'I think there's someone ou'there -' Daryl said, furrowing his brow as he peered through the binoculars they kept in the guard tower.

Carol raised her sniper to look through herself.

'A car is coming.' She said. 'It's Rick! He's bringing someone in – him and Carl!'

Daryl threw the binoculars aside and hurried over to the hatch, throwing it up and climbing down. He jumped the last few rungs and headed out of the room, across to the yard. Rick and Carl had already disappeared inside as he got there, so he headed indoors, making for the infirmary. As he got there, he found Carl standing just outside; he looked nervous.

'Wha's going on?' he panted.

'There was a woman outside, fighting the walkers off. She passed out, me and dad brought her in,' explained Carl, glancing over his shoulder into the room beyond, 'Hershel's looking at her now.'

'She safe?' Daryl asked.

'I don't know... but I think so. She had the supplies with her, from the run. Judith's formula.' he said.

Daryl ran his hand over his beard, concerned. Glenn and Maggie had been out on a run that day – where were they now?

'She awake?' Daryl asked.

'No, she passed out.' Carl told him.

Daryl nodded. He trusted Rick, so if he had made the decision to bring this woman in, she couldn't pose a threat to their safety.

'Yer dad in there?' he asked, nodding towards the room.

'Yeah,' Carl said.

Daryl walked around him, peering into the room.

He saw Rick and Hershel standing together over by the cabinets, talking in low voices. His eyes moved over to the bed, where a woman was lying, and beside her was Beth. Beth was gently wiping the woman's face, cooling her and cleaning her. She was humming lightly as she did it, and Daryl was struck by the tenderness with which she worked.

They knew nothing about this woman, who she was, where she came from, why she had Maggie and Glen's supplies. His first instinct had been to mistrust, to be wary, but it didn't seem like that was Beth's. She turned to rinse out the cloth and he caught her eye. She held his gaze, her bright blue eyes seemingly piercing him. He looked back at her. There was something about her, something which made him uncomfortable. He couldn't place her in this world, in this life. Everyone he had grown used to, accustomed to, they all had their place. They were hunting buddies, fellow guardsmen, fighters or leaders. They all had their place and they all made sense to him. Carl had caused him some confusion for a while, but he saw him less as a kid and more of a fighter now, a miniature Rick. He could talk to Carl about the world they lived in without feeling like it was too much for him. That made sense. Beth was different. She wasn't a fighter, wasn't a hunter, they had no common ground and until recently Daryl had had no reason to even acknowledge her existence.

But somehow they had been thrown together. He could have just grunted his thanks and left it at that after his accident, but she had come back to take the stitches out, and he had offered to each her to fight, and some how she had begun to carve a place for herself in his mindset. But he couldn't quite understand why. He had nothing to say to her, nothing to interest her in and he was sure she would have nothing of interest to say to him, yet he always felt this strange urge to talk to her. She blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering down to caress her cheeks. When she looked back up, he nodded to her then turned to the men by the wall.

'Wha's goin' on?' he asked in his quiet tones.

'Found her outside the gates. She wont talk.' Rick said on a sigh, running his hand down his face.

'She bit?' Daryl asked.

'No,' Hershel told him, 'gunshot wound. Beth's cleaning her up.'

Daryl glanced back towards Beth, who caught his eye once more. She cast him a small smile.

'Call a meeting in the common room. Now.' Rick was saying.

Daryl nodded his understanding to Rick, then nodded to Hershel before glancing back towards Beth. She was still watching him, her head on a slight tilt.

. . .

His stomach was in knots as he reached the guard tower. He ignored Carol as she stared at him, ascending through the hatch, and frowned at her when she finally demanded 'well?'

'Some new chick,' he said, 'found her outside all busted up. Brought her t' the infirmary, Hershel's fixing 'er up.' He explained slowly.

'A new woman?' Carol asked as Daryl wandered over to the ledge, his back to her, looking out over the grounds.

'Is she safe? Who is she?'

'I dunno,' Daryl grunted, 'but Rick's called a meeting.'

Carol eyed his back for a moment, then decided to drop the questions. She could tell when he wasn't in a talkative mood, and she would find the information for herself from Rick in due course.

. . .

'There's a town.' The new woman was saying in a raspy breath as Daryl and Carol returned into the prison. She was on edge, like a trapped lion, her eyes darted from person to person, keeping her distance, her guard up. 'Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there.'

