"Leave her alone, Shane. We've all heard her tell you off. Rick's back. That should make you happy - are you seriously disappointed your best friend is alive?" A black-haired woman stared defiantly at the once-sheriff's deputy. Her amber eyes gave away nothing, but a slightly tremble of her lip betrayed her nervousness about the encounter. Piercings sparkled in her ears and nose, and delicate black tattoos popped up here and there; one on her neck, another at her wrist. Her nostrils flared as she held her ground and stared at her brother.

Shane's lip curled and before he could stop himself, his hand flew up and swung toward the woman's face. Seeing the blow coming, the girl ducked and struck out. Shane easily avoided her blow and took hold of her shoulders and drove her back against the wall.

"Like this is helping your cause," the girl snarled. "Everyone on this farm hates you. Rick. Lori. Hershel. Patricia. Everyone. Quit giving us more reason to."

"Us?" Shane barked, slapping the girl across the face. "You one of them now? You forget who your family is?"

"You son of a-"

"You keep your mouth shut and we'll be all right. Ain't got no bodyguards now, do ya?" Shane sneered in her face before turning and storming across the room. The door slammed with a BANG as Shane stalked off.

The black haired girl stared out the door with a scowl on her face. She winced as she pulled her nose ring back into place. She let out an annoyed groan and plopped down on the couch to fold laundry. How life had changed. In the past year she'd become a Top 40 chart singer, but when she came home to Georgia expecting R&R, she was greeted with the zombie apocalypse and a band of rag-tag survivors to band with. Liz Clark may have been a celebrity, but she knew that wouldn't help her here.

"Evr'thing okay in here?" a drawl came from the porch.

"Fine," the girl answered quickly. She wiped at her nose and checked the back of her hand for blood. Nothing this time.

"Didn't sound fine." The screen door swung open and Daryl Dixon walked in. He studied the girl's face. "He hit you, didn't he? I wouldn't put it past that sonmabitch." He shifted the crossbow he had slung across his back. "Ain' right." His eyes were narrow slits; he was obviously livid.

Liz hadn't spoken to him much; as a matter of fact, he'd kept his distance from her. His brother had hit on her mercilessly before he was left chained to a rooftop in Atlana, and Daryl had always seemed mortified by both details. "I'm not bleeding," Liz replied casually. "I'm fine. Just some sibling sparring, that's all. It's not like I have an abusive husband." She rolled her eyes and forced a laugh.

"Ain' funny." Daryl leaned against the doorframe and stuck a hand in his pocket. "I don't care if he's your brother. Mine used to beat the shit out of me but that's different 'cause I could swing back. Ain' right to hit a woman. Don' we got 'nough problems roun' here?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "I've got some laundry to do, and I'm sure you've got something better to do than play guardian angel. I'm not a kid, Daryl. I've dealt with Shane all my life."

Daryl stared at her, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "How old're you, anyway? 20?"

"I'm 27, thank you very much." The girl replied. She tilted her head and looked at him. "I don't think we've talked. Not directly. I'm sorry 'bout your brother."

"I'm sorry about yours." Daryl turned to leave, then hesitated and called over his shoulder, "You might want to get some ice. Your lip's starting to swell." The door snapped shut again and Daryl stormed out.

"You dumbass, Daryl's all pissed off because he heard you clock me." The girl stormed into Shane's tent and poked him in the chest. Maybe she was provoking him further, but she felt oddly empowered that her brother's abuse wasn't going unnoticed.

"What's he sticking his nose into it for? You ain't his family." Shane snapped the safety on his pistol and tucked it into his waistband. He stood and looked down at his sister. "Listen here, Lizzy, I mean it. Keep your damn mouth shut. No one needs to know what happened to Otis. Glenn and Dale are already making up ideas. I don't need that fueled. Lori and I are getting back to a good place and she can't find out."

"You're getting to a good place? She is married." Liz shook her head. "Shane, it was great that you took care of her and Carl when we thought Rick was dead. Really. But he's not dead, and that's not your job."

"Shut up," Shane growled, getting in his sister's face. "It don't matter what you say. You aren't her. You don't get it. We had something."

"Shane," Lizzy whispered. "This ain't you at all."

"What do you know, anyway? You've been gone for months. Your hot shot Hollywood life changed you." Shane's nostrils flared. "The sister I remember would have my back."

"I was gone to work, Shane. Tour." Lizzy sighed. They'd been through the argument a million times before. Shane thought she was worthless. "I make people happy."

