A.N - Update: I've added a few lines before Daryl and the gang find the body up against the tree, the timing didn't match my next chapter - There has been 3 days of tracking in between them seeing the burn site and finding the tree body. Hope that clears it all up. xx

Rick Grimes stood next to the open grave wondering how they got to this, how his family were dropping like flies right under his nose. He felt the anger in his shoulders, he rolled them, shovelling the dirt burying another friend. Bob was dead. Mutilated and devoured right before his eyes. Sasha was cowering in his peripheral, her features blank but his keen eyes saw her hands shake around the cross she was making.

Rick ran his hands over his cheeks, his forehead, his chin and the nape of his neck; his hair was getting long and dirty, he could see his reflection in the dark glint of the glass, the gentle moonlight illuminated every flaw. Rick looked once more; he's ready. It was time to move again, after everything that happened over the last few days, they were lucky to be alive. The hunt for their missing few had turned into chaos in a split second. But one of their own, one of their kin had saved them..one Rick himself exiled. He regretted it, but if they hadn't gone their separate ways, Carol would have gotten caught up in the chaos too. She didn't, she reunited him with his daughter and saved them all and for that Rick was thankful.

Michonne was a ticking time bomb beside him, he felt her restless energy; they've been on the road too long, but they're not too far gone, not yet.

"Rick!"

The splintered group looked in the same direction, distracted by the loud smash, an ear piercing scream and screech of tires on asphalt. Rick could feel the ever present tension increase in everyone, their stances stiff and ready; always aware and prepared to fight tooth and nail to survive. He saw Maggie, Glen, even Abraham prickle, he knew he had to prove to Michonne that they weren't there yet, they weren't like their captors they weren't cold.

"Go."

It's over in a heartbeat.

There was pain. Blood. Shards of glass.

Daryl was thrown against the driver side window, his leg twisted at a painful angle it was trapped in between the broken seat and the dirt, bleeding and burning hot. The pain was so overwhelming it made his eyes roll back, plunging him to blackness again.

"You gon' let this defeat you Brother? Fuck, I thought we were supposed to be tough!" Merle. His sly sarcastic drivel echoed loudly in Daryl's consciousness, mocking and callous. "Get up! You wanna die out here? Pussy..Your leg isn't broken Darylina.."

A moment of relief brought him back to the scene. Walkers smashed and growled at the wreckage, trying desperately to reach them through the broken windows. It made him think. He wasn't the only one in danger; Beth!

She was crumpled in on herself, curled in a foetal position like a baby; Leaning forward to reach her he grimaced, a shocking ripple of hot pain shot through his chest and arm but the desperation in him overrode any pain he felt. Blood mingled with blood as he grasped her hand, holding the twisted digits in his own, begging silently for her to be alive. She can't die. He promised her she wouldn't die. Dixon's don't break promises..

"Dixon's fight for themselves Daryl. Leave Jailbait, she's done for. Leave or die like a bitch!" Merle sniggered, cackling harshly in Daryl's ear.

"Beth.."

A strangled gasp escaped Daryl as Beth's eyes flickered open and rolled around. The river blue pools had frozen over like the surface of a winter puddle, robbing them of their usual glow. She's in there, Daryl knew it, but it looked like she took a huge step back from life. Her face was scratched, the milky skin of her cheek was tarnished with blood; a slice of glass sticking out at an alarming angle.

"It's okay, you're okay." Daryl pressed, hauling himself over to her. His teeth sunk in and burst his lower lip, pain pulling in his leg. His fingers shook over her pulse, it was faint and flickering but it was there; the breath almost left him completely.

"It hurts!" Beth cried, strangled and coughing up red watery saliva. It scared him, flashbacks of Michelle's death hit him hard. No, she wasn't her..she wasn't going to die, he'd promised her that. With everything he had, he leaned over grunting in pain, looping Beth up into his arms and onto his lap, cuddling her head against his chest. They sat alone in the middle of the wreckage, out of the way of the reaching dead arms that were multiplying by the second.

"Daryl.." He stopped breathing then, recognising the look on her face almost before he saw the tears streaming down. She was giving up, her will for life was fading..

"Beth, you're fine. You're strong. " Daryl didn't realize he was crying until the black lapped at his vision, Merle appeared crouching in front of them, his bloody stump stroking Beth's hair, blood sluiced, slow. He didn't remember the last time he cried, if ever.

"Grab the supplies that you can! Watch your fucking back! Roamers are coming! Use the gun!"

"Merle.." Black mists swirled at the edges of his mind, closer and closer. The voices around him were fading by the second, his consciousness ebbed.

