Sorry it took me so long to update, I got stuck on what I wanted to do with the story. Hope you like it. I don't own anything that I don't own.

Eddie was up early, earlier than most of the people at camp. Carol had gotten up to start going through the laundry for everyone and Dale had already taken his post as watchman for the group. It was really quiet with the rest of camp sleeping, but not the bad kind of quiet. He exchanged a silent nod with Dale and a smile before proceeding further down the camp. The red car from yesterday was sitting in the middle of the tents, gleaming with the first rays of sun above the horizon.

"Don't get too used to it," Dale called. "The boys are going to tear it apart for scrap in a few hours." Eddie couldn't help but smirk when he thought about Glenn's reaction to the destruction of his new baby.

"I'm going down to the creek, tell T-Dog," he called back.

"Stay safe." Eddie jogged until he reached the water and crouched down. He cupped some in his hands and then splashed it on his face, alerting himself. His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pebble. It turned over in his fingers repeatedly.

"Protect me, and protect those I care about," he whispered to it. "Keep us safe from danger." Then it went back into his pocket. At first it had seemed stupid to him, but he believed in his lucky rock and it would go with him everywhere.

By the time Matthew had gotten up the sun had already risen and most everyone was busy going about their day. Carol was ironing all the clothes she'd washed, Dale was disassembling the car with Jim and Morales, and Lori helped Amy and Andrea hang up all the clean laundry. He was scribbling in his notebook again, waiting to be called on.

Around eight he saw Rick Grimes walking around the camp and discreetly observed him. So far he didn't know what to think of the former officer. He seemed to be liked by everyone, and he was clearly devoted to his family. As he approached his wife they were both smiling. Shane pulled up with a truck full of fresh-ish water and he saw Lori glance at him, her smile gone.

His thoughts were interrupted when screams erupted through the trees. It was Carl, Sophia, and Jacqui out in the woods. Immediately he dropped the notebook and jumped to his feet, running for the trees. Everyone followed him out there and they saw the three visibly shaken a few yards away. It didn't take a lot to figure out why they'd been screaming. Carol and Lori stayed back to comfort their kids while the rest continued on.

There was a single zombie feasting on a dead deer, its grey fingers clenched a piece of raw meat. They couldn't help but grimace, it was still too soon to get used to watching them eat. It finally noticed them and tried to lunge at Rick, but the men started pummeling it with their various weapons. Dale managed to decapitate it with a fire axe and its head rolled to a stop on the grass.

"They're not supposed to come this far up the mountain," he said after. "Between this one and the group from two days ago, this is happening too often."

"They're running out of food in the city, that's what," offered Jim. The bushes started rustling and Shane instinctively raised his gun, but it was only Daryl that came out.

"Son of a bitch, that's my deer!" he shouted at the walker body. "Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He kicked the body multiple times, which made Matthew quietly grin to himself.

"Calm down son, that's not helping," Dale interrupted.

"What do you know about it old man?" demanded Daryl, approaching Dale irritably. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?" He showed the group his catch, a bunch of squirrels.

At that moment the walker head started grinding its teeth and everyone looked down at it again. Amy and Andrea quickly left in disgust. Matthew pulled out his knife and moved as if to finish it, but Daryl beat him to it with a crossbow shot.

"It's gotta be the brain," he commented. "Don't y'all know nothing?" With that he went back into camp with his squirrels in tow. As he called out for Merle it was clear that everyone in camp tensed up, anticipating the dangerous situation that was about to occur.

"Daryl, slow up a bit," Shane said. "I need to talk to you." Daryl stopped and turned around, confused.

"About what?" he asked.

"About Merle. There was a- there was a problem in Atlanta." At this point Daryl noticed that nearly everyone at camp was watching this.

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't," Daryl snapped, getting closer to Shane.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick interjected, moving forward.

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" demanded Daryl.

"Your brother was a danger to us all," stated Rick, "so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Daryl quickly got enraged and tried to attack Rick, but the two cops were quickly able to subdue him. After he calmed down Shane released him from a choke hold and the two stepped back.