"Yeah, if that's that you call it." Shane snorted. "What're you up to, anyway? Running in here, saying Daryl's coming after me. I'd like to see him try." Shane gave a bark of laughter and cracked his neck. "He can join up with Dale and we'll have a right Royal Rumble." He laughed to himself as he left Lizzy alone in his tent.

"You're losing it, Shane," she called after him, thankful he didn't lash out at her again. While finding the farm had largely been a blessing, it gave Shane just enough security that he focused on being at terror instead of survival.

"Want to stand guard for a minute? I need a drink of water." Glen took off his cap and wiped his brow. "Pretty warm today."

"So you're going to go talk to Maggie." Liz grinned, then nodded. "Get out of here. I ain't got nowhere else to be."

"Thanks, Liz. I'll be back soon." Glenn trotted off toward the house.

"Take your time," Lizzy groaned as she crawled up onto the RV. Dale was off working something out with Andrea and everyone else was working on fixing dinner. Sophia's search crew had just returned empty-handed again. Carol had taken to spending time with Lori and that left her singled out. Night was beginning to fall, and she enjoyed the breeze in her hair. Liz plopped down in the chair, then eyed the guitar sitting there. Glenn had been trying to teach himself, and she'd enjoyed watching him figure it out. He'd asked her for lessons, but they'd always been too busy to take the time. Picking up the instrument, she glanced around and made sure no one was paying attention. She strummed a few chords before singing a song to herself. Having
guitar strings under her fingers again felt good, she had to admit. She played as she scanned the horizon for walkers. Multi-tasking, she convinced herself.

"What the hell's that garbage?"

Lizzy quickly sat the guitar down and felt a blush rise to her cheeks. "I didn't know anyone was down there," she called into the RV. "Sorry."

"At least you could play some Skynyrd if you're going to wake a man up." Daryl glanced up and grinned at her. He ruffled his hair and squinted at her. "S'that new? I ain' heard that song."

Laughing, Liz shook her head. "Nah, it's old. No one liked it so I dumped it."

"Shouldn' have." Daryl left the RV and climbed up to the roof with her. "Go on. Play somethin' else."

"Oh, I don't want to bring Walkers in. Besides, I don't want anyone to think-"

"Who gives a shit what they think?" Daryl cut in. He gazed at her for a moment before nodding. "Lip looks a lot better."

Liz self-consciously touched her lip, which Shane had split open right before their last meeting.

"I ain't seen no more black eyes on you. Shane been leavin' you alone, then?" When Lizzy nodded, Daryl smirked. "Good."

Liz grimaced. "What'd you do? Did you say something? To HIM?"

"Nothin'." Daryl scanned the horizon for walkers.

"Are you sure?" Liz raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it."

"Daryl," Liz breathed. "No."

"Shut up. Play me a song." Daryl unfolded the canvas chair and sat down in it. "Go on. You woke me up and it might as well be for something."

"Oh, I've wanted to ask you to play something for us," a voice came from below as Liz strummed the first bars to her latest single; an upbeat song.

Liz paused and looked down from the RV to find Carol standing with her hands clasped. "Do you mind? Can I listen?" Carol peered up at the pair. "I was just coming to get you for dinner. That's my favorite song! At least it was when we still had radios."

"Mine too," Daryl added.

Liz laughed and stopped strumming. "What?!"

Carol laughed. "I'd not have taken you for a Liz Clark fan, Daryl!" She hesitated. "No offense."

Liz shook her head. "None taken. I'm just as surprised."

Daryl scratched the back of his neck. "It's nice."

With that, Liz played her song and finished with an overexaggerated bow. "Thank you, thank you. I'm here until the Walkers take me." She laughed.

Carol applauded wildly. "I've been trying to hold it in, with everything going on," she chirped. "I couldn't believe we met up with you. I figured you'd have bodyguards and a fortified mansion somewhere! Come to dinner, I'd love to hear some stories."

"Oh, I took guard duty from Glenn. He's at dinner with Maggie. I promise I'll catch up with you at breakfast, or tonight."

Daryl took the guitar from her hand. "I've got it. Go."

"Oh, I'm sorry to bother you," Carol exclaimed. "If you're on guard duty, you're on guard duty."

"You sure?" Liz asked. "You should get dinner. You were out all day."

"Bring me somethin' when you're done," Daryl suggested.

"All right, all right." Liz smiled. "Thank you." As she climbed back down the ladder, she laughed, "I'm no good up there, anyway."

"Hey," Daryl called. "Just because your idiot brother tells you that don't mean it's true." He laid the guitar back down. "Just play another song for me later."

Carol giggled behind her hand and elbowed Liz in the ribs. "I can't believe he's a fan."

Liz glanced up to Daryl and flashed him a smile. "Later."