FIFTY-TWO – COLD STORAGE

Disclaimer: Do not own The Walking Dead or any associated characters. Only what happens with them in my head.

Warnings: Language

Authors Note: Wow, has it really been over a year since I made a post to this? Seems so. Well, hopefully there's still some readers out there and I'm hoping to get back into writing this. I've got so many ideas for this, I'm not particularly ready to end it yet. Well, here it is, hope you all enjoy it.

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Her dark eyes turned toward the sky as she shivered. Rosie really wished that she had a thicker and warmer coat for the coming winter. Although, judging by the sky the winter wasn't coming, it was already here. A sigh fell through her lips, fogging the air in front of her. The ground had hardened over the night, patched with white frost everywhere and while it hadn't yet begun to snow, Rosie was sure it wasn't far away now.

She tucked her gloved hands into the pockets of her worn out jacket and continued her stroll along the top of the wall. The sun was high in the sky and if she had to guess it was probably close to 4PM. Great, another hour or so and it'll be dark again, she thought and grimaced. It was even worse at night, the cold truly set in and without the thick blankets and heaters of the old days there was next to nothing to keep out the chill. She wondered if Conrad would allow her to warm his bed again, but then the memories of their semi break-up played through her head and she decided it might not be worth it.

After all, she still had a bit of trouble controlling that flirty side of herself and was certain that until she was ready to settle down, Conrad wouldn't want her. She let another sigh slip through her lips, frowning darkly at the fog that formed in front of her. It'd been quiet in Terminus since Daryl, Michonne and Carl's arrival back almost a week ago. The most exciting thing that had happened was when Gavin had been goofing off with Tara on the wall and had taken a fall off of it. Thankfully the guard hadn't damaged anything other than his pride and his shot at the pretty blonde.

Another shiver went through the girl as she hunkered down, attempting to warm herself by walking along the rim of the wall, eyes scanning the desolate earth on the other side while every now and again turning toward the city to watch small wisps of smoke furl out of chimneys as people sparingly burned wood to keep themselves warm.

There had been so much worry about Daryl's father and his group tracing the bowman back to Terminus but it had slowly begun to die away. She assumed that Daryl still worried because he clung a little closer to Beth than he had in quite some time. Of course, Rosie didn't know all of the horrid things that Daryl's father had done, so she didn't know the reason why the male was so worried.

She pulled her hand from inside her jacket to wipe at her nose, regretting it instantly since her fingers prickled at the sudden cold and her nose ached from being so numb. Wondering when the last time someone had gotten frostbite in Georgia was, Rosie allowed herself to get lost in thought as she walked slowly along. Most of the time her attention was focused out toward the other side of the wall, even if she weren't really seeing it, so when the sound of someone clearing their throat echoed behind her Rosie jumped and whirled toward the sound.

Conrad smiled tenderly at her, brows arched slightly. "Thought you were paying attention." He stated and stepped closer to her. "Here.. ain't much but figured it would help." The Captain held out a black thermal mug toward her.

Rosie reached for it, ignoring the cold biting at her fingers, then twisted the cap and watched the steam rise from inside. "Thank you. And I was paying attention, by the way."

"Right, that's why you jumped a mile."

"Did not. I'd just gotten used to the quiet." She countered, hoping it would defend her actions, though knew that her excuse fell a little flat. Conrad simply smiled but said nothing in return. Both were silent for a few moments, looking in toward the city and it's silence.

"I wouldn't," Conrad said as Rosie raised the mug to her lips. Without looking at her he knew that her brows had shot up in confusion and chuckled lightly. "Rick and about twenty others have burned their mouths already, I'd give it a few minutes in the air before you try."

"Ah, well, in that case.." she let the sentence drop off as she unscrewed the cap on the mug and allowed it to 'breathe' in the cooler air in the hopes that it would cool off just enough to drink. With the lid off she was able to look inside and smiled at the realization that his 'not much' was soup of some sort. Enough to warm and fill her all at once. Bless that man, she thought while looking over at him.

Conrad had his hands shoved deep into the Carhart jacket that he'd picked up shortly after they'd started Terminus. "It's quiet out here," he murmured, "peaceful, even."

