And that's a wrap =) Much thanks to those of you that stuck with this and didn't give me seven kinds of hell for it. It's appreciated! More than you probably know.

Epilogue

The week before they were due to take their spoils and head back to the motel, the town was attacked by a rogue group. The towns numbers were cut down but not as much as it would have been had Daryl and the others not been there. They were far more skilled than they had been when Rick's group had first arrived. Rick made it his mission to convince them that if they didn't learn to fight then it was just a matter of time before they lost everything, including their lives. So they had listened and the casualties hadn't been as many as there would have been. The loss of anyone at all was still a blow. The world didn't have enough good people in it anymore and it was a shame to see any of them fall.

Luke had asked them several times if they were sure they wanted to go. Most of the people felt more secure with them there but it was time to head out. It took them a week to help the town repair the damage and take care of the bodies. About thirty people had died in the scuffle.

Now it was back to their own little slice of what was left of the world. They had made trips back and forth, making sure that no one else had decided to stake claim to what was theirs. The men worked on reinforcing the wall with more materials they had gotten from Luke and after a couple of days, they had power.

Carol worried that they would be spotted by others and the same thing that had happened to Luke's group would happen to her own but they were careful and vigilant. Daryl convinced her that it would take a hell of a group to take them down and the more she thought about it, the more she believed it. They had been through so much already. They had lost so much. They were ready for anything, living or dead. All them were prepared to do what they had to do.

They were finally resettled and she was gazing out the window when she heard him come out of the bathroom, the smell of steam and soap filling her nose and misting the window she was gazing out of. She smiled to herself but she didn't turn around.

"Tomorrow I'll start bustin' out walls," he said gruffly.

Her eyes stayed on the fire that burned in the center of the yard. "Maybe we can wait for that. What difference will a few days make?" she asked.

"None I don't guess. I want them close though."

She finally turned around, her eyes raking over him as he redid his belt. "So do I. Even though it'll be odd having a kid on the other side of our wall. Are we planning on hiding out in here all night or do you think we should go out there with the others?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed and shoved his feet into his boots. The corner of his mouth turned up. "That's suppose to be the plan. Don't much feel like hiding since we're back. Ain't gotta look at a bunch of strangers."

She grinned. "You know, the place wasn't that crowded. After a few days there really wasn't a stranger there. You just didn't bother meeting everyone."

He stood up, shoving his arms into a shirt but before he could button it she stopped him. He looked at her from under his brow, schooling his features. "No point. I knew we weren't gonna be staying."

"Do you really think we'll be able to stay here?" She asked, needing to hear his reasoning one more time.

He pushed his wet hair out of his face and nodded. "This ain't like the prison. It ain't like Luke's place either. Nobody knows about it. Unless somebody stumbles on it then we don't have to worry about it. Luke and them advertise that place. They wanna help more people survive. We're just trying to keep ourselves alive out here. It's secure. We never let our guard down, we're armed and we're skilled. Hell, one of us can take out a town as big as Luke's, what the fuck chance does anybody have against us?"

She grinned. "I got lucky at Terminus. That doesn't mean anything."

He finally wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "We got lucky at Terminus because of you."

"We all look out for each other. If it was anyone else out there, you, Rick, Glenn, you would have done the same thing."

"And that's exactly why we'll make this work," he said, his hands sliding down.

She nodded, hoping he was right. She felt like he was. This was a record. They hadn't lost anyone since Maggie. They were all a much tighter unit than they had been at the prison. As their numbers dwindled, they became more and more desperate to keep each other alive. They all worked together like a well oiled machine. Even Daryl and Abe had set aside their differences.

They walked towards the fire and the sounds of the rest of the group. No heavy weight seemed to hang over them now. Everyone was able to breath. Despite the fact that they had electricity, they weren't really using it unless they had to. They had all adapted well and didn't use it if they didn't need too. Judith spotted them coming and squirmed out of Rick's arms, running as fast as her little legs would carry her. Daryl scooped her up, grinning.

