into the wild.

Shane reached out and draped his arm loosely around his waist. He shook his head, "Everything will be fine. I want everything to be fine." He allowed his eyes to close briefly but opened them again. "Lori won't yell at you, and if she does, I'll take care of it. We don't need anymore added stress given the shitty situation we all have been put in, y'know?"

---

She curled into his chest allowing her eyes to close. She sighed as her eyes grew heavy, "I'll be just fine as long as you don't go anywhere, okay?" Because I love you, she added in her head.

She sighed and nodded as she touched his face then ran her fingers through his hair,"Yeah, we all need a little peace now and then," she said to him softly as she let out a deep breath. "Do you think this was always gonna happen? Or ... what could cause somethin' like this?" she asked, "Obviously a virus cause antibiotics don't work," she told him, "We tried fighting the symptoms, didn't work either - too high of'a fever - nothing worked," she told him softly. As someone in the medical professional she didn't understand it, how could it do this without even really trying?

---

"I ain't goin' no where," he said to her as he closed his eyes, "Get some sleep," he told her as he slowly began to doze off.

@ Holden Caulfield.

"I don't know, Constance." He mumbled lightly. In all honesty, he would really rather not know. He just wanted to keep pushing on--forget it was even happening around him. He remembered when it first happen, he was sure it was something that would eventually die out or even hoax. It wasn't until the incident at the hospital did the reality settle in. "I mean, I want it to go away. I want it to mutate so we are immune, but I don't know. It's not really something that is on my mind all the time..." He sighed as he closed his eyes again. He rubbed her back slightly, and huffed. "Let's get some sleep."

---

Dakota pulled the sleeping bag up to her chin as she snuggled into him more. This was nice for her to be sleeping next to him. Normally she'd bunk int he R.V., but she was sure they were getting annoyed with her. Soon enough she drifted off after enough listening to the small snores that escaped Daryl's lips.

She snuggled her body closer to his, "Alright," she said softly and within seconds she found her eyes shutting and she had fallen asleep for the first time in almost five days. Constance was well on her way to becoming one of the dead herself even if her heart was still beating.

Shane slipped out of the tent early that morning, not bothering to wake Constance. She looked extremely exhausted still, even though he was sure they had at least five hours of solid sleep. He zipped the tent back up after he got out side, looking around at his surroundings. Carol and Andrea were over by the fire pit cooking something unrecognizable for breakfast. He sat down in one of the chairs and took a deep breath as he began to think about what needed to be done that day.

---

Dakota awake the next morning to an empty spot besides her. She huffed and spoke to herself, "I thought he was taking me with him?" She pulled her jeans back on and headed out of the tent. She spotted Shane and asked him if he has seen Daryl, but he shook his head no and let her know he just awoke.

Constance woke up not long after Shane - she had felt him move and heard the tent zip shut. She wished she could have slept longer but she knew the reality, deciding she'd lay there for a while before moving. She could hear Carl talking then her tent unzip, "aunt con are you up?" he whispered and she smiled.

"Yeah kiddo I'm up, I'll be out in a minute," she said to him, "Do you mind gettin' be bottle of water? I'll take you down the water so you can wash up if you do," she said to him smiling.

"We can go swimming?!" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah thats right," she said to him with a smile as she laid on her pillow still extremely tired but felt better than before.

Shane watched as Carl made his way over to Constance's tent. He knew how much Constance cared for the little boy, and he did too. He was happy that they were able to be there for Lori and Carol, he knew they needed them now more than ever.

---

Dakota sat around the low embers of the fire, holding her head up with her hands under her chin. Why would Daryl go out with out her? She huffed, kicking a rock around with her foot.

She heard him run over and grab a water bottle and she sat up in her tent stretching a bit before smiling when he came back,"Thank you, want some?" she asked and he shook his head as he climbed into the tent sitting with her. She opened it and drank the water, she knew taking in as much as possible was necessary - the last thing she needed to do was be dehydrated.

When she came out of the tent with Carl she had her bag with a towel and new clothes, "We're goin' down to the water, gonna wash up a bit," she told Shane as she walked over.

@ Holden Caulfield.

Shane looked up at her as she stopped at his chair. He smiled at her and nodded, "Ya'll need me to come with you or do you got it?" He felt like he needed to wash up, but didn't know if it was too soon for him to intrude on her business. He looked around, everything seemed to be taken care of and everyone was beginning to stir awake.

---

Dakota decided to wander out a little bit, grabbing her gun and attaching her knife to her side. She mentioned to a few people that she would be back in a little while. She ventured out into the woods, keeping her eyes open for Walkers and trying to find Daryl.

"We'd like the company," she said to him smiling a little, "Sides you got dirt on your face," she said to him teasingly. Constance wasn't gonna strip down, she had her bikini on under her clothes - she figured she could wash up that way. She would use the bucket her things were in to rinse her hair so she didn't pollute the water or anything but body washing was fair game.

{Daryl is out huntin' so not sure what to post for'em}

@ Holden Caulfield.

Shane smiled at her and nodded. He walked over to his tent and grabbed some fresh clothes and a towel and trotted over to meet them. "Let's get going then," he smiled as he began to lead them down to the water. He sighed happily at the sight of the water, although he wished they had warm, running water. But having water was better than having no water at all.

---

Dakota walked for a while before finally spotting him. She walked very quietly and careful so she didn't scare off what he was tracking. She watched him rear back his bow before firing it. She saw a small smirk appear on his lips, meaning he had gotten whatever it was. "Hey!" She whispered as she got closer. He whipped around, welding a knife at her. She raised her hands, "Fuck, asshole, it's just me."