"Mm." Rosie hummed in response, her gaze focused more on him than on the city he was watching. It was almost like watching a God admire something he created. He was proud of what he'd accomplished here, proud that their city was still kicking after everything that had hit over the last couple of years. She had to admit that she was surprised most of the time. It didn't seem as if the place would make it through everything it had, especially when most other civilizations had failed.

Conrad turned his gaze onto the pretty red-head and smiled gently after what seemed like forever in silence. He nodded toward the mug in her hand, "should be okay now."

For that split second she'd forgotten about the slowly chilling thermos in her hands in light of the little smile that had formed on his lips. "Thanks again." Her brown eyes danced over his features, though still didn't take a drink with the worry it would burn her.

"You've been on the wall all day. Didn't see you at lunch or dinner, figured you might have been hungry."

She nodded softly in thought before shaking her head. "Hadn't really thought too much about getting out of here today." Her slender shoulders rose and fell in a quick shrug as her attention focused out on the other side of the wall.

Conrad glanced toward the dark and desolate land for only a moment before shifting his gaze back onto the red-head. "What's goin' on, Rose?"

"Nothing at all, just been lost in my own head. You know how that goes." She said with a quick smile, attempting to brush off his concerned expression. Her eyes didn't linger long on his face, but instead quickly turned to the steaming mug in her hands. Without another word she took a drink from it and instantly wished she'd waited a few moments longer as the sudden heat scalded her tongue and the roof of her mouth.

"Rose." Her brown eyes shifted upward, locking onto those pale blue orbs. "What's going on?" Conrad asked again, his voice softer this time.

"Like I said, been lost in my own head." She repeated, forcing a smile. Rosie didn't realize until he shifted his weight just how close he'd moved toward her, hell she hadn't even noticed he'd moved.

Conrad took a step back and let out a nearly inaudible sigh. "Right." He returned her forced smile and glanced out toward the empty fields for a split second before back to her. "Enjoy the soup.. and, uh, don't spend all night out here, okay?" He turned to leave and Rosie had a moment of indecision.

In her hesitance he'd managed to take several steps away. She battled with herself for a moment or two longer, watching him grow further away, before capping the thermos and darting after him. Conrad had just reached the platform to descend the ladder when Rosie reached him. "Conrad, wait."

He halted and turned toward the petite red-head just as she placed the mug down on a post. Before he had the chance to react she threw her arms around his shoulders and leaned in close to press her lips to his, which took a bit of effort as she had to pull him down to her. The tall male stood frozen for a beat, then slipped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer at the same moment that his lips responded to the pressure of hers.

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Carl sighed silently as he shifted the hat on his head to block out the early morning sunlight, which was difficult since he was looking up toward the wall that Michonne stood on. She was bundled in a leather jacket, katana strapped to her back and a handgun holstered on her hip. He, like several others, was still worried about the mysterious crew they'd run across finding Terminus. And he, like several others, had tried to talk to Daryl about the guy that was leading them. Daryl, unfortunately, seemed to have said all he was going to say to a large crowd about his father.

He adjusted his hat again when he looked down and winced at the feeling of his bandage tugging away from his ear. He had several bandages on him at this point, though no one was truly worried about there being too much damage. Carl knew he would have a scar on his stomach and wasn't worried, his ear was now disfigured as well, but that didn't bother him either. War wounds, battle scars, survival marks; All words he'd heard referring to things like this since he was young. His grandfather had been in a war and his father had been an officer, he'd heard it all.

"Carl!" He turned quickly at the sound of a girls voice and a wide smile pulled at his lips at the sight of Anna, blonde hair flowing behind her as she ran toward him. "How are you doin'?" She asked when she finally caught up with him.

"Good, good. How are you?"

Her shoulders shrugged up quickly, "not bad I guess. Not much work to do in the fields today, so we've got a little break. I was going to go see my sister, but.. I thought I'd walk with you instead. If that's okay?"