Carol looked up in time to see Lydon and Piper moving away from each other. She wasn't naive enough to believe that the two of them were totally innocent but neither one of them, not even Piper, would risk Daryl's wrath. Carol sat down next to Lydon on one of the driftwood logs they had dragged in from the beach, leaning her shoulder into his and smiling. He smiled back, glanced at Daryl and then rolled his eyes.

Daryl settled down on the ground, his back leaning against the log between Carol's knees with Judith babbling excited to him about fish. Everyone was in good spirits, and for good reason. They were finally home. There was no animosity between any of them, the sky was clear and the full moon overhead was bright. She felt hopeful for the future but deep down she worried that she was setting herself up for a fall. It was dangerous to get your hopes up too high. It was just hard not to feel optimistic with the smiles and easy conversation that filled the night.

Judith finally abandoned Daryl, running to Tyreese to talk more about her news that she caught a fish. Daryl settled further between her legs and leaned his head back. "Stop it," he muttered.

She looked down. "Stop what?"

He shook his head and sighed but didn't say anything for a long time. They sat there, both of them silent while the rest of the group talked and laughed amongst themselves.

~H~

Eventually the crowd started to disperse but Daryl stayed where he was. Carol was chatting with Lydon but her fingertips were massaging the tense muscles in his neck absently. Nobody paid them any mind anymore. At first it had been strange knowing that the rest of them knew but he got over that, thanks to Piper and her big loud Merle mouth.

Piper went off with Rosita, since Daryl didn't trust the girl as far as he could throw her. Rosita was good about keeping an eye on her though so he didn't have to worry about her sneaking off to meet Lydon anywhere. Daryl hadn't caught them messing around in a long time so that was a good thing. Maybe they finally learned that if he caught them too many times then Lydon wasn't going to be as pretty as he was now. Or that was what they thought anyway. He wouldn't really hurt the kid. For one, he knew how much the boy meant to Carol and two, he wasn't a bad kid. Hell, sometimes Daryl wanted to take Carol and sneak away himself so he understood. He didn't like it, and he wouldn't condone it, but he understood.

Finally, after what felt like forever, they were the only two left out by the fire. The moon had moved behind some clouds, darkening the night around them. He hadn't wanted to sit out there for that long but he knew that she had wanted to be with the others. "Can we finally go the hell inside now?" He asked, pulling himself up off the ground with a groan. He grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet.

"Yes, we can finally go in now," she smiled.

He stopped before they headed to the room, forcing her to face him. "What were you worrying about earlier?" he asked, knowing that she had been.

She shook her head. "I want to be happy and it scares the hell out of me so I try to reign it in. that's all."

He pulled her closer. "Self preservation. I think we all feel like that."

"You don't seem to."

He shrugged. "Look, we can dwell on shit till we're dead but that won't be much of a life. I'm tired of thinking that way. I'm tired of waking up wondering if this is it. If this is the day that finally kills us. A man could go crazy thinking about that all the time."

"And how do you not think about it?" She asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I think about other shit."

She laughed quietly. "Like what?"

"Like, you. Piper. Jude. Hell, even your boy. We got a good life here. I got a piece of my brother, I got somethin'... real. With you, I mean. We're as safe as we're gonna be so just stop thinking about what could go wrong and think about every damn thing that's gone right."

She lifted her head and met his eyes. "You're right."

He snorted. "When in the hell have I ever been wrong?"

She laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door. Once it was closed he grabbed her, yanking her forward until she crashed into his chest. She opened her mouth to say something but he cut of her words when his lips met hers. Her worries, at least for the time being, were forgotten as his arms locked around her, anchoring her in place. Maybe there would be times that she needed to be reminded not to over think the negative, but she would always know how lucky she was. Despite the hell they had all endured, she was home. Not because they had found a spot that had the potential to be a permanent residence.

Home wasn't this place. Home wasn't any place. Home was anywhere as long as he was with her.

This epilogue feels like it's lacking, even to me and I do apologize for that. I went over it over and over and restarted again and again and this was always the outcome. For anyone interested, I wrote an AU. Yes, it is 100% complete so I can update daily. I have decided since my flighty ass can't be depended on to finish a story anymore that I wouldn't post the first chapter until I had the whole thing written. Lol Anyway, thanks again for reading. You guys are great =)