Stefani spent the night helping everyone collect the bodies around camp. She made sure to avoid Shane as much as possible. She took her anger out on the walkers, driving a sharp pick axe into their heads making sure they wouldn't wake up. By the time the sun was barely breaking over the trees, there were piles of burning walkers and those that needed to be buried. She hated looking at the people that once occupied the camp with her ripped apart. She walked away from the group, finding a spot out of camp to calm her breathing. The dinner she'd had last night came up, and she wanted nothing more than to find a quiet place to escape the carnage.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked as she came up behind her. He placed a hand on her back while she was still slumped over, running soothing circles.

"The smell, I guess it got to me."

She stood up, trying to think of anything to say to him. There were a million different things that she wanted him to know, but none of them seemed appropriate. Losing him was the worst thing that had ever happened to her, and now that he was back it was painfully obvious that there was nothing but distance between them. The two stood in front of one another, somehow her hand clasped in his tightly. She couldn't bring herself to pull her eyes away from his beautiful blue ones.

"Stef, you alright?" The moment was broken the second Daryl's voice hit her ears.

"Yeah, just needed some fresh air." She moved away from Rick.

She smiled at Daryl as she passed him, lightly bumping his shoulder with hers. He kept his attention on the ex-police officer. There was something there, something that seemed more than just the friendliness of acquaintances. Stefani never said anything about Rick, and even when he came back with her from Atlanta nothing really seemed to have changed. Daryl wasn't sure why he was so curious all of a sudden, but he didn't like the thought of Stefani sneaking off alone with any other man.

"Hey, you pissed at me?" Shane called when he saw Stefani come back into the camp. She felt her hand clench the axe a little tighter before she felt it leave her grasp entirely. Daryl walked passed her, taking the axe and heading for another body.

"Why would you think that, brother?" She stood with her hands on her hips as he walked closer to her.

"Haven't seen you much since the fish fry, what happened?"

"I almost died last night. A walker had me pinned, again, I might add. I was screaming for you, but Daryl's the one that came through for me. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that my own flesh and blood didn't come to help me."

"There was a lot going on last night," Shane tried to explain.

"Yeah, I know. Kind of opens your eyes, doesn't it. Guess there's only a few people you can truly depend on." She said, pushing passed him and head over to take her axe back from Daryl.

"You good?" The redneck asked she took the tool from his hands.

"Fine, just let me bash in a few more skulls." He leaned in and placed a quick kiss to her head before moving away to take care of other walkers.

Stefani tried to stick to herself, helping only when the bodies needed to be moved. It was easier than having to deal with everyone else's emotions. She was still trying to decide on how she felt about everything. Between Shane's actions, Rick taking charge, and then the concern coming from Daryl she felt as though she were being pulled in multiple directions.

An argument over what to do with Amy broke out, and Stefani tried to stay out of it. If she wasn't so wired, she'd be sitting by Andrea's side trying to comfort her. It felt as though one thing after another kept coming. Glenn wanting to bury their dead, Daryl still pissed about losing Merle, and then Jim. She finally stopped moving as she saw the bite mark on the man's side. Standing with the group she chewed on her nail as they decided what needed to be done. Her eyes were glued to the ground as the men went back and forth.

The CDC suggestion from Rick seemed viable, if there was any way of knowing for sure if it was safe. Fort Benning came from her brother, and she hated to admit that she wasn't sure where she would rather go. Her eyes drifted up and she caught Daryl's stare. It would be so easy for her to just choose a side if she knew where he was leaning.

Daryl found himself glancing at Stefani more often than not. He felt the urge to do something, anything that would keep her safe. He couldn't wrap his mind around what the other men were talking about when it felt like the only option of keeping his safe was to eliminate the immediate threat, Jim and Amy. It was the only way he could be sure that Stefani wouldn't get attacked again. He stood there chewing on the inside of his lip as he only half listened to the conversation going on around him. His eyes ran over Stefani, stopping every so often to examine a bruise she had on her perfect tan skin. He said his piece, if the others didn't agree then he would just have to take care of things himself.

"You go looking for aspirin, or do what you need to do. But someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem." Daryl said as he rushed at Jim with axe in hand.

Rick and Shane went after him, and the second Stefani saw Rick grab the gun off his belt she moved quickly to meet the men. Lori was reaching out for her, but didn't get a hand on her before Stefani was standing between Rick and Daryl.

"We don't kill the living." Rick said as he lifted the gun to Daryl's head.

"Stefani, what the hell are you doing?" Shane called from behind her, but she kept her eyes glued to Rick's.

