involved with large groups of friends. His closest friends were Dominic, Tamara, and Merle's younger son Vincent who was two years younger than DJ. Between the trips to Clayton, his cousins visiting Asheville, and the gatherings at the Dixon compound, DJ spent more time with his cousins than any other kids his age.

As close knit as the kids were, they were not without their share of troubles. Merle had caught the oldest three "experimenting" with weed one weekend up at the compound. Dominic who was on the high school football team had been given a small stash from one of the other players who was also a small time dealer. Getting high wasn't on the top of the list of things Dominic wanted to experience in life, especially after hearing the stories of his father's past drug abuse. But curiosity and peer pressure got the best of him and he decided to give it a try, along with offering it to his cousins.

Merle was sitting on the porch at the compound when he caught the unmistakable scent of pot wafting in the air. It took him less than thirty seconds to pinpoint the source and he found Dominic, Tamara, and DJ out behind the smokehouse on the property. He lost his cool immediately at the sight before him, threatening all three teens within an inch of their life. All three returned a look of a deer caught in headlights. He dragged Dominic into the house and commanded the other two kids to follow. The ass chewing they all received from their respective parents was legendary. Needless to say, neither one of them ever considered the experimentation again.

Gabby and Jared were both eleven years old and complete opposites of each other. Gabby was a tomboy who loved to go hunting with her father, and possessed a dominant personality. If Daryl didn't know better he would swear she was Merle's child and not his. Jared on the other hand was a follower, and could easily be led into any situation. He didn't have the best skills at making good decisions, and that was probably the reason that Lizzie had been so easily able to influence the boy. His illness made him weaker and smaller than other kids his age, and because of his diet restrictions, Trinity had always been reluctant to let him out of her sight. She always feared he would eat something he shouldn't or wouldn't check his blood sugar as needed. She had compensated by smothering him a bit too much. There had been arguments about her over-mothering of the boy between her and Daryl, but deep down Daryl knew why she did it. He couldn't fault her for wanting to protect his second son, as he feared about the boy's health as well.

Daryl and Trinity's second set of twins Liam and Lexy were bundles of energy. Lexy was a complete little princess who loved tea parties, dressing up, and baby dolls and Barbie Dolls. She had bright golden blonde hair and huge blue eyes that gave her the appearance of a china doll. She was also a chatter box who hated bugs and the outdoors. She was a complete Daddy's girl and it hadn't been lost on Trinity how the little girl could completely manipulate people to get what she wanted. Unfortunately, when she didn't get her way it usually resulted in a crying fit or pouting, which infuriated Trinity and would weaken Daryl to the point that he would often give into her. Of all of their five children, Trinity expected Lexy would cause them the most grief throughout the years.

Liam was the most athletic of the children. He also seemed to idolize his sister Gabby and the two would play harder than any other boys that Daryl and Trinity knew. Though Gabby was almost six years older than her brother was, his strength was close to hers. He was always up in a tree, wandering in the woods, swimming out the farthest at the lake, and begging to compete in some sporting event. Football and baseball were his favorites and he was good enough at baseball that the recreation league had asked Daryl and Trinity if they would consider putting him in the league with the eight through ten-year-olds even though he was only six. Though Liam was physically strong, he struggled the most of all the children with verbal and written skills. Daryl spent hours helping Liam get through his homework and reading lessons, but Liam usually ended up crying in frustration at not being able to understand the words on the page. He and Lexy both possessed the Dixon temper.

Over the years Daryl had grown his business to the point that he actually hired two employees to help him out with keeping things going. DJ had spent his entire life watching his father build beautiful pieces of furniture from raw wood and even some old logs. Daryl had spent hours teaching his boy different techniques and showing him the many varying types of wood to use. DJ seemed to share the same passion his father did, so Daryl had been letting him help out in the business, expecting that the two of them would run the business together, and eventually it would pass completely to DJ. Daryl had proven to be the type of Father Gene never was.