"Fuck. You look shitty!" A man laughed, Daryl couldn't see who. Whoever it was, was crouching in Merle's place.

"Isn't this...touching." The voice mocked. The man was watching as Daryl held Beth tenderly, he held her close and protective.

"She'll be alright." The man laughed, kicking him onto his back before leaning down. Daryl's eyes rolled painfully back into his head. Daryl felt the emptiness like a hammer between the eyes. The warmth of Beth was leaving him. His arms flailed, reaching, and burning for her..

"No!" Daryl groaned. No matter how hard he tried, Daryl couldn't reach through the darkness that yanked around his vision.

The voices were louder, panicked and gunfire erupted. There were shrieks and then one whisper.

"You should have taken better care of your girl buddy. Looks like you don't have to worry about that anymore.. "

The darkness finally took him, screaming and kicking into oblivion.

Her arms ached. No matter how she moved them, they were impossibly numb. Someone could have cut them off and Beth wouldn't feel a thing. She was confused, exhausted and in horrible pain. She could vaguely feel blood drying on her head; Her arms were the least of her problems, the head wound was throbbing and every bump made it pound. Beth could tell by the cold metal beneath her body, the shifting motions from left to right, the revving of the engine, she knew she was in transit and had been for some time. How did she get here? Beth's brain was fuzzy, the last detail before blackness was Daryl, his strong arms and a wave full of pain.

Beth panicked and wriggled the best she could, the pressure of the plastic ties wrenched around her wrists. She jerked back. If only they would break. The musty cramped space filled her nose and she wondered where she was. Her mouth was bone dry, it ached when she tried swallowing; Beth knew screaming wasn't an option, she wasn't even sure her throat would allow such a noise. All she could do was wriggle fretfully around her restraints..it didn't do a thing.

She was sure they had stopped, and when the trunk opened she was blinded by a torch light. She could see someone, a man by the looks of things, the black spots were making it hard to make out much of anything.

"Daryl.." Beth whimpered instinctively, hoping that he'd be here. He wasn't.

The man said nothing. He dug his nails into her cheeks, the black dirt covered ovals pushed deep. Her scream was stifled. Beth could hear him panting, smiling down at her with wild eyes and a row of yellow teeth; Beth grimaced at his smoke laced breath. It enraged the man above her and he snarled - He didn't have to speak, he didn't tell her not to fight, not to say a word; his fingers did all the work clinging, hooking and crushing, threatening to unhinge her jaw if she even thought to move. That's how she remained, silent and breathing through her nose, through the pain. Until he grabbed her by either side of her ribs, throwing her with disregard over his shoulder, his fingers digging into her thigh, another silent threat.

She screamed, whimpered and cried to no avail, the dirty rag between her teeth restricted any audible sound. It was useless, her efforts only made him hold on tighter; she took a deep breath and focused her eyes in the weakening dark to get her bearings. It was just trees, bushes and dirt..nothing stood out, there was nothing she could do but hang there, the pain getting worse minute by minute until the blackness ebbed on her vision again. But she didn't have time to pass out, her small shivering body was thrown down, knocking the wind out of her lungs with a violent gasp.

"We've got ourselves a new recruit lads!" It was the first time Beth had heard the man speak. His voice was nothing like she imagined, it was light and happy. The air erupted in jeers and a few claps. A crowd of mostly men stood around her, they had that same mad look in their eyes as he did. The camp looked well guarded, a blonde man and a few other well built looking people stood around a perimeter of barbed wire and stakes of wood, eyeing the darkness for Walkers. But, to Beth's surprise there weren't any.

Beth couldn't move from her place on the ground, the gash on her forehead and bound wrists restricted her movement still. The glass in her cheeks was gone, and replaced with an uncomfortable band aid. The dirty long haired man above her held her there with his gaze alone, his eyes were a creepy wild almost yellow and Beth noticed something she hadn't before, something about his face.

"Aphid. Clean her up." The man barked and a woman skulked over. Her hair was covered in a scarf, her mouth also hidden by a bandana, the arrangement of the materials made her piercing green eyes stand out. She didn't speak, she just slipped away..returning with a grimy box full of antiseptic wipes. Beth sucked in a sharp hiss as the cold stung her broken skin, another bunch of band aids were haphazardly stuck over her wounds. Beth couldn't stop herself shaking under the woman's touches and she laughed.. shoving her back into the dirt with a mud covered shoe.

"Why.." Beth whimpered as they surrounded her. Every person was linked, their hands holding the person next to them. It was silent all but the crack of the fire...until they started to chant

"Walk away slow or they'll tear you apart, and laugh all day long as they rip out your heart.