"Sure, I wasn't going anywhere really but I'd like to walk with you." He answered while sticking his hands in his pockets uncertainly. Carl liked Anna but he'd never really spent much time around girls to be completely confident. Anna on the other hand seemed to be perfectly at ease in his company and if she didn't notice his slight awkwardness, at least pretended not to.

"So, how's everything healing?"

Now it was Carl's turn to shrug his shoulders. "Not too bad, I guess. Sammi says the only lasting damage will be to my ear."

Her nose wrinkled up a little at the mention. "I saw what a mess it was when you guys got back, think it'll be bad?"

"Can't be any worse than some of the other stuff we've seen, you know? I mean, Beth and Maggie's dad had to have his foot amputated, Daryl's brother had his hand taken off. I've seen worse than a mangled ear."

Anna fell silent for a few moments as they walked, chewing at her lower lip in thought. "Is it true?"

"What?"

"I've heard a couple people talking, saying it's Daryl's dad that shot you.. and that he might be coming this way."

Carl stopped walking now and turned to face her, brows furrowed. "Who told you that?"

"Just talk I heard." She watched him curiously now while awaiting an answer.

"I don't think he wanted a lot of people to know about that.. can you not tell anyone?" While he didn't confirm it, Carl didn't outright deny the validity of her statement either.

Anna nodded quickly as she looked at him. "I'll keep it to myself. I," she hesitated for a moment or two while combing her fingers back through her hair, "I just wanted to know that we were going to be okay here."

The young male frowned in thought before reaching out a hand to gently take hold of hers. "I don't know. I mean, I can't promise it for sure, but I can promise that if we're not I'll protect you." A tender sort of smile pulled at his lips. "Besides, I don't think we really have to worry all that much. We've got them outnumbered four to one here."

–––

"You know that eventually you're going to have to talk to me about it." Beth said as she gently rocked DJ to lull him back to sleep.

Daryl sighed while patting Marcus on the back, "I told ya I don't wanna talk about it at all."

"And bottling it up isn't the way to go."

"I ain't bottlin' nothin' up. I jus' don't wanna talk 'bout my ol' man."

"Well, you need to do something besides pace the house and snap at people. It's obviously bothering you."

"It ain't either." Daryl snapped, the harshness in his tone enough to cause Marcus to jerk awake. Another sigh fell from his lips as he settled himself down and began patting the baby again.

Beth's brows rose as if to say 'oh, really?'. "If you're not going to talk to me, at least talk to Rick or Michonne. Hell, talk to Rosie for all I care, but don't sit here and let it eat at you. You're worried and anyone who spends more than five minutes with you can tell. You've got to talk to someone."

He fell silent as he got the baby to fall asleep, holding onto him a few minutes longer than really needed before getting him settled into the crib for bed. Beth said nothing as she laid DJ beside his brother, then stepped out of the room. After dropping down onto the couch she stared out the window in silence, letting her husband know that unless he wanted to continue it, the subject was dropped.

Daryl stood in the doorway of their bedroom for almost five minutes, staring at the crib. He turned quietly and walked toward the couch. "What am I s'posed to say?" He asked, resting his hands on the back of the couch beside her head. "That bein' near him made me feel like I was six years old again? That his group looks like the worst sort'a motorcycle gang in the world and the thought of them comin' here near you and the boys scares the shit outta me? What do you want me to say?"

"Anything, as long as you talk to me, get it out. Do you really think he'll make it here?"

Daryl was quiet for several moments in thought. If he wanted nothing more than to soothe himself and Beth he would say 'no', that there was no way in hell his father would be able to track them here. If he were honest with himself, then he knew the answer was that his father could easily track them down. It wouldn't be that hard, really. Especially if he'd already seen the signs that pointed to Terminus, they were everywhere. It was possible that the crew had already been on the way here before they'd even run across Daryl, Michonne and Carl.

"Daryl?"

He jumped, having gotten so lost in his thoughts and worries that he hadn't realized Beth had stood and come around the back of the couch. She placed a hand on up arm as she stepped closer to him. He reached out and placed his hand over hers before clutching it loosely. "Yeah.. I do."

She nodded, though didn't push him for more as she wrapped her free arm around his waist and rested her head on his back.

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