(1) Wolf in Me (D. Dixon)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Diana sits at one of those little camping tables, Sophia, Carl, Eliza, and Louis sit with her, a pile of crayons between them as they draw something on paper. There isn't much for them to do nowadays and they only really have coloring. No consoles or music or board games. Perhaps board games could be a thing if they picked something up on the next supply run. There will be a question of space though. Buying things for entertainment sake is pretty low on the list of supply needs. At the end of the day, a box of dried food is going to be more useful than a couple of board games. Diana looks across the camp when Shane and Rick return from wherever they had gone off to talk. She and Shane share a look as he crosses the camp with Rick. He clearly is not letting go of their earlier conversation. She is. He has nothing more to give her as a father and she is pretty sure that he is a bad leader, so he has nothing more to give her as one of them either. She's seen bad and good leaders, she knows where Shane sits. Eliza tugs on Diana's sleeve and Diana turns her attention to Morales' daughter who holds out a drawing towards her. Diana smiles warmly at her, taking the picture to look at it, Eliza just goes on to start a new one. Shane clears his throat to get the attention of the camp.

"I've been, uh... I've been thinking about Rick's plan to go to the CDC. Now look, there are no... There are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning" Shane finishes. There is a silence to the camp as they all process the fact that they are moving on. That whilst this place has served them well, they are no longer safe. Last night showed them that. They perhaps have to move on. Rick glances around them all.

"Okay?" He asks them and there are murmurs and whispers through the camp now. Diana turns her attention back to the children, but they are looking around for their parents to find out what's going on. They can sense the tenseness within the group now. Carl and Sophia are the first to leave the table just as Daryl crouches next to Diana's seat and peers at the drawing in her hand. Louis heads off towards Morales but Eliza lingers, she wants her painting back. Daryl points at the painting in Diana's hand.

"What is it supposed to be?" He asks Diana who smirks at him.

"It's clearly a rainbow unicorn-puppy" She answers, motioning at the picture. "Ears, tail...horn...rainbow" He snorts a little and she smirks at him before she turns to Eliza. "Why don't you show your daddy?" Diana asks her as she hands the drawing back to Eliza. "He'll love it" Eliza smiles brightly at her and then runs across the camp to join her brother and her parents. Diana turns to Daryl who raises an eyebrow at her.

"What do you think of the CDC?" He asks her.

"Why are you asking me?" She counters and then nods towards Shane and Rick. "They're in charge" Daryl snorts and glances over at Shane.

"He seem like alpha material to you?" She smirks a little. Seems it is not just her that sees Shane as a bad leader. "I never had one....but," He shrugs a little and pulls a face. They do usually have instincts on those around them. It's how werewolves choose which alpha to follow or leave. Daryl has never had one, he doesn't know the good from the bad. "I dunno," He grumbles and pushes himself to his feet, his eyes still on Shane. He hasn't felt right following Shane, it's why he and Merle isolated themselves from the group. Rick was easier to follow. In the city, Rick led them better than Shane has done since the start. Rick has that aura of leadership that Shane is missing. Diana pushes herself to her feet.

"Depends" She comments. He frowns. "CDC" She elaborates. "How easy do you think it will be to get in and out when the full moon comes?" Daryl snaps his head to look at her. "For them" She nods towards the group. "The CDC is the best place for them....for us, probably not" She shrugs a little.

"But you are still goin' with them" He voices and she nods. "Why?"

"They're my pack" She answers. "Our pack" She corrects and gives him a look. "Packs stick together when things are tough and they adapt....if you are worried about the next full moon, I can help" She offers. He scoffs.

"How?"

"I don't change," She admits to him. "I learnt how to control it years ago" She pats his chest and smirks. "I can teach you to control it too"

"Really?" He asks. "In three weeks?" She shrugs and steps closer to him.

"Probably not," She admits. "But we can work on it. Hopefully the CDC has a basement..." She glances over him and then lets out a breath. "We'll figure it out" She assures him, the two of them then share a look, and he believes her. He's older than her, but she's the more experienced werewolf. He has no idea just how experienced.