Golden eyes will see you if you try to stand still. The Screelings will get you, for the Keeper they kill."

It struck deadly fear right into Beth's heart like a punch, the man's yellowy eyes met hers as he crouched in front of her, his black nails gripped her jaw again. He stroked her hair and Beth shuddered, fearing the worst but fear turned into shock and nausea as he pushed her hair back from her face. It was glinting and glowing under the orange light of the fire..

"No..please. No, no, no.." Beth screamed, struggling against her bonds which just scratched her skin more. She tried to escape the searing heat but he kept moving, until she was on her back, pinned by his legs on her ribs. Somehow she'd ended up how she started the night before; pinned down, helpless and weak. The man got closer, the laughs and whoops of delight got louder and louder in her ears and suddenly it was blistering, the glow shone next to her face.

A branding iron.

She recognised it. It was a specially made for cattle but it'd been manipulated. Before Beth could make it out, the man's hand ripped at her top and slammed his forearm into her throat. The woman who'd cleaned her up was holding her legs and in that moment Beth wished for something...an urge long buried. The iron sizzled and the smell of burnt skin flooded her senses, the milky white skin under her collar was boiling..

She wished for death.

Daryl's consciousness receded like an outgoing tide, pulling him under the waves. Sounds were muffled like he was trapped under water, or in a tin can, he couldn't be sure.

"Daryl? Oh my god, Daryl!"

He was drowning in the voices as they changed; female, male, frantic, young and the last oddly calm, smooth and familiar.

"Daryl.."

Rick's face fell faster than a corpse in cement boots, he glanced nervously at Daryl who still couldn't figure out who he was, crouched and covered in blood in front of him. Rick directed a nervous looking Glen who was as much covered in blood as he was. If they were a few seconds later their fallen friend would have been ripped to pieces; and after the events of the days prior, that thought was just too hard to deal with. Thank the stars he's okay. Rick mumbled inwardly, lifting a now unconscious Daryl's legs, aware of the blood pulsing out of his calf.

"Who's that?" The ginger tower of a man boomed down, squinting at the bloody mess of a man that was being hauled into the back of his pick up.

"Daryl!" A woman yelled, running over; she slammed her hands down into the glass of the pickup. Abraham had seen her at the church, cuddling Judith..Carol was it?

Rick intervened quickly, holding Carol by the shoulders. She looked grief stricken, her delicate features twisted in concern and pure relief.

"We have to get him away from here, patch him up back at the church. Gabriel has some supplies. We need to go."

They did. The pickup went rushing away, screeching into the horizon.

When Daryl awoke the pain was still there, throbbing and intense but he was no longer in the wreckage. There was no wind and no noise. Daryl was careful to be silent and he looked around, painfully aware of a bandage around his head. He was on a bed of some design, it was against a wall and an empty chair sat next to him, accompanied by a large pile of bibles and story books. Propped up on it was a bottle of water, a silver packet of aspirin and a gun... He knew that gun. An old fashioned Colt Python.

Rick.

Daryl groaned in relief and pain; he'd found them. He couldn't remember how, his memory was a jigsaw; blue, gold and red pieces that wouldn't fit. His groan must have attracted attention and Rick walked in; his face was coated in a thick brown and grey beard, his mouth twitched sideways briefly. It was familiar but something Daryl couldn't place was different about Rick Grimes.

It wasn't in his posture as he sat in the chair next to his bed, it wasn't in the way he took a breath, hunching over to speak...

"What happened to you?" It wasn't in his voice either. His question was simple but Daryl didn't know what the answer was, the pieces of what happened didn't fit. It infuriated him.

"Can't remember..damn..fuck it." He growled, groaning against the shot of pain that now coated his body. He managed to sit against the wall, getting a better look of the man in front of him. It was in his eyes. Something wasn't right.

"We got attacked, trying to find you. Locked up in a tin can..Carol saved us. Bob died." Rick spoke solemnly, answering Daryl's unasked question.

"Don't try to stand.." Daryl fought the urge to defy the half hearted order but pain won out and he slumped against the wood. Since when was he this weak?

"We found you in an RV, it was pretty messed up. It's a damn miracle.." Rick huffed out a humourless laugh, muttering something about Dixon's under his breath.

It was like a lightning bolt of reality hit him behind the eyes. Rick looked alarmed, scanning his face as realization took him back; The screaming, the crunch of the metal..Beth.

"Beth. Where is she?!" Daryl near but shouted it, alerting more people to the small doorway. Rick shot them a look.

