I know, I've been away for so long! I've missed this. I really am sorry about that. The chapter just wasn't working and I must have written it about twenty different ways and I hated each one more than the last! So I took the summer off and now that it's cold again... I can cuddle up with my laptop on the couch and write for you guys.

Daryl watched her walk away and duck into her tent. He knew she was upset and who could blame her? He had been such an ass the night before, she probably just wanted to know why he had done what he had, and here he was, not even able to apologize for it. The fact of the matter was that he just couldn't take hearing her say that she didn't feel that way about him.

Still though, maybe he should talk to her, let her say it if it made her feel better. She didn't need to be carrying any other burden right now. He had taken a few steps towards her tent when Patricia stepped off the porch carrying a bunch of pill bottles and a glass of water.

Daryl stopped where he was, relieved that he could put off that conversation a little while longer. "Hershel find something that'll work?" he asked her.

Patricia smiled at him and laughed lightly. "I think so. You managed to bring back everything but the kitchen sink." Her voice became more serious. "It was a good thing you did, going out for these medications. Olivia's lucky to have a friend like you."

Patricia's words did nothing to ease the feeling of regret in his stomach. Shoving his hands in his pockets he looked off towards the fields. "Nothing anyone else wouldn't have done."

"Maybe," she said. "But not everyone else would have been as thorough as you about doing it. Anyways, I should get this down to her, the sooner she gets started on this the better. Dinner will be ready in a little bit, why don't you get cleaned up and head on inside."

Daryl nodded but didn't move from where he was standing. Instead he watched her walk down the hill towards the tents. He hated that he didn't know what to say to Olivia, that he felt so awkward around her. It had never been like that before. She had been the one person that he always felt at ease around.

So consumed in his own thoughts he didn't even hear someone approach. "You got a lot of stuff," Rick said behind him. "Hershel's really pleased with everything you managed to get."

"Yeah, the pharmacy was still locked up tight when I got there. No one had been through it yet." Daryl said, trying to cover his surprise.

"It was?" Rick asked. "Well how'd you get in?" When Daryl just looked at him, Rick cleared his throat. "Right, doesn't matter. Look, I want to get this thing with Randall done and over with tonight. I know last night didn't go as planned, but we can't have him here any longer."

"Last night didn't go as planned," Daryl repeated to himself. "That's the understatement of the year." When Carl showed up, urging his father to do it, Rick lost his balls and decided to hold off. "Wonder what made him change his mind?" he thought.

Out loud though, all he said was, "What's the plan?"

"I set up the noose in Hershel's shed, the one down by the gate. We can hang him there." Rick squeezed the bridge of his nose as if the words he was uttering were giving him a headache. "It's far enough away from everyone, but still close enough to where we've been burning the bodies. Shane's already gone to get him, he'll meet us down there."

Daryl couldn't help but wonder why Rick had insisted on waiting for him to get back. It was an easy enough thing to carry out on his own. Perhaps he needed to spread the responsibility around. "Fine," Daryl said, "Let's just get this over with." He hated what they were about to do, but like Rick he couldn't think of any other way out of it. They couldn't risk Randall telling anyone where they were.

They could see Shane walking across the lower field, shoving a protesting Randall in front of him. Even from where they were they could hear Randall was begging Shane to let him go, not to do this.

"Shut up!" Shane snarled as he gave the kid a particularly vicious push forward. "I knew I should have gagged you before we left."

Daryl heard Rick sigh heavily beside him. "Come on man, it's better not to drag this shit out." Daryl said to him.

"Yeah I know. I just keep thinking that there's got to be some other way so we don't have to do this. Damned if I can think of anything though."

Shane's shout kept Daryl from having to respond. "Glad you two are here. This one's been putting up a fight the whole way over here." He paused by the back of the shed to wait for them to join him.

"It's all set inside," said Rick. "As soon as we get in there, I just want it done."

