"They should have been back by now."

Lori stood in the doorway, rubbing her hands together nervously. She'd been rooted to the floor in that half-busted door frame almost an hour, Daryl knew. He'd kept tabs. Watching from across the room he felt the same unease, wishing he could display his worries half as openly. He wasn't the type. And of course, nobody knew about him and Rick.

"Come away from the door, you must be freezing." Hershel took Lori gently by the shoulders, let the door fall shut and guided her to the threadbare sofa.

"Where are they?" Lori was still worrying at her fingers, looking at Hershel with desperation. "They were only going to be out for a few hours, back by noon. And now the sun is almost gone."

Hershel held Lori's gaze. "Hey. There is no reason to worry yet. They'll have hunkered down somewhere for the night. Something must've held them up, and they knew they'd not make it back before dark."

Lori kept her eyes glued to Hershel's face, clearly willing herself to believe what he was saying. Finally she nodded.

Hershel brushed her cheek gently with one hand and smiled. Then he looked up at the others. "All right, everyone, time to get ready for bed. An early night will do us all good. No use worrying about something we can't change."

Daryl would have liked to agree, but he couldn't stop his mind racing. He helped to get them ready for the night. They'd been here three days already, the longest they'd stayed anywhere in over a month. The house was a drafty and dirty shack, but after being out in the freezing cold for a week, sleeping in their cars, it had been a relief. Now it felt like a trap.

Daryl stretched out on his blankets, between Lori and Carol. They were crowded as close together on the floor of the dingy living room as decency allowed, huddled for warmth that stayed elusive. It was the middle of December now, by their best reckoning, and Georgia got damn cold in winter. They never lit a fire if they were staying in one place more than a few hours. Fire had the tendency to draw walkers. They cooked well away from the house, when there was anything to cook at all.

Daryl turned over restlessly. It had been stupid of him to agree to Rick's plan. He replayed the conversation from that morning in his head

"We'll go fast and with force. Glenn, T-Dog and I'll be able to handle whatever we find. I need you to stay here, look after the others. You are our best hunter, and their best chance to survive if we don't find other food. Besides," and there was a tenderness in Rick's eyes which, more than anything, made Daryl relent, agree to the stupid plan. "You always do the heavy lifting. Take a break for once, do it for me. If anything happened to you I couldn't forgive myself."

It was true, they needed some decisive action. Their cars had no fuel left, and the food situation was beyond desperate. Daryl hadn't had more than a couple spoonfuls of squirrel stew for any meal in days.

He'd done his best finding something worth killing, never going too far from the house, but there was little to be had at this time of year, and with this many walkers around. And what he'd been able to kill had largely gone to Lori, Carl and Beth. Daryl had insisted, and he knew Hershel and the others had given up most of their rations to them as well.

At midnight, not having slept a wink, Daryl got up to relieve Maggie from watch. Daryl would have kept watch all night, but Maggie had insisted. Daryl knew she was worried about Glenn just as much as Lori – or him - were worried about Rick. Daryl hadn't challenged her, and the thought of Maggie and Glenn's happy reunion if the men showed up during the night had eased his conscience when he'd left her out on the porch on her own.

After Maggie had gone inside, looking as sad and lost as Daryl felt he paced outside the small house in the middle of the clearing for hours. He knew this wasn't smart, he should conserve his energy. Daryl wouldn't be much use to anyone on no sleep and no food, but he couldn't help it. He wondered if he'd be as worried if it was someone other than Rick missing - or if he and Rick hadn't started this... thing, whatever it was.