"We..I..Don't know.." Anger rushed through Daryl. His body burnt as he shoved himself upright and off the bed, stumbling over books only to fall into a heap onto the floor.

"She was in the RV.." His voice was back inside the tinny walls of his consciousness, it was slipping. "Maggie and Rosita went out looking after we found you..they're not back yet." Rick's voice was as cool as usual, calm and level headed.

"I'm goin'.." Daryl muttered, hauling his heavy body to his feet. The harsh pain in his calf did little to suede him not to, as did Rick's clipped voice as he walked into the wide space of the church. There were a few gasps from people that sat on the pews or on the floor; Michonne looked vaguely concerned but knew Daryl enough to know this would have happened eventually, Daryl wasn't one for bed rest. A few people he'd never seen before stood stoic across the room, his outburst had stopped whatever work they were doing outside. One man was the size of a giant, with bright red hair and a handlebar stash to match, the other person behind him was much smaller he was medium build and visibly sweaty, he looked out of place and meek. Then there was...

The woman he'd been unconsciously scanning for gasped and put a thin hand over her mouth. Daryl hobbled over the best he could to meet her in the middle; her greying hair ticked his head, he dropped his own into her shoulder. Relief, sadness and anger blurred into one urge; uncharacteristic tears left him. He was so glad she wasn't dead...

"Sit down Daryl. Maggie and Rosita are out there, they'll find her. It's not your fault.." Carol seemed to know just what to say. She was different, harder but that warmth was still there, there was that glow again..similar to Beth...but vastly different.

Daryl did as he was told, silently but observing everyone from their corner in the church. He sat on a pew with his leg up, letting Carol patch it up again after a 'walk' around the perimeter turned into a run.

Everyone had wound down, sitting crunched into their own corners; the mountain who he came to know as Abraham stood, leaning against the alter glugging from a bottle of red wine like nothing was wrong. The meek sweaty guy was half asleep on a pew not far away. Rick, Carl and Michonne were stretched out playing with Judith on the floor - it was a picture, it looked at bit like before but not. Daryl's keen eyes could tell that there was a tension running through every person there. He turned to Carol who was already looking down at him expectantly.

"I'm a'right." he paused, chewing over the words.

The slam of the church doors made everyone spin. The words he was about to say had been obliterated by the sight of two women; Daryl's stomach dropped to the floor, splattering onto the ground with a disgusting thud.

Maggie was shaking, her face, hands and shirt were covered in blood. Glen was by her side in an instant, tailed closely by Abraham who enveloped the other woman into a crushing embrace. Daryl watched as Glen tried to get Maggie to speak, but she just spluttered, words becoming tears and sharp bursts of breath. The brunette fell into Glen's arms, dropping something on the way down; Daryl was there in an instant, glancing wordlessly at his hands; Beth's shirt, it was covered in blood and bits of black..ash?

That wasn't ash.

The air was sucked out of the room, everyone was looking his way the same pale white shocked expressions on everyone's features.

"She's...alive.." Maggie rasped. Daryl had known Maggie for a long while, but he'd never pegged her for a liar.

"There's...burnt skin." The anger was storming, manifesting as violent shakes over his whole body. There were a chorus of what's and expletives flying around, mostly out his mouth but no one was worrying about that now.

"There's burnt skin and blood..Good lord.." Daryl wasn't sure he said it out loud but by the looks on everyone's faces he must have; they were silent now.

"We're going back." Maggie spluttered, hauling herself out of Glen's arms to stand shakily in the middle of the church.

"We..We found a camp it was deserted and the fire was just stamped out. They were just there, we need to go now!"

Daryl watched Maggie fall apart, crying like she'd been searching since the prison to find her sister, but Daryl knew that wasn't true. He didn't even know why he came to that conclusion; maybe it was the slight hint of guilt on Maggie's features when she cried, the shake of her hands as she clutched onto the cardigan. Maybe it was the sentence itself... She's alive.

Maggie watched attentively at Daryl who hobbled about, stewing, watching as the rest of the group packed up, ignoring the grumbles of Abraham about Washington. There was only one thing they were doing now, one thing that's important; Finding Beth.

..

Daryl struggled to get control by the time they halted. He still felt the rage that warmed him, it hadn't abated since Michelle died, but was worse now. He wondered if it showed on his face; most likely not. He'd become quite the professional at maintaining one facial expression over the years. He'd listened but stayed silent on the journey, watching the scenery roll by in the blur of green.

A high white moon cast its light onto the ground below, slicing through the trees like a blade. It shone onto a camp, the camp Beth had been...Daryl shoved that thought down, locking it away; she wasn't dead, just gone. They'd get her back.