"Daryl, put the axe down." She said, still not looking anywhere but at Rick. "Please, just leave him alone."

She stayed where she was until she heard the axe fall to the ground. It wasn't until he was moving passed her did she let her breath come out of her lungs. Rick's gun was already down at his side, his eyes full of questions. She heard Shane take another step towards her, but she wasn't going to let the two men corner her.

"What are you thinking stepping in front of a gun like that, and for Dixon? Are you crazy? You could have gotten yourself killed." Shane called after her.

"Rick wouldn't have pulled the trigger with me there." She said as she moved away from the commotion to find some peace inside of her tent.

She fell onto her cot, trying to get a few minutes of sleep to calm her aching brain. The heat was unbearable and beginning to give her a terrible migraine. Her arm flopped over her eyes as she tried to force her brain to shut down. She hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep until she was shaken awake at the sound of a gunshot. Stumbling out of the tent, she was sadly relieved to see Andrea holding onto Amy with a fresh wound in her head.

"Stef," Lori called out as she stepped closer to the still shaking woman. "I need you to help me."

"With what?" Stefani asked trying to calm her breathing the second she saw Daryl come around the RV, helping T-Dog load wrapped bodies into the bed of his truck.

"Rick and Shane, you know them better than anyone. You need to help me get them on the same page. It will make everyone feel better knowing that they have the same plan."

"We are talking about the same men right? There is no way in hell I'm going to do that. I don't give a shit where we go as long as we're all together." She sighed walking away from the dark haired woman and going over to help Andrea wrap Amy in a blanket.

During the small service, Stefani found herself standing off to the side with Daryl. Most of the ideas he came up with were self-serving, but today she saw a side of him that she wished he'd shown everyone from the beginning. He cared about these people, maybe he wasn't sure how to express that, but she could see it. He was trying to protect everyone the only way he knew how and that was by killing walkers.

She took a step back, feeling her body connect with his. His arm wrapped around the top of her chest, and she reached up to hold onto him. Watching Andrea struggle to place Amy in her grave was painfully sad. Stefani couldn't stop imagining what she would do if something ever happened to Shane. If something happened to any of the people she cared about was a terrifying thought that was best reserved for those nights she couldn't sleep.

Finally she slipped out of Daryl's grasp as everyone was breaking up. He moved to his truck, and Stefani jogged to catch up with Shane on his way back to camp. She reached out for him, pulling on his arm to stop him.

"Hey, I wanna tell you something." She said as he pulled her into his side. "Where you go, I go. Okay, I will follow you to the end of the world and back. We're family, no matter how much of an asshole you can be, that will never change anything."

"You're my baby sister and I love you." He said kissing the side of her forehead. "Everything I'm doing is so I can keep you safe, keep everyone safe."

"I know, but you're not the only one anymore. I can keep myself safe."

"Yeah, you and everyone else, huh?" He gave her shoulder a squeeze before moving away from her.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

"I need to talk to you about this?" Daryl said as she walked into Stefani's tent. She was sitting on her cot with her head in her hands. "Hey, you alright?"

"Fine, I'm fine. Jesus why does everyone keep asking me that?" She said fighting back tears.

"You don't gotta be fine all the time." Daryl said sitting next to her.

"What are we talking about? You want to go somewhere too? Drive all the way to Canada or something?"

"We don't have to go with them. It's dangerous to drive that far without knowing what's out there."

"We don't' have to go?" She turned, sitting on one of her legs in order to face his side. "You and me leave the group?"

"Can't be that bad an idea." He said glancing over at her.

"I can't. Shane's my family, and Rick he's been in my life for years. They might not be at their best right now, but I can't abandon them."

"You and Rick are close, huh?" He asked, turning his gaze down to the floor. "Seem to know each other pretty well."

"Yeah, we've been friends a long time." She leaned closer, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I know things are crazy right now, but I want you to come with us. I don't expect you to like it, or agree with everything they decide, but I want you there. I do, don't matter what anyone else thinks."

With that she kissed his shoulder before standing up and moving around the tent to pack away her things. I wasn't going to take long for her to put her clothes back in the duffle bag she carried, she couldn't help but shake out everything still hoping to find her necklace. It would make everything seem better if she had that safety net around her neck.

"If we get to Atlanta, I'm gonna go find Merle." He finally spoke up again. A small part of her thought he'd already left. "He might still be out there."

"Okay," this time she watched as he nodded and left the tent. She could feel him pushing her away again, but this time it felt right. It wasn't fair that she was attached to her brother's hip while he knew his was out there possibly fighting for his life, one handed. It would kill her if something happened to him and that thought scared her to death.