"I get it now." Four simple words, a heat of the moment action, and then her world was white, pure white. And a pain so strong it numbed her. She couldn't move, she couldn't think. She could barely breathe around it. Why did she do that? Beth wasn't one for violence unless called for. Beth was…

Beth was..

She couldn't remember, the pain stopped her from doing so. It stopped her from anything else that could cause her pain. And breathing was one of those things, for every movement caused her whole body to feel like it was ablaze. It was just easier to give into the pain and let it all slip away. Easier to forget and not try.

"Breathe girl!" A voice shouted, and something in her told her to listen to this voice. So she did as it told her to. She took in a breath, a small one, and it hurt so much, but she took another one after that. Each breath made her want to scream, but she couldn't. She found her body wouldn't listen to her, she couldn't move a finger let alone open her eyes.

So she just curled up into her mind and focused on taking those small breaths. Those breaths and that voice that yelled at her whenever she tried to give up. She let everything else slip away for it was easier to ignore the pain that way.

The blonde woke up to the sound of a voice screaming. The next thing she heard was the sound of feet before a bright light was shined into her eyes. With a soft groan she tried to push the offending person away, only to find her body was too weak to properly listen to her will.

"I don't believe this.. You actually woke up.. Welcome back Beth." A man with glasses gave a soft incredulous laugh as he smiled down at her.

"Who..?" The girl questioned him in confusion. But when he ignored her question and began asking his own she grew irritated. "Who are you!" She demanded in a voice that felt like it took all her energy to shout in.

Who was he?

Where was she?

Better yet... who was she?!

Panic rose in her, and the smile on Steven's face vanished.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

The question echoed in her head as she pushed herself forward. Her lungs burned from the exertion, and her legs were another story entirely.

"Its been just over a year and your memory still isn't a hundred percent yet!" Steven's voice from their last conversation continued to echo in her mind.

"It's been two years. They can be long gone by now, or worse.."

She didn't want to think about that. Not now. Especially not now that she ran from the rotters. Up until now her and Isabel had managed to do well on their own. Up until now everything seemed fine, well as fine as anything can be in this world. They had come across rotters, but they were able to handle them. However a group this big had proven to be too much. And in the chaos they had gotten separated. But they had a rendezvous point, an abandoned house a few miles back just in case something like this were to happen. So that was where Beth was heading.

She could hear the crunching of twigs as her feet pounded the ground below her and took her closer to her destination. Or at least she hoped that was so. She didn't have time to stop and think when it came time for her to run. Panting she stopped and spun around to take out the closest rotter to her. She managed to take it and another one down before pushing the third away and having to make another run for it. She needed more distance between them before she can try that stunt again.

"Keep runnin' girl!" The voice, his voice, echoed in her head. It was the one voice that stood with her during it all. Unfortunately it was also one of the voices whose face she couldn't place. But she did as it told and she kept running. But the odds weren't on her side that night as she found herself falling forward.

Crap!

"Get up!"

She got up only to feel a cold hand grasping at her.

"NO!" She shouted as she drove her knife into the decaying head snapping at her. She pushed it off only to have another come at her. And before she knew it she was backed up against a tree trying her best to hold the walker at bay. She had come so far. This can't be how it ends.

"Fight girl!"

That's right. She had to fight. She refused to let this Rotter get the best of her. With a groan she summoned up whatever energy she could and shoved the walking corpse off her. But before she could deal the final blow there was a soft whistling in the air and then the rotter was down. To her surprise an arrow had taken it out.

"Who's there?!" The girl demanded, hand clenching around the handle of her blade. She knew what to expect from the walking dead, but the living. The living more often than not were not be trusted.

"You should turn back. Its unsafe here." The figure hidden in the shadows spoke up before turning to leave.

Frowning Beth watched as he began to walk away, her hand never easing its grip on her blade. That was until he stepped into a small clearing in the trees and the moonlight perfectly casted a light onto his retreating back. He wore a leather vest with wings etched into them. And she knew that vest. She had seen it so many times in her fleeting memories. Memories of him walking away, of her always trying to keep up and not fall behind. But whenever he turned to face her she could never see his face.