Constance walked down to the water and stripped her outter layer of clothes off leaving her in a bikini then walked into the water letting her hair out of the braid. "After this I gotta help with laundry," she said to Carl who whined, "No buts about it mister, you should help hang them up that way you get your chores in," she said to him seriously, "Everyone has a job, Carl,"

Everything about this world was so abrasive and harsh she had to protect him but she knew preparing him would be best for him in the long run - he couldn't stay ignorant and naive forever. He needed to learn to defend himself, but she knew his mother would take him from her before he learned how to do anything like that. Constance had a childish hate for Lori - it had gotten better over time but she didn't get along with her a lot of the time. Lori and Rick had gotten married when she was almost eleven, and it was like it he never came around anymore; so she blamed it where she saw fit. When their parents died in an accident when she was sixteen she had to come live with them, and it helped but she still started arguments with her to piss her off - then after the incident when she was nineteen - things got worse.

---

"The hell you doin' out here - coulda killed you!" he said looking at her and shakin his head, "was gonna wake you up but the deer was in our camp - gotta thank that lil girl she left'er dinner out was eatin' it, so I went after it," he told her.

Shane stripped his shirt off, leaving him in a pair of athletic shorts as he made his way into the water. He smirked as he heard Constance scold Carol. But it was true, everyone needed to have a job and have their place. No matter what state the world was in, things would become chaos among the few living if there wasn't order. He allowed his eyes to gaze over her body briefly, before he began to splash water on his face in an effort to clean it off. He rinsed his hair thoroughly, feeling the dirt and grit began to fall out of it. He looked over at Carl, "Carl, havin' a job and doin' your part to help out is what is goin' to make you a man, y'know that right?"

---

She smirked at him trying to hide her humiliation. He could have seriously hurt her. She was just so curious about where he had trotted off to. She often felt lost when Daryl left her by herself. She still didn't feel like she quite fit in with the rest of the group, so she tended to stick as closely to Daryl as possible. "Still coulda woke me up," she mumbled. "What happened to I don't want you around them people."

"Makes you part of a team, bein' part of a team is important especially now," she said to him, "How do you think it worked while I was at the hospital, I handed out jobs then did my own work - makin' sure everyone was busy, being part of a team means you're growin' up even if ya don't want to," she said to him as she wet her hair and sighed, "Man this water is so cold but it feels good to wash the grit off," she said as he closed her eyes.

"Well them people weren't in the tent were they? And I wasn't gone long just got the that deer," he said pointing at it then walked over and ripped the arrows out of it, "Gonna eat good today, should be able to have some for lunch,"

@ Holden Caulfield.

Shane smiled and nodded along with her speech to Carl as he began to wash his body off. "It is cold, but somehow pretty damn refreshing. I think taking this cold ass baths give me more energy than the four hours of sleep I get every night." Shane dipped himself down in the water and then emerged with a big exhaled breath and a small smile on his face.

---

Dakota scrunched her nose at him, "Well no, they weren't in the tent, and neither were you. I just get scared that you are gonna run off someday.." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she watched him rip the bow from the animal.

Daryl looked at her and shook his head,"I ain't leavin' without you or my brother so don't worry bout it," he said to her shaking his head, he couldn't believe she thought he would ever leave her like that. Not around these people who would surely ditch her on the side of the road before helping her if she needed it.

---

Constance smiled a little as she grabbed her body wash and used her rag to clean her self, "Come on carl get clean you stink," she teased him smiling al ittle and he whined dramatically.

Shane laughed and splashed Carl with some water, "Come on now, boy. What is Sophia gonna think if you are stinkin' round her all the time?" He smiled over at Constance and winked at her as he washed his chest off. "Ain't that right, Constance? Girl don't like stinky boys."

---

Dakota licked her bottom lip and raised her eyebrow. She knew for a fact there was one way he would leave her behind. Dakota and Merle didn't get along very well--Merle and anyone else didn't get along very well to begin with. She huffed and kicked a twig on the ground, deciding not to push the issue with him. "A'right, Dixon. I got it."

"Thats right, stinky boys are no fun to hang around and besides, Sophia manages to stay clean; how do you get so dang dirty all the time," she said and smiled a little shaking her head a little. She was pretty sure Shane had no idea the effect he had on her.

---

He nodded,"Come on lets get this damn deer back to camp so we can gut the thing," he said to her, "the two sisters can use the guts for fishin' bait," he said to her as he smiled a little.

Shane laughed as he made his way out of the water, grabbing his towel to dry off. He wrapped the towel around himself, shivering briefly from how cold he had become. He sighed as he watch Constance still interacting with Carl. Should he make a move towards progressing his relationship with her? What else did he have to lose? He ran a hand through his damp hair as he went and ducked behind a small boulder to change his clothes.

---

Dakota nodded and helped him grab the deer. She bit her lip as they walked, trying to keep herself from asking the question that was burning the tip of her tongue. Deciding to be brave, she exhaled a breath. "Hey, Daryl?" She asked. "I really gotta ask you something... Do have feelings for me? Because I sure as hell have feelings for you... And I don't know what it is we are doing anymore and if you do thats great and if you don't thats fine--ah shit, never mind." She said as she clamped her moth shut to stop herself from rambling.

He looked at her, "I'ma tell ya something, Kota," he said to her as he grabbed her wrist in his hand, "I ain't good with this feelin' shit - don't mean they aint there just dont know what to do with'em - you're here, and I want you here," he said to her his eyes as soft as they were gonna get. Daryl hated this feelin shit, it always got him into trouble.

---

She smiled a little," alright, you're clean now go get dressed, "Don't wanna be late for breakfast," she said to him smiling a little as she looked at her nephew run out of the water. Constance sighed and closed her eyes as she sunk into the water dipping her head under then coming up - she used her rag to wash her face.

She shook her head trying to knock the feelings off, ever time she felt even a little at peace she remembered her brother; and how he looked when she'd left him in that hospital bed.