Summary: When Daryl defends Charlene from his father's unwanted advances, they are pulled into a painful misunderstanding with the law and Will Dixon. Daryl/OC, Rick/Beth. AU at first but then moves into ZA. Co – Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Rated M for violence, language and sexual scenes.

Special Thanks To: Daydreamer123, Quest, Guest, WalkingPotterGirl14, Kima Wolfwood, jeanf and missy7293. You people rock. Special thanks VAWALKER who was kind enough to do a book cover.

Carrying On

Chapter 19

They stood there a moment, taking it all in. It was almost as if after everything they had all been through, everything they had seen, that it still did not prepare them for the brutality that seemed so necessary these days. People couldn't be trusted any more. And the reality of it was, it was kill or be killed.

Charlie looked at Daryl who was bruised and beaten. She sighed, dropping her gun. She found him. They grabbed each other then, pulling each other into long arms. "Daryl," she whispered, gripping his face tightly.

She buried her face into his neck, her hands touching the stubble on his cheeks. He looked back at her with emotional eyes as he lowered his head and kissed her.

"Are there more?" Rick said, interrupting the reunion. But if they were going to make it to Terminus they needed to survive long enough.

"No, that was all of them," Daryl said grimly as he let Charlie go. He had found her. She was safe and that was all that mattered. But he also knew that the others needed them too. "Where were ya all headed?" he asked Rick.

"We were following the signs. We thought that the others were likely to have seen them," Beth told Daryl, smiling at him. "It's really good to see your face, Daryl," she told the man. Daryl walked over to her and wrapped his arms around the small girl.

"I'm sorry about Hershel," he whispered sorrowfully as he put her back down.

Beth watched him with a soft smile on her face. She was so happy for Charlie and Daryl finding each other. But she was also happy because it gave them hope. Hope that they would find some of their other friends to. "It's over now," she told him.

They began to head back to the woods for cover, stopping when they got to the tracks.

"Rick, you need this," Beth told the man, handing him a cloth from her pack. She allowed the rain to soak it before handing it over to him. Rick took it with a quick thanks as he started washing away the blood from his face. Beth sat down next to him, watching her friends talk.

Just for a minute, she relaxed.

Daryl was happy to have Charlie back. But the thought of heading for Terminus made his stomach turn. He had heard from the men he had been with a few times that it was only death that awaited him if he headed that direction. But at the same time if their people were there...if even one might still be alive, then they had to go there. There was no turning and surviving in another place. Hell, they didn't even have another place.

"Daryl?" Charlie asked quietly as she looked at the man who she had been separated from since the fall of the prison. He didn't say anything. He simply walked over and kissed her hand and held her close.

"There, I can see it through the trees," Beth said, crouching down next to Rick. "What are we going to do?" Could they just walk right in?

"I don't trust this place," Daryl said quietly from Beth's other side. Charlie rocked Judith. She was happy that all of them had survived but hoped Maggie, Glenn, Sasha and Tyresse were okay to.

Daryl wondered where Carol was. Was she alright? He had been a little hurt by the fact that she had taken matters into her own hands, killing Karen and David in an attempt to stop the flu from spreading. But at the same time he understood her need for survival. It was a need they should all be feeling at this point.

"We should bury the weapons in the ground. Then head in through the back, take them by surprise. That way if they are trying to hide something we will find it," Rick said, grabbing the pack of guns and climbing back up off of the forest floor.

Charlie nods her head, glancing down at Judith. She didn't know whether to trust the plan or not, but for now this was the best shot they got.

Daryl squeezes her shoulder and she smiles at him, and then suddenly thought back to what she found out in the house. How the hell she would tell him.

Seriously. How the fuck would she tell him?

Either way, right now wasn't it. They needed to get inside and see what the hell this Terminus place was.

They cautiously entered the area, and saw that something was wrong the moment they stepped in. There were no children laughing, and there was a smell that made all of them gag in disgust and nausea.

Charlie felt her face turn pale, and before she could stop herself, she threw up in the bushes, her chest heaving, while her stomach rolled heavily. Beth helped her, her eyebrows furrowed. Something was going on.

"Shit, Charlie," Daryl said worriedly. He held her hair away from her face as she was sick, trying to get out whatever remains were in her stomach. When she pulled back and wiped her mouth, they saw something on the back of the fence.