"Daryl…" The name slipped from her lips and he instantly stopped in his tracks. Could it be..? Her heart soared at the thought, and without thinking she ran towards him. "Daryl!" She cried his name again as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him from behind as closely as she could. "I didn't think.." Her voice trailed off as she buried her face in his back. She was so happy she could cry.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jesus smiled as he watched Daryl climb up the newly reinforced outpost. This rugged man was scary at first glance, but over time he had learnt that Daryl was a protector. He would do anything for this family they created here. And under all that ruggedness there was a soft side. One that showed whenever he smiled at his family or looked at the little girl called Judith. Yet somehow Jesus always felt the smile never truly reached its fullest. But he figured it was because a man like Daryl had a past that still marked him.

"Figured you need help." Daryl shrugged as he joined the other man. His eyes roaming the dark grounds around them. He had awoken with the strange need to be here on watch, which was nothing new ever since the last battle with Negan. But somehow tonight felt different. Tonight there was an urgency in him.

"Still don't trust me?" Joe let out a little laugh as he leaned back against the wall, still dressed in his Kingdom uniform. He and Carl had gotten off to a rocky start over his flirting with Enid. Which led to some of the members still being iffy with him and his hot temper. Though truth be told Carl threw the first punch, he wasn't going to stand by and not fight back.

"Still don't trust your poor shot, boy." The corner of Daryl's lip turned up in the faintest hint of a smirk. He figured the boy wasn't too bad of a person, he and Carl were simply being boys fighting over a piece of tail.

"Ha ha." The boy feigned a dry laugh as he rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the grounds beyond the gate at which he stood watch. The three stood there watching in silence. That was until Daryl spoke up.

"Somethin's coming." Daryl tensed as he became more alert, gun up and poised. Joe simply nodded as he positioned himself at the opening in the wall that kept him hidden but gave him a small view of where to shoot.

"What?" Jesus looked at them confused, though he had learned to trust the man's instincts and was lifting his own gun as well. And then a few seconds later he heard it, the sounds of a small herd heading their way.

"Take them down! But stay alert!" Jesus shouted as they began to take out the walkers one by one. Crap.. was this the saviors doing again? Like they had back at the Hilltop. But instead of a warning it was a distraction so they could take out the rear walls? All these thoughts and more ran through his head as he took out the walkers.

"FUCK!" A girl's cry rang over the grunts of the walkers. And they all paused for just a second.

It had all happened so fast, too fast. All she knew was that one second they were walking and the next they were running. And before she knew it they were separated. She knew to head back to the house a few miles back, but right now she needed to run and get shelter. But the further she ran the more rotters there seemed to be. She managed to reach the road but there was a herd rotters in the direction she needed to go. So she made a right and ran in the opposite direction. She ran away from the rotters, and further away from Beth.

Eventually she spotted a wall up ahead. And relief filled her and pushed her further. She maneuvered between the strategically placed cars as she ran to what she hoped was refuge. The sound of bullets whizzing by her. She thought she was home safe, that was until a bullet shot through her thigh.

"Fuck!" She cried out at the pain that made her stumble. But she did her best to ignore it as she limped over to one of the spike ridden cars. She needed to stop the bleeding, and quick.

She could hear them shouting about not shooting her, but by the sounds of it some didn't agree. But she could care less. She let herself lean against one of the cars, making sure it shielded her from those behind the wall. Quickly pulling off her belt she used it as a makeshift tourniquet tightening it just above the wound. This would have to do for now.

Looking up she saw two rotters closing in. She would have to be fast, her adrenaline fueled mind deduced. Gripping the handle of her knife she pushed herself off the car and used the momentum to take out the closest rotter to her. Unfortunately the pain in her leg proved too much and she found herself falling down with a cry.

Dammit!

She gripped her thigh in pain as she glared at the rotter. This was not how she wanted to go, as rotter chow. But before it could get to her it was falling backwards. And the next thing she knew she was surrounded with guns pointing right at her.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" A rugged looking man stepped forward to her. He gave off an authoritative aura, one that had her feeling like she couldn't and shouldn't look away.

"I-Isabel.." She stammered over the pain, hands clamping down on her thigh to help stop the bleeding. "I-I'm traveling with my friend.." Her fingers ghosted over her thigh, and to her relief it felt like only a graze. But she dared not look now, not yet anyways. "We're looking for her family.. We got separated when we came across the herd we-" She suddenly stopped talking as the words dawned on her.

"You what?" The man cocked his head to the side at the girl's pause. Was she perhaps thinking up an excuse? He wondered but then he saw the look that came across her face. And suddenly she wasn't looking at him anymore, but past him. Past the walkers that littered the floor.