It had been twenty years since anyone in the family had heard from Gene. Shortly after DJ had been born Daryl had a panic attack about being able to handle all the responsibilities it took to be a good father. He was scared to death he would turn out like Gene. As a result, Trinity insisted Daryl finally seek professional counseling for all his demons in his past. It was difficult for him to agree to do such, but Trinity told him she didn't want to worry about him having some sort of breakdown around their child. He couldn't say "no" to her argument.

So Daryl began to go to counseling to appease his wife, and as a result, he finally was able to discuss his past and exorcise his fears and nightmares. Apparently the sessions worked well for Daryl because after about a year of seeing the therapist he hadn't suffered anymore panic attacks, and he no longer felt the guilt or deep rooted control that Gene had on his previous life.

After five children Trinity and Daryl had decided that their family had grown enough. Trinity had been pushing Daryl to have a vasectomy, but he had been apprehensive, and it had turned into more than one argument. Daryl had still held onto a few old-fashioned values (and male fears) and he was deathly afraid that having the procedure would effect his performance in the bedroom. Unfortunately for Trinity over the past week, she had began to show some all too familiar symptoms, and she feared that she once again might be pregnant. That morning she was overcome with nausea as she was brushing her teeth, and she hadn't experienced her cycle that month either.

The kids were all in their last week of school and the family was planning on a trip to the compound immediately after graduation. T-dog and Sasha would also be joining them, as well as the Grimes family, and Dale, who was retiring after graduation and also whom had lost his wife to breast cancer earlier in the year. The compound had become more than a family vacation home/hunting cabin. It had become it's own off-grid resort.

T-dog and Sasha had a small two bedroom cabin built on the property for them to stay in when everyone was gathered together for extended weekends. Daryl, Merle, and Jonah had also gone in and added two additional guest rooms in the basement of the house, as well as digging out a cold room to keep all of their smoked meat preserved for as long as possible. Michonne, Carol, Sasha, and Trinity had become coupon queens and would store tons of bargains at the compound as well. They would often pick up bargains and store them at the compound, and then take what was needed when they would leave on the weekends to return home. Trinity was especially diligent since she had five children to feed.

Daryl and his family lived comfortably, but not lavishly. He was hoping that his meeting next week with a furniture company in Thomasville would change his family's fortune forever. The company had approached Daryl about designing a line of custom furniture that would be showcased at the current year furniture show, and if it were well received then they would put his designs into production. The amount of money that Daryl stood to make from such a venture would set his family up for life, and guarantee his children would each receive a top education and would allow the family to finally get out and be able to travel. He and Trinity had dreamed of renting a RV and taking the kids across America, out west to places like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park.

The only true family vacation outside of Georgia and North Carolina the family had taken together was the mandatory trip to Disney World the prior summer. Daryl still swore to this day that he had been "raped by the Mouse" after they had finished paying all the costs for the family of seven to attend the amusement park. He hated the entire vacation as he also hated crowds and chaos, but knew it was something that all of his children desperately wanted to do, so he agreed and suffered through the week in Florida. Apparently he was the only one who hated the "happiest place on earth" because both of his brother's and their families loved the place and had made multiple trips, and even T-dog and Sasha had taken their children TJ and Ella twice.

On the Thursday morning before they headed back to Clayton for graduation and Dale's retirement, Daryl was sitting in the kitchen surfing the Internet and drinking his coffee. He looked up to see a very tired looking Trinity. "Hey sweetie, you aren't looking like you feel to well, your not getting sick are you?"

She sighed, "No, I'm not feeling well. Damnit Daryl, if you would have just gone and got that vasectomy like I asked I might not be feeling the way I am right now." She said glaring at him. She hated to be mad at her husband, but she couldn't help but blame him a bit either.

"Oh Fuck, not again. Shit. Are you sure?" He asked.

"Not positive, but the signs are all there. I'm going to the drugstore to pick up a pregnancy test. I guess I can't be pissed at you, I was the one that forgot to take my pills for three days last month. I meant to tell you to pick up some condoms, but I just freaking forgot. Between baseball, doctors visits, and school projects I just have become scatterbrained lately." She admitted.