Human remains...oh, fucking hell...that wasn't animal meat.

It was human.

"We need to go! Now!" Rick urged. They began letting people out of the train carts and guiding them towards the hole in the fence. Escaping from the hell hole that was this fucking place.

Charlie leaned against Daryl for a minute. She was starting to feel weird, and took a deep breath to calm herself, before going to help free the hostages. As they did, they found a few pieces of supplies. Better than nothing.

Thank God, Carl was safe with Judith in the little cabin that they had found two miles back.

"What the hell are you doing?!" a woman screamed as she charged at them. Charlie stabbed her in the throat while Beth stabbed her in the side of the head.

She fell onto the ground dead, and Charlie attempted to run but she saw black spots appear in her line of vision. She fell onto the ground, suddenly winded, and then felt two hands pick her up. She knew those hands. Daryl.

"What the hell is wrong with ya?" he asks her quickly before shaking his head. "C'mon." She nods her head and then follows after him, shooting at any people that came their way.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and Daryl covered Charlie from the debris flying through the air. When he looked back up, he saw the whole fucking Terminus was on fire. Someone had blown it up. Jesus Christ...

Daryl shakes his head and then brings Charlie to the fence, helping her over once the hole in the fence was sealed. After she was over there, he climbed it himself and then landed next to her, grabbing her hand. They run towards the forest, hearing others call out to them.

Once they reach the forest, Charlie practically collapses against a tree, holding her head. Daryl looks at her with a furrowed brow. "What's wrong?" He asks her quietly. She shakes her head. "Char, ya gotta tell me what's goin' on." There was a snappish tone to his voice, and she felt bed for not speaking.

"Daryl...I…"

The sound of leaves crunching under someone's feet causes everyone to look up, only to see it was Carol. She looked like she was in some sort of camouflage, and she had a gun in her hands. But she smiled all the same.

Daryl pulls back from Charlie, and then instantly runs towards Carol, taking her in a tight bear hug. Charlie smiles at the reunion softly, and then glances down at the ground. Good, she would have a bit more time to think of what to say to him.

One by one they all went up and hugged Carol, and Rick realized she was the one who exploded Terminus before they could all die. Because of that, everyone seemed to forgive her and smiled. They were alive, and that's what mattered.

When they got back to the cabin, it was quiet and serene, completely opposite to how it was a little while earlier. Finally, a place where Charlie could rest her head and her stomach. Shit.

She knew she had to tell Daryl that she was pregnant. Not to mention telling the others too. She over to where they were, rubbing her stomach absentmindedly.

"I need to talk to you, Daryl," Charlie said quietly. Daryl nodded as he followed after her to where no one else was. When she stopped she turned around, a nervous look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked worried for her.

"I'm pregnant. Daryl. I'm three months pregnant with your baby." Charlie said quietly.

Daryl stared at her in shock.

"Yer...pregnant?" He asks quietly, his voice trailed out. She could hear the shock in his time, and she didn't blame it one bit. She hasn't been expecting this. No one had. They were all just trying to get by and now this happened.

At the worst time.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, tears suddenly breaking out in her eyes. Daryl looks at her with confusion before cupping her face in his hands.

"Why the hell are ya cryin'?" He asks quietly. She sniffles.

"I brought this on us and now we're not even somewhere safe and-"

"Charlie, that don't matter."

"It kinda does, Daryl. I can't just have a baby out on the forest floor." He sighs.

"That ain't what I meant. I meant that it don't matter to me what we did. We did what we did because we wanted to, and this is what happened. I'm fuckin' terrified...but I ain't gonna throw ya away."

"You aren't...you aren't mad?" Charlie asked quietly. Daryl shook his head and then kissed her tenderly. When he pulled away held her tightly to him, and she hugged him back.

"No, I ain't mad Char, but fuck, sweetheart we gotta tell the others and let them know. They're family," Daryl said gently. Charlie nodded quietly. They interlaced their hands, and walked back into the cabin where the others were preparing dinner.

"We have something to tell you," Charlie said softly, causing everyone to look up then at her and Daryl.

"What is it?" Carol asked concerned.

"Are you two ok?" Beth asked, concerned for her two best friends as Rick held her hand. But Beth already knew. She didn't even think Charlie remembered telling her because of what happened that day, but she knew.

"We're havin' a baby."

