The ride to the cabin was anything but confortable, she could sense the worry in Merle even if he still put that brave and arrogant face while looking at the walkers they passed by in the road, the pickup truck trembling loudly with every corpse he rode over.

-stop that.- she put a hand on his now completely healed handless arm and looked at the older Dixon's blue angry eyes.

-wanna kill 'em fuckers, Daryl ain't gonna wake up if thats what yer all worried 'bout. He's out of it.- she took her arm off him, even if the noise made her even more nervous she knew Merle needed to let off some steam in any way possible, and the walkers provided that just fine as risky as it was to run them over carelessly like that.

-okay...- that was her only answer to that, the rest of the drive was awfully quiet.

When the truck stopped the only thing she could see around them were woods, and a medium size run down cabin in front of them.

-so... is this it?- Merle looked at her amused.

-wha', not good enough fer ya again?- she rolled her eyes in desperation.

-thats not what I...

-just help me unload 'im, we gotta be careful with his fucking back and I ain't in a gentle mood if ya know what I mean. - She just nodded and got off the truck.

Merle followed and opened the back of it revealing a seemengly sound asleep Daryl, he did look a bit more peaceful that the day they got him back.

-Imma get him inside, ya go check fer dead ones, I don't think there's any but we gotta be sure before we go in- she just nodded again and went to check the perimeter and the inside of the house. She could't hear moans or growls, just the sounds Merle was making while dragging Daryl as easily as he could inside the cabin.

It wasn't bad, just basic and not lived in, she could tell the Dixon's just used it for hunting trips in the past by the unused dirty kitchen, the guns on the main table and the dusty wooden furniture.

By what she could tell, there weren't any walkers inside, she heard the springs of a matress moving in the next room and Merle's voice.

-Ya need to stop munching like a damn hippo you fat fuck...- she giggled at that, tough love. She followed the voice and saw Daryl still asleep face down on the matress and Merle looking at him with a mixture of feelings, he then started to search for something in his bag while he walked towards Shey.

-Here ya go, lots of canned shit and jerky in the bag and I wantcha to have this.- He handed her his knife.

-but... you are gonna need it if Negan shows up

-take the damn knife, imma be here ta check on y'all in three days, ya take care of him, if he lets ya, and no fucking, he's gonna need the strenght.-She rolled her eyes- oh, don't look at good ol' Merle like that peach, I saw ya, something happened in them woods before it all went batshit.

She didn't say anything, just looked at Merle going towards the exit.

-Merle...- He turned around slightly- Thanks.- She stated.

-S'nothing.- Was all she got back, it was enough, after that the door closed and there she was, there they were. Trapped with each other.

She just stood there looking at Daryl for maybe ten minutes, she shook her head after that, giving him a worried look and started unpacking the bags on the other side of the bed, she needed to keep busy. Once all the cans and packed food where on the counter she went to check on the small bathroom, lukewarm water, low preassure, but it was better than nothing; that was gonna be a battle for later. She heard stirring, and run to the bedroom automatically.

-...Fuck.- his voice was as gravelly as it could get still, and he was hardly succeeding at rolling over.

She lightly grabbed him by the shoulder and felt him buck his arm under her touch.

-ssh...sh... Daryl, calm down, It's me, calm down... - she grabbed the dusty pillow next to his head and shoved it under his head as smoothly as she was able to.

-where... -he violently tried to turn around again.

-sssh... we are safe, Merle took us both to the cabin, you need to heal and rest, we are all okay, calm down...- he went silent there.

-Lemme turn the fuck 'round!- She took her had off him scared. And watched him turn around slowly, holding growls of pain back and trying not to make friction on his back wound with the sheets. She stood there, just looking at him, holding the stare he was giving her through his bruised blue eyes which somehow seemed ten times more intense at the moment.

