Chapter 2

"What is this, Daryl?" Rick looked concerned. He and Daryl were out on the front porch, whispering to each other.

"She weighs, what 100lb? She ain't gonna do nothin' to us. We could help her." Daryl growled back.

The woman was sitting on the couch, being guarded by Rosita and Abraham, both had said they had no problem adding the woman to the group.

"I'm not saying no, but you didn't think to ask any questions? You didn't even try to find out her story. It's sloppy Daryl and it isn't like you. So I ask again, what is this?"

The rest of the group was in the Kitchen, awaiting Rick's decision. Daryl glanced at them through the window, before turning back to Rick. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, how could he explain this without sounding insane. Rick dipped his head, trying to catch his eye.

"Daryl?"

"I can't explain, Rick. It feels right. Can't that be enough? I ain't never asked you for nothin'."

Rick looked away before nodding. "Alright, let's find out who she is."

Daryl nodded his thank you. They made their way to the living room, the girl Meryl stood up. The fear in her eyes was evident, but she was trying hard to put up a brave front. Daryl admired that about her, if you weren't scared you couldn't be brave.

"I'm Rick, you've already met Daryl. I just need to ask you some questions." Rick stood in front of the girl. She didn't answer, looking back and forth between each man with her large eyes.

Rick saw it then, what Daryl was seeing. The doe eyes, the small frame, a representation of Beth, then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Her cheek bones sharp, hair wild, Merle was in there too. Rick was never well versed in the little nuances of emotions. Lori and him always missing each other, she was no saint, he could admit that now, but he knew his faults. He felt many emotions, he just couldn't always express them, process them, understand them. Daryl was much the same. This was the way for his friend, his brother, to process, to survive. He wasn't a spiritual man, but this was a blessing. If this woman wasn't a threat, she was a blessing.

He let out a sigh and sat on the couch, motioning the woman to do the same. She looked at Daryl, before sitting down next to him. They had a connection already, he knew to Daryl it was something deeper, like fate, to the woman, it was most likely that Daryl was the first person to show her a bit of kindness. They were treading on fragile ground.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, sensing Daryl stepping closer to them.

"A long time, the calendar ran out. This is my home." Her voice was gravelly. She wouldn't quite look at him, something he would have flagged as a sign of deception, but in her it looked as if she wasn't use to people. She was scared but not the right kind of scared. It was a fear of the unknown, not of danger.

"The old people," he gestured at the photos. "They were your grandparents?"

She nodded. "We were here when it all started, we saw the news. Papa boarded the windows. He…he and Mama, they killed themselves four months in. I've been alone ever since."

"You didn't" Daryl asked.

"They didn't even tell me, they were going to. I buried them outside. Those things, the dead people they came, but if I'm quiet, they go away."

"There are graves outside, I saw them." Tara said from the doorway, Carol beside her nodded.

Rick tilted his head and looked at the woman. "You haven't left this place? All this time you've been here?"

"Yes, Mama liked to make preserves, I still have some left in the basement. We had a garden, I haven't been tending it, I've never been good at it. I stay inside and sleep in the closet in case the dead people make it in."

"No live people have come?" It was hard to believe.

"No, I thought I was alone."

"That's a miracle, you're lucky." Daryl told her.

"Lucky? To be alone so long, it doesn't seem lucky." Rick noticed she did look at Daryl, head on, she wasn't afraid of him.

"People can be worse than the biters." Rick brought her attention back to him.

"Biters?" she asked him curiously. She was starting to get more comfortable with him too, her eyes meeting his for a few seconds before wandering off.

"The dead people." He answered. "Do you know about them? How to kill them?"

"The news said it had to be in the head. Papa and Mama, that's how they went. "I've never been close to one of the….biters. I hide and I'm quiet and they move on."

"You want to survive?" Daryl watched her closely. She had to want it.

"I've been surviving, even though I thought I was the only one left."

Daryl nodded his approval and looked at Rick, a silent communication passing between them.

"You need to learn to fight if you want to survive. I could teach you." If he could just save this woman, maybe it would be ok.

"Fight? Fight what?" she asked him, her brow scrunched up in confusion.

"The dead and the living. Daryl was right, you've been lucky, you're still lucky. We ain't looking to hurt you, it's not always the case."

"Not always the case." She murmured almost to herself, like the thought had never crossed her mind.

"We've lost people, most of the time it was cause of other people."

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, rubbing her temples with her fingers. Rick motioned to Daryl.

"We'll let you think. You don't need to come with us if you don't want to." Rick noticed Daryl look at him sharply. "But there's safety in numbers, we're a family, we help each other. That is how we survive and it's how you will survive, if you want."

He put his arm around Daryl and led him out. "Abraham, Rosita will you come with us." The pair followed them into the kitchen.

The group was silent as they waited. Daryl paced, trying to keep from bursting in the living room. She was taking too long.

"Can I speak to Daryl…..alone." her voice from the door way, stopped him in his tracks.

"Of course." Rick smiled at her, getting a small unsure smile in return. Daryl quickly made his way past her, he stopped deeper into the living room, as far from the kitchen as he could get. He was nervous, unsure of what to do if she said no.

"I'm sorry, I tried to stab you….I was asleep….I thought maybe you were a dead person….a biter."

"That ain't nothin' to be sorry about. Not anymore."

"Is it really that bad out there?"

"Yes." There was no point in sugar coating it.

"I want to go with you. I want to survive. I need your help."

Daryl let out a relived breath.

"Rick." He called to their leader. Rick appeared beside them quickly. "Merle wants to join."

"Meryl." She corrected.

"Meryl." He swallowed.