A/N: Thanks for all the positive feedback! I feel the story might start getting a bit darker soon, so beware.
Nicki screamed in pain as a walker grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back with enough force she fell ton the ground. She wriggled around in an effort to grab her knife. She struggled to free it from her belt as the walker suddenly slumped on top of her. Looking up she saw Abby standing over her removing her own knife from the walker's skull.
"I think we need to cut our hair." Abby sighed as she helped Nicki to her feet.
"I don't wanna cut my hair." Nicki sighed as she started picking twigs and leaves out of her mess of long, red curls.
"Would you rather be eaten?"
"Beth!" Nicki looked to her as she cleaned her knife.
"Abby's right." Beth shrugged. "It'll give 'em one less thing to grab a hold of."
"Well, I'm not cutting mine." Nicki declared.
"Nicki." Abby sighed as she pulled her hair back in a tattered pony tail holder that was about to break. "It's hair, it'll grow back."
"No." Nicki shook her head.
"Just drop it for now." Beth said quietly to Abby as she took her knife and cut where Abby indicated.
They watched as Nicki took a seat on a large rock and watched them. "She's gonna get caught again." Abby replied as Beth adjusted her own hair and turned around. "She's already slow and easy to get, with all that hair..."
"We don't have time to argue with her now." Beth explained.
"If you say so." Abby lifted her knife. "Sure you want it this short?" she asked.
"The shorter the better." Beth didn't want to cut her hair, but she liked the idea of a walker using her hair against her a lot less. Not to mention the shorter hair would be easier to clean when she ever got a chance.
"Okay." Abby used her knife more as a saw as she took hold of Beth's long hair and hacked it off. "And done." she turned to Nicki, holding up what used to be Beth's ponytail. "You sure?"
"Positive." the younger girl nodded as she grabbed some large twigs from the ground and proceeded to form her hair into a tight bun on the back of her head.
"Great, gives them a nice knob of hair to grab a hold of." Abby muttered to herself as she tossed the hair aside.
Beth stared at her hair laying in the decaying leaves. A sudden thought popped into her head and she scooped up the discarded hair.
"You want a memento?" Abby asked.
"I just had an idea is all." Beth shrugged as she took a few strands of hair and tucked them into the rough bark of a nearby tree. "I was thinking maybe Daryl would see it."
"You still think he's alive?"
"I know he is." Beth grabbed her bag. "Ready?"
"Why are you so sure about that?" Nicki asked as she struggled to keep pace with the two taller girls.
"He wasn't in the house." Beth simply put it.
"So, he could have wandered off after turning." Abby pointed out.
"No, his crossbow wasn't there." Beth argued. "He's not goin' anywhere without it."
"What if the rotters got him after he left?"
Beth turned suddenly, the other two almost running into her. "If he made it out of there, he can make it out here on his own." she smiled and started walking again. "He's done it before."
"And you think he'll find us?" Nicki asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I do." she stopped to place a bit more hair on a nearby tree, hoping that it wasn't just a stupid idea on her part, but that he would actually notice it and make the connection to her. She had complete faith that not only was Daryl still alive, but that he'd find her. She knew he would be looking for her. She remembered how he searched for Carol's little girl when they first arrived at the farm even though everyone else seemed to have given up hope. From what she understood he didn't even know her very well, but he'd made it his personal mission to find her. She felt they had grown close and become good friends in their short time on the road together so she could only hope he'd do the same for her.
"I see up a house up ahead." Len called back to the others. "Shelter for the night."
"If no one's claimed it already." Joe stopped at the edge of the woods and stared at the house before them.
"We can make 'em share." Len laughed.
Daryl ignored the other man as he continued to walk carefully towards the house, his crossbow at the ready. Len didn't seem to ever shut up and was on his last nerve. "You go in ahead of us."
"Hopin' there'll be some lurkers?" Len asked. "I could clear 'em out in no time if there are."
"Go ahead then."
"Boys." Joe said, sounding like a father trying to stop a fight starting between a couple of his kids. One would almost expect him to follow it up with 'I'll turn this car around if you make me.' "Let's go up quietly and see what we find."
The group moved up slowly, listening for any sounds. Even the tiniest sound set their nerves on edge as they knew any minute they could be surrounded. Still holding his crossbow up, Daryl decided to look around the outside of the house to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises. As he moved around the back and came around the opposite side, he stopped dead in his tracks. The sight of a large car with a white cross in the back window made him feel sick to his stomach. Running up, he looked into the windows and tried the door handles. Locked and sealed tight. He looked around and then ran into the house.
"Someone did a number on him." Joe stared at the walker that lay at his feet, its throat slit open enough that they could see bone.
"Did you search the whole place yet?" Daryl asked as he ran up the stairs where he found Len standing over one in the bedroom. "They the only ones you found?"
"Yeah." Len nodded as he began moving around the room, stopping and picking up a tube of personal lubricant from the floor. "Looks like someone was havin' fun." he chuckled.
"Don't think their partners were." Joe said. "One down stairs had his dick hacked off."
"Shit." Len shuddered.
"You didn't find anyone else?" Daryl asked Joe.
"No." Joe shook his head. "What's gotten into you?"
"That car down there." Daryl headed back downstairs. "That's the one that took Beth."
"That's your girl, right?" Joe asked, trying to remember the name Daryl had mentioned before.
"Yeah." Daryl nodded as he continued his search of the house. He saw two bloodied shards of glass on the table and headed into the kitchen. Blood smeared some of the cupboard doors, drawer fronts and a spot on the fridge. He couldn't find any signs of Beth. "I'm headin' out to search the woods."
"It's dark." Joe watched the other man as he moved around. "Head out in the morning."
"If he wants to go, let him." Len said as he pulled out a chair and plopped down.
"Safety in numbers, not to mention you're our best hunter."
"Beth's out there." Daryl stared at the door. "I think she's hurt."
"If she got away from them, she's doin' pretty good for herself." Joe said. "She know how to build a fire, catch food?"
"Fire yeah, I always caught the food though."
"Cupboards were bare." Len groaned. "I think your bitch took off with the food."
"Call her that one more time." Daryl growled.
"Knock it off." Joe smacked Len upside the head. "The mornin'. We'll head out in the morning."
"Stay here if you want." Daryl moved towards the door. "I'm goin' now." he opened the door and headed out. Beth was out there and apparently injured. He felt it was his duty to keep her safe, and so far he felt as though he'd failed.