"We got separated.." She echoed in a hollow voice. How could she have forgotten her friend? Did she make it? As she pictured the worse tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Beth.." The whispered name had some of the group around her tensing up, something that she didn't notice, "I need to go!" She frantically tried to get up. "I need to find her."

"Now hold on, hold on." The man who was talking to her held out his hand as he tried to calm her down.

"No!" The girl bit back, all the fear and pain from earlier gone as she forced herself to stand up. "She is my friend. She's all I have." She tried to walk past him, ignoring the guns pointed at her, only to fall forward because of the pain in her leg.

"Now I said hold on.." The man had caught her and helped her stand upright. "You're wounded-"

"And who's fault is that?" She growled, but her growl was ineffective. In fact as she stared at the man she noticed her vision began to blur. Oh no.. Don't..

"Right, so let us help y-" Rick never got to finish his sentence for the girl passed out in his arms. He looked down at her a bit surprised. "Imma take her to the clinic, have Tara patch her up." He announced as he carried the girl into the safety of Alexandria's gates.

"Think she'll make it?" Jesus asked as he stood behind with Daryl and Joe, watching Rick and the others walk back in.

"Who knows.." Daryl answered as he watched the back of Rick's retreating form.

"Whats wrong?" Jesus asked as he looked at the other man.

"'S nothin'." Daryl answered. But it was everything. He hadn't heard that name in what felt like ages, and it still tore at him. The wound still felt fresh, the pain strong. Everything just felt wrong.

"Lets get back in." Joe motioned to the gates. "We're exposed out here." And with that said all three men walked back into the gates. But Daryl had paused for just a second to look over his shoulder as Joe closed the gate.

Beth..

"What the-?" He pulled away and looked down at her and instantly her smile faltered.

"What happened..?" She reached out to touch the burnt part of his face. And out of reflex he flinched away from her. "Sorry!" She instantly apologized. "Its just.. I recognized your vest.. But.. I can't remember your face.." She began to nervously stammer. "You see the bullet didn't take my life.. Just my memory.." She pulled the beanie off her head and pushed back her blonde locks to expose the scarred wound on her forehead.

Daryl… This girl thought he was Daryl. And her smile from earlier reminded him of Sherry.. Oh how he missed Sherry.

"..Daryl?" The girl whispered his name as she took a step back. His lack of response made her uneasy. Had she just made a huge mistake? No matter how much the vest he wore and the crossbow slung over his shoulder fit her memory, his face just seemed off. "I know its been a bit over two years.."

"Its unsafe." Dwight repeated again. Perhaps he could help this girl get back to them. And maybe then they'll believe in him. Believe he wants to take Negan down, and he needs their help. But would this girl believe him that he knew were Daryl was?

"I know that.." Beth frowned, but now that she had time to stop and think she remembered her missing companion. "Isa!" Her eyes widened in silent horror as she realized that for a split second she forgot about her friend.

"Ee-sah?" He looked at her even more confused. Was this a friend who knew who Daryl really was?

"She's a friend from Grady.. She came out here to help me find you guys.." Panic began to rise in her but she did well in keeping it hidden. "I have to go.." She looked up at him, torn between figuring out if this man had any connection to her lost past and going back to look for her friend. Only to be surprised by his nod.

"This way?" He asked as he walked past her and pointing toward the direction from which she came.

"Yes.. Are you coming with?" She asked confused as she followed him. She wanted to trust this man. But at the same time something told her to keep her guard up. After all, his voice didn't match.

"Not safe." He nodded as he walked with the girl. That was the only explanation he gave her. And for now she'll accept it. She'd need help if she came across another group of rotters.

"...Thanks?" She was still unsure, but she'll grasp at this straw from her past. "There was a house we cleared like 3 miles back. Its our rendezvous point should something like this happen and we got separated.." She felt like a child with the look he gave her. The look questioned why they were out at night if they cleared the house. "I felt anxious.. Like I needed to be somewhere.." The man only grunted as they continued to walk, and once again Beth felt like something was off. "Daryl?"

"Dwight." He corrected her. "But I think I know your friends. We'll go to them after we find your friend Eesha."

"Isa." She corrected with a soft laugh. And that was the last they spoke as they walked back to the house in comfortable silence. Beth pausing for just a moment to look up at the moon above them.

I'll find you.. Both of you.