"It's my fault," T-Dog admitted. "I had the key and I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up," Daryl questioned.

"I dropped it down a drain." Daryl got to his feet and started walking away, tears coming to his eyes. Matthew felt bad for him and wanted to do something.

"To hell with all y'all!" he exclaimed. "Just tell me where he is so I can go get him."

"He'll show you," Lori informed Daryl. "Won't he?" Her tone acted as a knife, cutting Rick right across the face. But he maintained his composure and looked back at Daryl.

"I'm going back," he told everyone with a nod. Everyone was shocked as he went back to his tent and headed inside.

In the few minutes after that, Matthew moved around camp quickly. He was looking for Eddie and Uri but he kept running into other people. Dale wanted to talk so he talked, Morales wanted to talk so he talked, and he had to maneuver his way around Daryl while the hunter angrily prepared to leave. It wasn't until he came upon the moving van that he saw his two companions talking to each other.

"Where have you been all morning?" Uri inquired.

"I got up late," he answered. "Then I went to help deal with that walker. What about you guys?"

"I was talking to Andrea," Uri told him. "I'm supposed to help her and the girls wash some more laundry later."

"T-Dog needed my help getting firewood," Eddie added.

"Walkers keep coming close to camp," Matthew informed them. "I think there might be a group in the area. Keep an eye out." They nodded and he turned back around, walking away from the van. He needed to make sure they were looking out for any walker threats.

Rick came back out of his tent by the time Matthew reached the RV again. He saw Shane and Rick arguing as they approached, drawing the eye of everyone around. Everyone seemed concerned, except for Daryl as he was too busy dwelling on his rage about Merle's predicament.

"Then could you explain it to me Rick?" Shane loudly questioned. "Make me understand, why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" That got Daryl's attention.

"Hey, choose your words carefully," he warned Shane.

"Oh I did, douchebag was what I meant," Shane responded, unfazed. Rick explained for everyone to hear that even Merle didn't deserve to rot on the roof and that he couldn't leave him behind.

"So that's your big plan, you and Daryl?" asked Lori skeptically. That was when Rick turned his gaze to Glenn, who he persuaded to reluctantly accompany them.

"That's just great," said Shane bitterly. "Now you're risking the lives of three men?"

"Four," T-Dog interrupted.

"This day keeps getting better and better," Daryl mumbled to himself, audible enough to hear.

"I don't see anyone else volunteering to save your brother's cracker ass," T-Dog countered.

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't understand. You don't speak my language."

"Make it five," declared Matthew, strolling forward. That got the most shock value, all attention on him.

"Aren't you a little young?" Rick inquired, the first thing he'd said to Matthew. Matthew took out his knife and brandished it.

"I can handle myself as well as any man," he stated. "Besides, I don't have any parents telling me I can't go."

"Kid took out a group by himself," Daryl told Rick with a somewhat impressed look. Other members of the camp gave nods of confirmation, though somewhat reluctantly.

After convincing Shane and his family the necessity of the mission, Rick started loading up to go. Matthew was interested to learn that he had a radio in the bag of guns somewhere in Atlanta. As T-Dog and Rick tried to convince Dale to let them borrow the bolt cutters, Matthew went over to Carl.

"Hey, your dad's going to be just fine," he assured the young kid. "I'll take good care of him. Mister Matt knows what he's doing." That made Carl smile and Matthew gave him a high five. He knew the fear of losing a parent and he felt better if Carl didn't have to share that feeling.

As he went back over to the van he saw Shane handing over the last of the Python ammo to Rick. When he emptied the contents into his hand there were only five bullets that came out. This almost made Shane smile, but only almost.

"Five men, five rounds," he said. "Let's hope five is your lucky number." The group climbed into the van and Rick got in on the passenger side. Daryl shut the back as soon as everyone was in and the van drove off.

"What did you have to promise for the bolt cutters?" Matthew asked.

"His pick of the first gun and the radiator from the van," Rick answered.

"Could've been worse," Matthew noted.