"Well you know the routine. See if you can get an appointment with Dr. Stephens in the morning before we leave. I will go with you. They should know us both pretty well by now." He said trying to make a joke to lighten up the situation.

Trinity sat down at the table and fixed herself a cup of decaffeinated coffee fearing she most likely was pregnant. She then spoke up, "Daryl, you know it's been six months since you have spoken with Merle. There isn't anyway you can avoid him this weekend."

"I don't want to talk about it Trin. I can't handle seeing him the way he is. It takes me back to the days when he was using." He confessed to her.

"Daryl, he lost a son and he is grieving. Unfortunately, he is turning to the bottle instead of to his family. Maybe you can try to talk to him this weekend, even try to bring him back around."

"Can't bring him around if he won't come around. He's been keeping late hours and sleeping on the couch. He's shut himself off from everyone. Dominic called and said that Carol is beside herself with grief and he is having second thoughts about going to college right now because he doesn't want to leave his mother and Sofia alone with Merle in his current state." Daryl informed her.

"Michonne said that Carol is over at their house a lot. She is in a deep depression of her own and her and Merle aren't communicating at all. Jonah has tried to reach out to Merle, but he just say's he is fine and refuses to talk about it. Even Jim has told Merle he needed to cut back on his work hours because he needed to be home helping his family grieve. It's like Merle is in total denial."

Six months earlier Carol and Merle had their world ripped apart. When Dominic was five years old, Carol and Merle added a second son to the family and named him Vincent Jordan Dixon. The kid had the personality that would light up an entire room. He was smart, adventurous, and just the most outgoing and loving kid you would ever want to meet. His sense of humor was infectious and the family loved to hear him tell stories about his latest adventures with the Boy Scouts. Being a scout had been a passion of Vincent's and he had aspirations of becoming an Eagle Scout. In January of this year, he was out on a rock-climbing trip when he tragically slipped on ice and fell three hundred feet to his death.

No one in the family was unaffected by the loss of Vincent. Thirteen years old was too young for him to be taken away. Initially Daryl and Jonah thought that Merle would be able to overcome the tragedy, at least as well as you can overcome losing a child, but within a month Merle was slipping out to his old haunts, and had been arrested twice for drunkenness. Both times Rick Grimes had been the officer on duty, and instead of taking him down to the station, he called Jonah and had Merle released into his custody. Since Jonah was a pastor it was a bit easier to get the magistrate to agree to do such. It seemed now that all Merle would do was work or drink and Daryl couldn't be around him without having horrible flashbacks to Gene. He also feared his brother would begin to use again, and if that happened, he wasn't sure how or if he could handle it.

Later that afternoon Trinity returned home with two pregnancy tests and they confirmed her fears. She was indeed pregnant with her sixth (and possible seventh) child. She was able to make an appointment for the morning to get confirmation and hopefully find out if it would be a single birth or multiple births. The only good news was that Trinity had never suffered any complications with her pregnancies. Even with the twins everything went smoothly. The doctor did opt to deliver both sets of twins via a c-section, but he had told her that if she had wanted to have more children (which seemed ridiculous after the fifth child was born) there wasn't any reason she couldn't have a regular vaginal birth. The recovery period was much less after a traditional birth and that was at least one good thing for her to focus on.

Daryl attended the appointment with his wife and both were relieved to find out that the doctor only had detected one heartbeat. He estimated Trinity's due date to be around January 20th of the next year, which meant they would have the joy of navigating the roads in Asheville during the winter months. The doctor prescribed her the normal pre-natal vitamins and reminded her of dietary restrictions for her to follow. Now more than ever Daryl hoped this business deal with the Thomasville furniture company would come to fruition, because adding yet another mouth to feed to their growing brood was going to be quite costly.

They met Sasha and T-dog that afternoon to make the ninety minute trip to Clayton. Daryl had purchased a suburban since it could seat nine people and TJ wanted to ride with Gabby and Jared, while Lexy wanted to ride with Ella. Ella had the "girly girl" factor that Lexy possessed and the two would often play together, even though Ella was a few years older.

