Well, at least I tried to take a break. I just missed you all too much to stay away ;) Okay, there is no gap here. I started pretty much right where I left off. I hope that's okay. I hope you like this installment as much as you liked the first! This is in no way related to another little sequel that will be posted soon called Ashes to Ashes by Axelrocks. I didn't want anyone to be confused. Okay, enough jabbering. Thank you for reading! I'm so excited that I can continue on with this specific group of readers. Much love to every single crazy one of you!

Chapter One

Of course it would rain. Why not, right? The world was swiftly screeching to a halt so of course fate would find it fitting to throw buckets of water on his head. Just another proverbial fuck you to Daryl Dixon. It was dark out now and he couldn't stay away from the windows. Pacing back and forth, take a look out at the deserted street, pace some more. The others were in the living room in front of the T.V.. Front row tickets to the end of the world. He wished that thought would stop running laps through his mind. It couldn't be the end, right? Things had just gotten started for him.

Carol told them what she had seen. That had been hours ago. It already felt like days, really. Whatever these things were, they were eating people. Eating people. He hadn't believed her until they had stood there, in awe, and watched it happen themselves. People running around, chaos being captured behind a camera lens. He couldn't believe that they had even showed that shit. None of it was censored. When they just kept repeating the same footage on one channel over and over Buck would just find another channel. It seemed like each new station he turned it too showed a little more. New York City was the scariest. After seeing the news footage for that he left the room.

He didn't think it was the greatest idea for Carol to watch anymore of it either but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He knew how scared she was. He was starting to get scared himself. Not just because of all the strange things happening but because he didn't know what to do about any of it. He did know that he'd die before letting anything hurt her. He knew that without a doubt. Another thing that was scaring him was the fact that the phone lines were down. Merle had left to go to the Greene farm hours ago and wasn't back yet. He had no way of knowing if his brother was alright or not.

They hadn't gotten a hold of Andrea either. She wasn't at work when Buck called there and by the time he dialed her cell number the phone went dead. Carol tried to call her from her own cell phone but it wouldn't work either. It was just dead. As dead as those things that were running around the streets that they had been watching.

Blue paced with him so at least he wasn't alone. Smart little fucker. He had forgotten all about Philip stopping by. "You know bat shit crazy when ya see it, dont'cha, boy? Even if ya ain't got no balls."

Blue cocked his ear and padded over to the door, his short tail swishing slowly as he sniffed at it. Daryl saw headlights hit the windows just as Blues tail went crazy and his head lifted up, waiting expectantly. Daryl hurried out onto the porch, hoping to see the Charger but he was sorely disappointed. It was Shane's jeep.

He watched as Shane jumped out and hurried towards him, still in uniform. Right behind Shane's Jeep came Rick's truck and Andrea's car. By the time Shane made it to the porch through the downpour he could hear the distinct rumble of the car, even over the rain. A few seconds later Merle pulled in. Once he knew his brother was okay he was able to think of other things. Like how the house was full of illegal guns and their police pals were about to walk inside. What the hell was everyone doing?

Shane finally made it onto the porch as everyone else rushed towards the house. He looked pale, eyes a little wider than usual. He shook water from his dark hair. "Merle told us to get our asses here. All the phones are down now." He said as he glanced behind him at Rick and Lori who were hurrying up the porch steps. Andrea and Dale were right on their heels, followed by Glen, Maggie, Hershel, Beth and Merle.

"Merle, what the hell are ya doin' havin' everybody come here?" He hissed in Merle's ear as soon as he was on the porch.

Merle ran a hand through his short hair. "The fuck you expect me to do? Let'em all die? You wouldn't believe it. That thing in the barn..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "It was the same as the thing I saw last night. It was eatin' a fuckin' cow!"

"Merle called us in. It's all true." Rick said quickly. "The thing came at Shane and he shot it."

Daryl heard the door open behind him and Andrea hurried past. He turned just in time to see her crash into Buck. Carol slipped out from behind the couple and came straight towards him. She looked a lot more calm than he expected her too. She took his hand and stood beside him.

"So, shooting it? Did it kill it?" Daryl asked.

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Four rounds to the chest didn't do a thing. You wouldn't have believed it. I still don't believe it. It was almost right on Hershel when..." Rick's voice trailed off.

"Merle put a pitchfork through the back of it's head." Shane finished for him. "Dropped it." He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around. "We need to get inside. Now."

They all filed in, gathering in the kitchen while Andrea brewed a pot of coffee. "So what now then?" Daryl asked as he drew Carol closer.

Buck put his hands on his hips and gave every one of them a once over. "We need more people. We got the fire power already, but if what happened in New York happens here then we'll need more people to handle the fire. One of them things, or more than one of them things shows up here then make sure you aim for the head."

Rick and Shane watched him carefully before either of them said anything. It was Rick that finally spoke up this time, his arm wrapped around Lori, who looked to be in shock. "We can't stay here long. They'll quarantine this place soon. Last we heard on the radios Atlanta has been quarantined and so have a few other places. One was just a few counties over. I don't know about you but I wanna be out of here before anything like that happens."

Buck stared at him, his eyes hard. "How many other people do you think came to the same conclusion? How many lights you see on in the houses on this street alone, huh? People's gonna get their asses stuck on the roads, you dumb asses. We need to stay here, least for a little while."

"What's this fire power you're talking about? How many guns to you Dixons have?" Shane asked.

"More than enough." Buck said, his lips twitched as his eyes flicked over to meet Daryl's. "I think we should all stay here tonight. Keep the doors and shit guarded. We'll know more about what's goin' on in the mornin'."