Everyone looked shocked at the news, but one by one they started to give into the idea, and then a smile appeared over their faces. "Really?" Carol asks.

Charlie nods. "I found out while I was on the road," she says softly. "I didn't know how to tell everyone but...I guess his is it."

Daryl rubs her back, feeling how nervous she was, before glancing at Rick. He could tell he was two faced with this, because he knew what could happen to a pregnant woman in this world.

But Daryl would never let that happen. Ever. As long as he could control it, he would never let Charlie die like that. It wasn't going to happen, no matter what.

"I'm happy for you two," Rick says quietly. "I just hope you know the risks of what could happen with this."

"We both do, Rick. Just want y'all to support us," Daryl said quietly. Rick walked over and embraced him tightly.

"You have mine and Beth's support, brother," Rick promised. Daryl smiled then and he hugged Charlie, as did the others. Carol came forward and hugged then both.

They hugged her back and shook hands with Tyreese, who smiled at them. When he pulled back he asked if they had seen Sasha.

"We didn't see her. I'm sorry, Ty," Daryl said sadly. He nodded as they heard voices outside the cabin.

They hurried out to see Sasha and Bob with Glenn, a dark haired woman, and three other people.

Maggie wasn't with them.

"Where's my sister? And who is this?" Beth asked sharply, as she spotted the girl in pigtails.

"You were with the Governor!" Rick snarled angrily.

"What?" Beth asks with a sharp tone. "Who?"

"Her." He gestures at the brown-haired woman, and Beth glares angrily. That meant she had a part in her father's death.

"Look, we got out of Terminus just like the rest of you," the woman states calmly. "We've been hurt too."

"You're part of the reason my father is dead!" she snaps at her before turning to Glenn. "Where's Maggie? Where is she?"

"She was taken."

"Taken? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means she was taken," Glenn snaps at her.

"Taken where?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW, BETH! All I know is that Maggie got taken away in a car with a white cross on the back of it! That's all I fucking damn well know!" Glenn snapped harshly.

"Well how did you all get separated? Where were you staying?" Beth demanded angrily as she glared at her brother-in-law with hard blue eyes.

"At an abandoned motel," Glenn said annoyed.

Beth looked like she wanted to strangle him, but suddenly they saw a truck driving past...with the very same cross on the back of the car.

"We'll follow them!" Rick said quickly.

"We don't have a car!" Beth yells.

"There was one not that far we can Hotwire!" Tyreese states. "C'mon!"

They all nod and follow him, desperate to follow the car.

Once they were in the truck and on the route to where the tracks led them, Charlie was wishing anxiously by the window to get there. She didn't know who the hell these people were. And she was nervous.

She fucking hated being nervous.

"Ya doin' okay?" Daryl asks her quietly. She nods her head.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine...just nervous, ya know?"

He nods before glancing outside, and she had a feeling she knew why. He didn't know what to do either.

They had barely been really together for a few weeks when the prison got torn down, and now she was pregnant with his kid. They had no clue what the fuck to do.

Neither had never mentioned ever having kids, and now they were here. What the fuck were they going to do?

None the less, he loved her and she loved him, they were going to get through this and love their baby with all of their hearts. Discreetly she takes his hand and squeezes it, before they started driving into the city of Atlanta.

They saw the truck stop outside a hospital called Grady Memorial Hospital. Rick narrowed his eyes then.

He had been here when he'd been shot.

"We'll sneak in through the back, then get Maggie," Rick instructed. Everyone nodded and followed after him, while Tyreese, Carl and Judith went to an abandoned house to be safe.

They entered and Tara sighed.

"Look she's dead, ok?"

Beth glares at Tara's voice and then suddenly pushes her away, hard that the woman falls to the ground. "Fuck you!" she snaps at her.

Rick pulls her back, surprised she had cursed and looks at her quietly with a stern expression. They couldn't cause more drama than they needed. So Beth just glares and turns away. Rick turns to Tara.

"You're lucky we didn't kick you out when we should have for being involved with the Governor. You may think she is but we won't until we see it ourselves, so shut the hell up."

Tara glares as Charlie pulls out her gun, looking around a corner from inside the hospital. Once she saw it was clear, she nods to the others, and they follow quietly, going inside as quiet as mice.

Apologies for the delay but I'm back and WalkingPotterGirl14 has offered to co - write this with me :)