It took them about an hour to get back to the city, and it was a quiet trip. No one felt much like talking, everyone was too focused on reaching their destination and how they were going to come back out alive. Glenn parked the van beneath an underpass so it would be much easier to find when they came out again.

"My brother better be okay," Daryl warned, "that's my only word on the matter."

"I told you the geeks can't get at him," reminded T-Dog. "Only thing that's going to get through that door is us."

"We walk from here," Glenn informed everyone. The five exited, T-Dog carrying the bolt cutters, and started their trek deeper into the city.

Down at the quarry, Shane was with Carl by the water while some of the girls were washing the laundry. It was their plan to catch some frogs so they could have something different to eat. At the moment nothing was coming toward them though and Carl was beginning to look disappointed.

"I'm not getting anything," he told Shane sadly. Shane hated seeing Carl sad, there had to be a way to get the frogs into the bucket.

"We're going to do this the old fashioned way," he assured Carl, wading into the water. "Alright little man look, you are the key in all this. All I'm going to do is I'm going after one of them alright, and it'll scare the rest of them off and they're going to scatter your way." He and Carl started getting pumped up, making mean faces and shouting war cries. As he went after one of the frogs he fell into the water and started splashing around. Carl swung the net every which way in an attempt to catch something. At the end, all they managed to catch was a clump of dirt caught in the net. But Carl was laughing, so Shane decided that they were going to try again.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked Glenn as the five of them ducked under a fence.

"Merle, we're not having this conversation," Daryl interjected.

"We are," insisted Rick. Matthew had to admit that it might be better to go for the guns first if Merle was protected from walkers. "You know the geography best, it's your call."

"The guns would mean doubling back," Glenn informed the group. "We go for Merle first."

Back at the creek Shane was watching Carl when he noticed Lori approaching. Judging by the look on her face, he braced himself for the worst.

"Hey Carl, what did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?" she demanded.

"But Shane said we could catch frogs," Carl protested, unclear about what he did wrong.

"Doesn't matter what Shane says," Lori scolded, "it matters what I say. Back to camp." Carl stood up with a guilty look on his face and started walking away from the creek.

"I got to tell you, I do not think you should be taking this out on him," Shane told her. She didn't even bother to turn her back to him as she stormed off.

"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore, you have lost that privilege," she replied with enough iciness to freeze all the water. He wasn't going to let her just walk away so he stood up and started jogging after her.

As soon as he began trying to talk to her, she turned and started berating him. He was to stay away from her and her family, Rick was alive, how dare he pretend to be glad about Rick's return, he was a son of a bitch. Then she was gone and he was left to hate himself alone.

On his way back to camp he saw the girls were getting into an argument with Ed. All he could think about was the frustration that was boiling up inside him at the moment. He heard the sound of a slap a cry of pain from Carol. The next thing he knew he was on top of Ed and his fists were connecting with the man's face repeatedly. The girls were calling out for him to stop, but their voices were distant to him. He saw Ed, and then he saw Rick's face, and then his own. Everything felt numb except for the hate he couldn't suppress anymore; he wanted to go back to the way things were before the walkers came. Finally he realized how serious the injuries were that he was inflicting he paused.

"You ever lay your hands on your wife, your little girl or anyone else in this camp one more time I will not stop next time," he growled. "Do you hear me? I'll beat you to death, Ed." After one last punch he dropped the bloody mess and stormed off. He would never let anyone know, but he'd just scared himself.

Inside the department store, Rick showed the others a single walker limping around and Daryl quickly dispatched it with his crossbow. They ran for the stairs and quickly ascended, Rick attempting to be cautious but Daryl anxious to reach Merle as soon as possible. Matthew was holding his breath as the chain was cut and the door was kicked open. The five began to scan the roof, but all froze when they reached the end.

"No, no!" Daryl screamed, on the verge of tears at the sight. Merle was gone, in his place a bloody hacksaw and a severed hand.

What do you guys think of Matthew trying to earn his place? Also I want to make Shane more of a fallen hero than a villain so that's what I tried to do here. If there's any character you think should've lived the first season let me know, I might keep someone alive. Let me know what you thought.