Trinity and Daryl had decided to announce their news that night at dinner. Jonah was having a cookout at the house, since it was the easiest way to feed such a large group of people. After tomorrow afternoon's graduation they were all planning on going over to Dillard to the same Japanese Steakhouse they had all gone too many years earlier. Trinity hoped that Merle would go along since he always seemed to love Sushi, but she wasn't sure what Merle's state of mind would be.

The sleeping arrangements were always tricky when Daryl and Trinity came to town, but they always seemed to make things work. Gabby would share a room with Sophia, and Daryl and Trinity would take over Dominic's room. Dominic and DJ would camp out over at Michonne and Jonah's house in their living room, and Lexy and Liam would stay at Michonne and Jonah's as well in the guest room.

Jonah and Michonne had struggled over the years to have a biological child. Finally after years of trying they opted for IVF and were blessed with their little miracle son Andre Anthony Murdoch. He was now three and a half years old and one of the cutest kids Daryl had ever seen, including his own. It could also be the fact that little Andre adored his Uncle Daryl. As hard of an exterior as Daryl had around strangers, his children and his nieces and nephews adored him. Daryl turned into a big softy when he had a child sitting in his lap.

When they all gathered at Michonne and Jonah's for dinner, Daryl was happy to see that Merle had opted to participate. He seemed like his old self and the kids were all eager to love all over Uncle Merle. Daryl was pleasantly surprised until upon further inspection he noted that Merle was drunk. He must have been drinking Vodka because Daryl couldn't really smell alcohol on his brother. But the slightly slurred speech and slower reflexes was a dead give-away. When Merle went to pick up Lexy and twirl her around, Daryl intervened not quite trusting his brother to be able to hold onto his little girl one handed as he spun her.

"Merle, put Lexy down, she gets motion sickness and we don't need her puking all over the place." He said trying to be discreet.

"Awww Bro, she will be just fine with Uncle Merle." He said still picking her up.

"Put her down Merle. I don't want to be cleaning up puke." Daryl said a bit more sternly.

"Daddy, no, I want to spin with Uncle Merle" Lexy begged.

"Not tonight Lexy." Daryl told his daughter. Merle placed her down and she stomped her foot and ran off crying into Trinity's arms. Daryl didn't care how angry his little girl was as long as she didn't get hurt. He also didn't want to explain that Merle was drunk to the little girl either.

Daryl and Trinity made their announcement about baby number six being on the way. They received congratulations from the family, as well as a few lighthearted jokes about the two of them being like rabbits, but the news went over well. Except for Merle making a snarky comment about "still ain't figured out what causes that yet?" Deep down Merle was happy for his brother, but after losing his son so recently, it was hard to experience any joy.

Daryl caught Merle slipping off over to his shed in his backyard and decided now was a good time to confront his brother. Merle came out of the shed to see Daryl looking at him suspiciously.

"What the fuck you looking at Darylina?" Merle said in a confronting manner.

"Ya ain't called me that since back in the days when you were Using Merle, you hooked on that shit again?" Daryl asked directly.

"Are you off your fucking rocker DARYL?" Merle said.

"No, I just know that I seem to have lost my big brother, and I am more than a little concerned." He said sincerely.

"Just go on Daryl. I don't need you hear trying to play head shrinker with me." He said.

"Look Merle, I'm worried about you. You keep pulling away, and your own kid is scared to go to college because he doesn't want to leave his mother and sister with you like this. You gotta get it together. You can't quit living." Daryl told him calmly.

"You listen to me Daryl. When that boy died, a big part of me died with him. Ain't nothing we can do that will bring him back. Not a God damn thing. You don't have a fucking clue what it feels like to hurt like this. Hell, you and Trinity would just pop out another kid if you lost one of your own. Well Carol and I aren't like that. We will never be able to replace my son." Merle said, tears streaming down his face.