"I think we need to get the hell out of this town." Rick said firmly. "It isn't safe. We know those things are here. We already saw one."

Buck just shrugged. "You wanna risk your life, your wife and that baby of yours, that's your business boy. Me and mine ain't goin' nowhere."

Shane looked torn as Rick and Buck stared each other down but even he could see the logic in what Buck was saying. "He's right Rick. You can't be riskin' Lori and the baby on a long shot. We don't know where to go. At least here we got numbers and we got guns. I'm with Buck, man."

Rick looked at him sharply. "We'll be sitting ducks."

"Out there all we'll do is get caught in a traffic jam, man. Just think about this for a second." Shane pleaded his case.

"Rick, please." Lori whispered.

Rick glanced down at Lori and then back up to meet Buck's level gaze. He nodded causing Shane to sigh in relief. Lori visibly relaxed at his side. Hershel was the one that finally brought up the obvious once more, asking about the guns that Buck had admitted to having.

"It don't matter where the damn things came from." Merle snapped. "What matters is that we have enough to keep us alive. Why the fuck y'all looking a gift horse in the mouth. It's a good thing we gott'em. It should be left at that."

Shane and Rick shared another look but Daryl was barely paying any attention now. He was starting to notice how tense Carol was becoming as she pressed against him. He looked down and winced at how pale and scared she was starting to look. Without thinking about sticking around and discussing what the hell they were going to do he walked out of the kitchen, pulling her along with him.

"Daryl, what are you doing?" She asked as he led her towards the stairs.

"There's enough people here to figure out what the hell's goin' on. Me and you ain't gotta be in there." He said as he nearly pulled her up the stairs.

"We should be down there." She argued half heartedly.

He shook his head and didn't say anything else until their bedroom door was shut firmly. "No, we shouldn't. It's late. It's been a long fucked up day." He peeled off his shirt. "And we're goin' to bed."

"Daryl, there's a room full of people down there that need..." She began but he didn't let her finish.

"Them people down there ain't my goddamn priority. You are." He snapped as he dropped to his knees and pulled two M5s out from under the bed. He sat one down on the nightstand and the other he put between the nightstand and the bed.

"Jesus, are those..."

"These will keep anything out that don't need to be in here." He said, again not letting her finish her sentence. She was stressed out, scared and tired. He could see it in her face. That wasn't good. That wasn't good for her and it wasn't good for...

"We have to go help them figure out what we're going to do." She said suddenly, hands on her hips and frown on her face.

He needed to calm down. She was fine. The baby was fine. He just needed to convince her that the others would be okay without them for a while. "The only thing they are gonna do tonight is argue about what to do. Ain't nothin' gonna get done. I don't want you stressin' out. It ain't good, alright." He kept his voice as convincing as he could.

"Daryl, we can't do this." She whispered.

His head snapped up. "Do what?"

"You saw what's happening out there. You saw those things. Soon it's going to get worse. And we're planning on bringing a baby into this?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at her. What the hell was she talking about? Was it bad? Fuck yeah it was bad. He wasn't an idiot. But they'd be alright. Somehow they would be okay. "What are tryin' to say?" He asked after studying her face for a while. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the wall.

She finally met his eyes and he had to look away. He knew what she was trying to say. She was trying to say that they needed to end it while they still could. Fuck, he couldn't even blame her for feeling that way. This was some crazy scary shit. It was like they weren't allowed to have any peace. It was one thing after another. Like he was never suppose to have had this. Never suppose to have had her. And to make up for all the good shit that had suddenly fallen right into his lap out of nowhere, bad shit had to happen. First Jim and now dead people walking around eating people. And the baby, the baby was going to make things worse. He felt sick even thinking it but it was true. It would slow them down if they ever had to run and he had a feeling they were going to. They wouldn't be able to stay here.

But it was his. Not just his like Carol was his either. This was something that was part of who he was, growing and thriving. He'd heard it's fucking heart beating for Gods sake. Saw it living. He'd never wanted this. Ever. He could have gone the rest of his life and never ever had a damn kid and would have been fine with it. Hell, he would have been thankful for it. But now that it was there. Now that he had heard it, it was like air. He needed it. He couldn't explain this to her because he didn't understand it himself. Not at all. But it was still there.

He hadn't even realized that his head was now in his hands until he felt her fingers run through his hair. He hadn't realized that his eyes were stinging and there was a lump the size of a fucking soft ball in his throat, blocking his voice and clogging his airways. He was about two seconds away from having a complete breakdown if he didn't get his shit together right now. And he had to get his shit together because he had to be okay in case she was about to do the same thing.

He took a few deep breaths. They were going to be okay. His kid was going to be okay. If anything threatened them, whether it be one of those walking dead or the mailman. He didn't care. They were going to die. He was going to take their fucking heads off. He'd take their heads off with his own goddamn teeth if need be. Nothing was going to hurt them. Not her. Not the baby.

A few more seconds and he moved his hands and lifted his head. She was still standing in front of him, hands still in his hair. He stood up and drew her closer, feeling a little better when her arms went around his neck. "Ain't nothin' gonna happen to either one of you, alright."

She nodded, eyes wide. She must have seen something in his eyes that reassured her because she gave him a weak smile and a shrug. "If anybodies kid can survive all this crap it's yours."

He nodded, watching her eyes closely to make sure she was really okay. She still looked scared but he also saw a steely determination there that hadn't been there before. "Damn straight." He growled right before he kissed her.