-we have to stay here for the week at least, until you feel better, I know you don't like it and I know you wanna help the rest get ready to fight them back. But you need this.- She closed her eyes overwelmed by the intensity of his stare and went on- And I honestly don't give a fuck if I have to tie you to the bed, I will, you can be an asshole, or you can let me help you. It's gonna happen anyways.- He kept staring at her hard eyed from the bed, not saying anything, and watched her walk towards the dusty nightstand beside the bed. She took two painkillers from the orange platic bottle and harshly banged them on the wooden material.- There you go. I'm going to heat some soup up, and then I need to change the bandages on your back after you clean up.- she said those words looking at the wall in front of her, she was going to lose the courage otherwise. She turned around towards the old stove and started opening a can in silence listening to the light ruffling of th sheets and the pills being grabbed angrily, she smiled to herself. Step by step.

She zoned out staring at the burner heat up unbearingly slowly, the small outside generator still worked, but she had a feeling it wasn't gonna last them the whole week. While the soup was starting to heat up in one of the old metal pans, she wakled to the bedroom again, leaning on the door. Daryl was looking at the wooden ceiling, breathing slowly. Bless the painkillers.

-So, if you need help standing up and walking to the shower I'll help. If not I recommend you get started, we don't want that infected againm do we now?- She pointed at him referring to his back. Silence.

-I don't need no help...

-okay.- She stayed where she was, waiting. Daryl looked at her angry, and pushed himself up following his movements by a strong grunt and holding the nightstand for leverage. He walked towards her slowly grabbing onto everything he could find. She was trying to act tough, but seeing Daryl like that was breaking her even more, he grabbed onto the door right in front of her, breathing heavy and piercing her gaze.

-ya gonna get off my way or what?- she stepped aside, not showing any emotion and felt him move towards the bathroom still struggling and close the door with a loud bang.

She sat down on the bed after that and grabbed a cigarrette from her bag, breathing in the smoke deeply while she heard the water falling lightly in the shower and stuff being pushed carelessly to the floor.

She didn't hear anything for about five minutes until a loud bang made the floor slightly tremble under her, she run as much as she could, putting her smoke out quickly on the sink on her way to the bathroom, she opened the door without even thinking about what she was doing. What she was next could have being funny in any other situation, but not then. She saw Daryl completely naked face down with half of his body inside the shower, trying to stand up from the floor, she ignored the quick flush on her face and grabbed him by the shoulders unsuccessfuly trying to push him up.

-Get the fuck outta here woman! Turn the fuck 'round!- his voice broke when he tried to push himself up again, she helped him up this time, looking at his chest in from of the man who towered even more in front of her with the height he gained by being on top of the shower floor.

When she looked up slowly she didn't expect what she saw next, Daryl was looking at her with absolute hatred in his eyes and she could feel herself getting as red as a bell pepper. The next thing she felt was the cold wall of the shower hitting her back hard and her clothes starting to get completely wet.

-What are y...- he pulled even herder up on the handfull of her shirt he was still grabbing and she froze. Once she was able to open her eyes slowly she was faced with those eyes again, blurry from the steam and looking down hard on her.

-what the fuck ya think yer doing...

-helping your fucking ass up asshole.- she felt his body completely stuck to her clothed one after she said that and suddenly pushed him off her hitting her shot shoulder without thinking it twice, Daryl stumbled backwards hitting the wall behind him with his back. She could swear she had never in her life heard a grunt of pain like that, but she kept looking at him in the eyes even if she knew she was entering dangerous territory. She followed and grabbed his good shoulder turning him around towards the wall taking advantage of the pain. She looked at the wet bandage angry, she was fed up with this shit alredy and it hardly had been two hours. She ripped it from his skin in two smooth pulls.

-nononono... no... shit!- he hit his head on the wall standing the sharp pain biting his lip not to scream and suddenly the bathroom was completely silent, the only noise being Daryl's heavy breathing.

-There you go, let the warm water clean the woundm go back to bed and I'll be there to wrap it up in a sec, soup's gonna burn.- with that, she stepped out of the shower dripping wet and not looking back at Daryl once, she passed the soup into a bowl after cleaning it from dust and grime and went outside to sit on the porch for a while, she could feel tears building up in her eyes, but he was done crying for now, he deserved what he got from her.