'Who were?' Carol said, 'Rick, what's going on?'

'This woman, we found her with the supplies Glenn and Maggie were sent to get. She reckons they dropped 'em'. Rick told her.

'A whole town?' Daryl said.

'It's run by this guy who calls himself The Governor- pretty boy, charming. Jim Jones type.'

'He got muscle?' Daryl asked, instinctively flexing and unflexing his hands into fists.

'Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall.' She said.

'You know a way in?' Rick asked.

'The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through.' She said.

She was softly spoken, but her eyes continued to move from person to person. Rick looked around the group himself, his eyes lingering on Daryl. Daryl nodded, understanding. They were getting their people back.

Daryl headed to his cell to grab his stuff and organise himself, but on his way, he found Beth in the corridor. She was beside herself, tears streaming down her checks from blue eyes swimming in water. She was flushed, her hair wild.

'Whoa,' he said, approaching her, 'wha's 'a' matter, girl?'

'My sister! They've taken Maggie!' she cried.

Ah Daryl realised, her sister.

'We're goin', me, Rick an' Oscar, we're gonna bring 'em back safe as anything.' He said.

'What if you can't?' Beth sobbed. She was frantically pulling at the hem of her shirt, her knuckles white.

'We can, we will,' he said firmly, 'aint no one gonna stop us.'

Tears were still pouring down Beth's face; the sight made Daryl's heart ache. He instinctively grabbed hold of her upper arms, forcing her to look at him. She did, her blue eyes wide and full of heartache, swimming with tears yet to be shed.

'I'm scared Daryl,' she whispered, her bottom lip quivering.

'Don' be,' Daryl told her, 'I'll bring 'er back m'self.'

Her face was so close to his, her soft pale skin shimmering with tears, her light eyelashes clumping together with the wetness. Daryl could make out a fine spread of freckles across her nose. Beth looked up at him, at the determined set of his face. Just seeing him, seeing his face so close to hers, feeling the strong, almost painful grip he had on her shoulders, the fierce determination in his eyes, made her a little more hopeful. Daryl was strong and fierce, he had saved her life only days before, if anyone could bring Maggie back, it was him.

'Please do,' she whispered.

'I promise ya,' he nodded.

. . .

Beth needed to be with her Daddy, but she also needed to be strong for him. She found him dry eyed in his own cell block, but she could see the fear etched into his face.

'Daddy!' she cried, rushing to him, the sound of her cowboy boots clinking on the hard, cold floor.

'C'm'ere darlin',' he said, holding out his arms, into which Beth folded herself, 'don't you worry about a thing. Rick's gone to fetch your sister and teach them all a lesson. She'll be fine. Glenn, too.'

'You think so?' Beth asked, looking up at him.

'Oh I know so,' her dad smiled down at her, pushing her hair back from her face.

Beth nodded and snuggled her face back in to his chest, trying not to cry. They had lost so much already, to lose Maggie would be to lose it all. She trusted Rick, but he was volatile. What if it went wrong? What if something happened to them? Or something had already happened to Maggie? It didn't bare thinking about. Rick knew what he was doing, and she could only hope he would see it through. Daryl was with him, too, and there was something about Daryl that she instinctively trusted. He had promised her, and she had believed him. Despite her despair, she had believed him. She closed her eyes, seeing his strong frame swim into focus, remembering the way he had pulled her to safety from the water, the way he had laid beside her, keeping her company for her own happiness, the way he had held onto in the corridor before they parted. He would save Maggie, and Beth almost believed he would save Maggie for her.

. . .

Beth and Hershel entered the prison common room, feeling the need to be with the others - sitting up alone was only causing them to worry more. As they entered the room, a commotion of noise seemed to rise up around them. They stopped, spotting Carl in the room, holding Judith.

'What was that?' Beth said, panic rising within her.

'That was from inside.' Hershel said, his blue eyes narrow over his white beard.

'Was that Carol?' Carl asked, rocking Judith lightly on his lap.

'She's out keeping watch in the guard tower with Axel.' Hershel said to the young boy.

'What if they came back in for something? What if they're in trouble?' Beth asked, her voice growing frantic. Her nerves were already frayed from worry about her sister. She looked at her Daddy, searching his eyes, willing him to tell her it was okay.