Rick was eyeing him, waiting for his reaction but there wasn't one.

"There's tracks, male, slight build." Rick was watching him, they all were, even the ones that were scouting the area glanced at him out the corner of their eye. It was a look of, contemplation with a splash of something else he couldn't quite get a handle on.

He pondered over the other tracks, there were maybe..ten different people..mostly male but there was one set of tracks that weren't as heavy. The tracks of a woman; his stomach flipped at the thought, woman. He never thought of Beth as a woman, not really not until he saw her that night at the prison..maybe not even then, he didn't know, didn't care.

"They're not Beth's tracks.."

"But these.." he mused, poking around the ash that littered the fire pit, it looked like..when you get out of bed and there's a marking on the sheet; he couldn't stop himself from saying it out loud.

"She curled up about here" He pointed, everyone gathered quickly "Curled up real tight, then.." That sinking feeling, returned with a vengeance as the marking blurred into something else..

"She was dragged.." Daryl grunted, the dirt was scratched, she'd fought hard..

Girl. Little fighter..

"She fought, hard. There's scratch marks in the ground..she fought." Daryl felt the ghost of a smile, trying to keep the emotion off his face. Thankfully no one seemed to notice.

"We track them. No car. I'll do it."

"I'll go with you." Instantly Maggie stepped forward, eager and full of energy. It instantly got his back up, bristling and angry under the skin. Daryl started to turn away, until Rick swarmed through the others with Carl in tow;

"We all go. That's the deal...We all go.."

Part of him didn't believe it, the look on Abrahams face with the other strangers did nothing to convince him that they had a hand in this decision. He felt a cold resentment singing through him, staring at the people he'd come to know as family. In that moment he wanted to run and fast, away and towards Beth. They didn't understand, it didn't seem to him that they'd been looking at all..and now they care?

Carol shot him a pleading look before she followed him into the forest, the others ignored his angry grimace.

"Be quiet, whistle if you see anything.."

With that it fell silent, eerily so; they all walked low and carefully on the ground but their steps were like elephants feet to compared his.

The sun rose and dipped twice before they came across any more tracks. Daryl was getting angrier and more pessimistic by the hour; Every hour that passes is more of a chance Beth is dead.. He didn't want to think about that possibility; it was too much.

The sun dipped once more before the tracks started up again, flooding from the road nearby.

There were tracks, a lot of them...human, no walkers, that was weird. It left a horrible sinking unease that he abruptly shook off. His feet were steady, he didn't even flinch when his foot stamped over another fire pit, empty cans and packets of instant soup he could just made out.

"Daryl-"

Rick's voice redirected his attention, he'd stepped to the side of the trees crouched down into a small clearing his hands were rubbing over his beard, he did nothing to hide Carl's face from the horror above him. The others hung back, but Maggie, Glen and Carol stood around Rick and himself with horrified faces;

Daryl had seen more than his fair share of violence in his time, at the hands of his father, Merle, The Governor but this was horrifying. Carol had stepped to the side, coughing and gagging into a bush. Glen had shook slightly and Maggie sat hard on her backside breathing into her hands, tears shined down her face.

A slim black teenager was strung up against a tree; ropes lashed around his stomach, chest and knees holding him to the bark. His what used to be a face lulled forward, coloured blue, black and a ghastly red. His body was mangled, the red strings were like a waterfall down his lower body. He'd been beaten and left to be eaten alive..

"Oh god.." Maggie's voice shook with horror. The body started to move, snarling quietly..it had to have happened recently. Daryl didn't even have to think to know that whoever did this had Beth. There wasn't hard evidence except the cardigan but Daryl knew..the light he'd felt so purely when he was with her had been snuffed out. The feeling he'd had watching Michelle die was there with a vengeance, haunting him; it was cold and empty just like her eyes.

Rick stood now, turning away from the body;

"Who the hell are we dealing with..."

Hey there!

Honestly this was so hard and difficult to write, it was like walking through mud! I hope you enjoyed it and are liking the story so far. I'm not sure how I'm doing writing Daryl because I've never done it before and I love his character so much I want to do him justice. There's so many other writers out there that do an amazing job and it makes me concious of my own writing so hopefully I'm doing him justice. Can you hazard a guess who Beth is with? and the tree guy? :P Also if anyone's interested the chant is called Screeling by Terry Goodkind; if you image search it it'll give you a clue as to who she's with ;)

Anyway, I'd love to hear from you; review are fuel to my writing fire! I have some assignments to work on so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, sometime soon though. Please feel free to message me and review with opinions and all that jazz. If you want to find me on Tumblr I'm called - InkandPaperDreams xx