Daryl didn't try to argue with Merle. He knew that he had no idea how bad it felt to lose a child. It wasn't natural, but he knew hot terrified he was when they found out that Jared had juvenile diabetes, and that wasn't even a close second. "Merle, we all lost a bit of something when Vincent passed, but you got two other kids, a wife, and shit ton of nieces and nephews that need Uncle Merle. When I see you drinking like this, it just makes me think of Gene, and that ain't a good thing."

"What, so now you think I'm like Gene. Just get the fuck out of my face." Merle told Daryl.

"I ain't leaving until I know you are gonna pull yourself out of this pity party and be the man you need to be right now. Dominic needs his father and I need my brother. So if you have to scream, punch me, or light the damn woods on fire to get over this, then by all means please do so. You mean too much to this family to let it go on like this." Daryl remained calm throughout his statement. Then he did something he never had done before and he reached for his brother and pulled him into a hug.

Merle's body stiffened as he felt Daryl embrace him. He started to push Daryl away, but Daryl held onto his big brother tightly. Suddenly everything Daryl had said to him rushed over him like a cascading waterfall and Merle began to sob uncontrollably. He collapsed down to his knees pulling Daryl down with him, and Daryl did nothing to release his brother. It was probably the most intimate moment that the brothers had ever shared together, but at this point and time, Daryl would have done anything to help take away his brother's pain.

The two remained quietly together in Merle's backyard for at least an hour. Merle had sobered up and his sobbing had finally subsided. He finally spoke, "You think I can make this up to Dominic, Carol, and Sofia?"

"Just be there for them Merle. Quit the drinking and start spending time with your family again, I think that is what they need most right now. They love you, and Carol needs you more than anything. She is grieving too, but she is trying to play the role of both parents right now and it is taking a toll on her."

Merle nodded and gave his brother a final hug. "Let's get back to the family before they begin to worry about us."

"Good idea" Daryl said.

"And Daryl…Thanks for helping me to get my shit straight. I needed that kick in the ass." He told him.

The next morning was complete and total chaos. The vehicles were all loaded up so that everyone could head straight to the compound after the ceremony and dinner in Dillard. It was only a thirty- minute trip from Dillard, which was along the way. Dale was honored for all his years of service and as a surprise, Daryl actually had written a letter that was read by the School superintendent for the county. The letter spoke brilliantly about Dale's influence in Daryl's life, and how his support and belief in him had helped him pick up the pieces of what could have been a shattered dream. Nearly twenty years had passed since Gene had tried to destroy Daryl, and what had happened to Daryl was well known throughout the community. However, more people now remembered Daryl for what he had done with his life and his career than they remembered him being a horrible victim of abuse.

When Dominic walked across the stage to receive his diploma, the cheers were deafening in the two full rows taken up by the Dixon family and friends. Dominic celebrated by tossing out a Frisbee into the crowd. Merle beamed proudly at his son's shenanigans, and it wasn't lost on anyone how much happier Merle seemed to be today.

After the ceremony everyone was gathered out in front of the school taking photos of Dominic in his cap and gown. Dale had made his way over to the family as had Rick Grimes and his family as well. Daryl embraced Dale and Dale thanked him repeatedly for the "brilliant words" he had said about his former teacher, mentor, and friend. They were all firming up the plans to meet at the restaurant in Dillard when they suddenly began to hear screams erupt from the crowd.

They all turned to see a very gray looking man with crazed eyes taking a bite out of an elderly woman. Blood was spilling everywhere as the man continued to actually begin to eat the woman. Chaos erupted and Daryl caught sight of two other individuals attacking the crowd and biting unsuspecting guests at the graduation. Daryl turned to his family and friends "Get in the cars now, we need to get the hell out of here."

Trinity grabbed the kids and led them to the Suburban. Just as soon as they got in the car T-dog called Daryl "Turn on the radio man, there is some sort of outbreak going on."

"Thanks man, get everyone up to the compound until we can figure out what the hell is going on." Daryl told his friend.