'Let's check the tower, see if she's there.' Hershel said calmly.

'How could anyone else get in?' Beth replied, looking desperately from her father to Carl.

'The tombs are filled with walkers that wandered in from outside. Someone else could have done the same thing.' Hershel rationed.

'I'm going.' Carl said, turning behind him to pick up his gun and passing Judith into Beth's arm. She received the baby openly, but she was shaking.

'I can't let you go down there.' Hershel said, stepping out in front of the young lad.

'My father would go.' Carl said.

Hershel looked at the boy solemnly for a moment, fully seeing the determined set of his face. He stood there, looking up at Hershel from his baby face, but the gun held firmly in his hand, the sheriffs hat meaning business on his head. Hershel swallowed, sighed, then nodded and stepped out of his way.

Beth turned to look at her father, her blue eyes wide with worry.

'You let him go.' she said once the door had swung shut behind him.

'What could I do?' her father said, 'he knows what he's doing.'

'He's a kid!' Beth implored.

Hershel shook his head and sat beside her on the stairs.

'Not any more. Neither of you are,' he said.

But Beth sure felt like a child in that moment; she was terrified, relying on the promises and the reassurances of the adults around her. She leaned her head on her father's knee, allowing him to stroke her hair. It was just the two of them again now, the two of them and Judith. She shut her eyes, allowing her father to comfort her.

'Oh, God! Donna? Is she dead? Is she dead? Baby?'

Beth looked up to see Carl and a group of strangers, looking worse for wear, fall into the adjoining room to where herself and Hershel were. She sat up, tightening her grip on Judith as one of the men placed the motionless body of a woman onto the floor and cried over her, another man and woman looking on, their faces ashen and bloodied.

'I'll take care of it.' Carl was saying.

'Whoa! Whoa, kid. Wait a minute.' The man said to Carl as he stepped forward. Beth could see Carl had stepped to stood over the body of a woman. She looked at her father, then silently passed Judith to him.

'She doesn't have that long.' Carl said to the larger man.

'Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? Who are you with?'

'Look, we can help you. First things first.' Carl said, motioning with his gun to the head of the woman.

'No, we take care of our own.' The man said seriously, putting a large hand on the shoulder of the sobbing man on the floor.

Carl nodded and stepped away, making his way to the door by which Beth was now standing.

'Who are they?' Beth whispered as Carl joined her.

'Found them in the tombs overrun with walkers,' Carl said, closing the door silently on them.

'Hey, what are you doing?' The woman who was still alive asked, suddenly spotting Carl closing the door.

'Kid, did you just lock us in here?' The man approached them.

'Open the door.' The woman said, beginning to sound frantic.

'This room is secure. You'll be safe. You have food and water.' Carl told them solemnly.

'Open this door.' The woman cried, grabbing the iron bars.

'I can't.' Carl said.

'Come on, man. We're not animals. Don't do this.' The woman pleaded. She looked past the two of them to see Hershel hanging back. Upon spotting the older man she increased her vigor, 'Hey!' she cried, calling to him, 'You can't just leave us in here! Open this door! Open it! Now!'

'Sasha!' the man called to the woman, 'Back away from their door and let the man go. Look around you.
This is the best we've had it in weeks. His house. We got other things to do.' Then he turned to look at Carl and Beth.

'We don't want any trouble.' He told them.

Carl nodded gravely, watching the scene unfold before him.

'Shouldn't we help them?' Beth asked Carl, watching those in the room crowd around the still body of the woman on the ground.

'I did.' said Carl.

Beth looked at him, her heart in her throat. It felt wrong to her to leave these people locked in a room when they were clearly in distress. Her nature told her to let them out, bring them food and supplies, help them. But she watched Carl, saw the guarded look on his face, and understood. The world wasn't the same any more, not everyone was a good person. It made sense to be wary, until they were certain they were safe. Carl knew so from his father, the two of them had a good balance of compassion and sense. Her mind turned to Rick, out in the open, under threat. She swallowed, hard. He would have kept them locked up, too. At least at first. Thinking of Rick out in the open forced Beth to think of Daryl, too, bringing forth the promise he had made her.

Please find my sister, she thought desperately, and come back to me.

She had meant bring Maggie back to her, but her mind seemed to alter her own thoughts as they came to her. Suddenly she wasn't sure who she wanted to see more.