He hung up the phone and told Trinity to Call Merle and Jonah and tell them to head directly to the compound and to turn on the radio. He turned on the radio himself only to hear "THIS IS THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM. CIVIL AUTHORITIES HAVE DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY. AN UNKNOWN ILLNESS IS RAPIDLY SPREADING AND YOU ARE ASKED TO AVOID ANYONE SHOWING SUSPICIOUS SYMPTOMS SUCH AS FEVER, AGGRESSION, AND ACTS OF CANNIBALISM. IF YOU COME ACROSS ANYONE SHOWING THESE SYMPTOMS AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. A RESCUE CENTER HAS BEEN SET UP IN ATLANTA AND ALL UNINFECTED INDIVIDUALS ARE ASKED TO REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO THIS CENTER. REPEAT THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM IS NOW IN EFFECT."

Trinity's eyes were huge with fear, and she could hear Gabby crying in the backseat of the suburban. It took a lot to rattle Daryl's oldest daughter, and he told Trinity to go and try to comfort the preteen. He then picked up the phone and called Merle. "Take the back roads and make sure you go to the compound, not Atlanta, there will be too many people headed that way, and I think we are safer on our own."

"Agreed brother. Call Grimes and Dale too and tell them to come up as well. I've got Jonah on the other line and he is in agreement with us. And little brother, in case something happens, I love you." Merle said.

"Stop talking like that Merle. We will be just fine. Just meet me up there, and don't worry about breaking the speed limit. Just go." Daryl managed to get out before the line went dead.

Within an hour of leaving Clayton they were all gathered at the compound. Daryl took extra care to lock the gate at the entrance to the road so that no strangers could encroach on their delicate safety. On the way up they had seen at least twenty of the gray creatures eating victims on the side of the road. To Daryl they looked like dead people that had come back to life only to take more lives. They had managed to catch a few more radio broadcasts before the transmissions turned to static. It confirmed that this "outbreak" seemed to cause the dead to rise again, and the only way to successfully stop the attack was a "wound to the brain". What the fuck were they saying? Was there not a cure? Was the government basically giving them permission to take out sick people with headshots?

Dale parked his RV out in front of the large house and T-dog had Sasha take the kids to their little cabin so that he could discuss with the men what their specific plan of action would be. Trinity, Lori, Carol, and Michonne followed suit and took the kids away from the discussion in a vain attempt to keep them calm. No one was quite sure what was going on or how long they were going to need to be here so the men decided to take an inventory of what supplies they had on hand presently.

They determined that with all of the current supplies that included all of the items that the "crazy coupon ladies" had stored, they would have enough food to last about a month, if they rationed. Daryl assured them that he could hunt and that there were plenty of fish in the lake that would help subsidize the food for as long as they needed it. That was when Trinity came running out of the house in total panic "Daryl, Jared's insulin…we only have enough here for a week."

Suddenly reality came crashing down on Daryl Dixon. There was no way that Jared would be able to survive very long without his insulin. He knew that they had a ninety-day supply at the house in Asheville, but they were going to need more than that. This meant that he would have to leave the safety of the compound, and he was going to somehow need to get into a hospital or a pharmacy to get more. At this point Daryl's life was meaningless to him, and all that mattered was that he get that medication so that his son can have a chance at life.

…TO BE CONTINUED…

Well I hate to leave this on a cliffhanger, but the sequel will begin where we left off. I just wanted the second part of this story to take place at the very beginning of the ZA.

Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to review and to support this little story. This turned out to be a mega chapter, but I wanted to wrap everything up. The sequel will have a lot of familiar characters, but the plot line will be different.

Please review this final chapter and let me know anything you want to see in the sequel. I will be taking a hiatus from this story as I will then be writing the sequel to "When Life Gives you Lemons" which I haven't visited since back in mid-January.

It's going to be a long seven months until TWD returns, and let's talk about cliffhangers..."They are screwing with the Wrong People"...can't wait until October.

Love each and everyone of you and I hope you will support the sequel to my other story, as well as return for the sequel to this one as well.

Hugs, Kisses, and Cheers to you all!

Missy

XXOO