"Wait!" A voice called out from behind them. "Wait!" All four men turned to see Dale hurrying down the drive, trailed closely by Glenn.

"Jesus," Shane muttered under his breath. "How the fuck did he know?"

Dale joined the others panting heavily. "Rick you don't have to do this. We can figure out another way," he pleaded.

Rick shook his head. "There is no other way Dale. We can't let him go and we can't keep him here. I don't like it either but..." his voice trailed off. Turning his back on Dale, Rick moved around to the front of the shed.

Dale wasn't about to give up though. As the other men followed Rick he tried again. "Rick-" Dale began, but before he could say anything else, he flew backwards as the sound of a gunshot boomed through the air.

Even as Dale fell, Daryl was already pulling out his gun and turning to fire in the direction the shot had come from.

"Get back!" Shane yelled out. "Get back around the side!"

Glenn and Daryl each grabbed one of Dale's arms and dragged him the few feet around the corner. As soon as Dale was shielded by the wood, Daryl turned back to cover Rick and Shane. The pair dove around the corner as bullets smacked into the wood by their heads. At least Rick didn't have to worry about Randall anymore, Daryl could see that he was laying face down in the driveway, blood pooling around his head. He had no doubt the hole in his skull had been courtesy of Shane.

"Dale alright?" he heard Rick ask.

It was Glenn that answered. "He's dead. They shot him right in the chest."

As Daryl fired off a rapid volley, he was gratified to see a man fall from behind a tree. "They're gonna pin us down if we stay like this!" he yelled out. "They're moving around to the left."

Shane jumped up from his crouched position. "I got it. I'll move around to the back, keep them from flanking us."

Rick nodded his agreement and Shane quickly moved off. "Glenn, you think you can make a run for it back to the house? Tell Hershel what's going on, and pack up all the supplies you can. We can't stay here any longer."

Daryl glanced quickly at him. Even though Glenn looked a little green about running through a barrage of bullets, the kid nodded quickly, "Sure, no problem."

Rick clamped a hand down on his shoulder. "Just move fast and stay low. If they start shooting at you, don't run in a straight line, and whatever you do, keep moving."

As soon as Glenn took off, Rick joined Daryl at the corner. "What do you see?"

"Two more, may be three, right over there." As if to demonstrate where he meant, a second man crumpled to the ground as Shane fired. "Shane's keeping them from moving around us, but they got good cover and this position ain't the best." Daryl paused for a moment. "How much ammo you got?"

"I got three shots and have two reloads so 15 total. You?"

Daryl winced slightly at the news. "I got three left here and one full clip so that's twelve." Seeing movement he fired off two quick rounds. "Ten."

"We gotta get a better angle." Quickly Rick glanced around the edge of the shed. "If I can make it to the door, there's a window inside. That'll give me a better shot. Cover me on the count of three."

Ejecting the clip with the single round left in it, Daryl snapped the full one in place. "Say when," he said.

Rick to a deep breath and counted it off. As he lunged around the corner, Daryl fired several times over his head, not bringing anyone down, but causing a shout of pain from the trees. He could hear the sound of breaking glass as Rick knocked out the window on the other side.

Daryl gnashed his teeth together as he waited for clean shots to take. Luckily, with all three of them now in differently positions, the shooters were exposing themselves more with every shot fired. He was down to his last two rounds when Rick and Shane simultaneously shot into the trees, causing two different men to slump to the ground.

Staying still for a moment Daryl listened for signs that there might be someone else out there. No sounds reached his ears but some instinct told him to stay still. His eyes swept back and forth along the trees. The darkness of dusk was causing shadows to deepen in the woods. Squinting at no particular spot he raised his gun. He could hear Rick calling out to him, asking if he was alright, but he stayed silent.

"Daryl! What the hell man?" He heard Shane call out. "You alright or what?"

It was the flash from the muzzle that told him where to shoot. He squeezed of his last two rounds and knew they hit home.

A string of truck driver profanities rose from the other side of the barn. Reaching down and grabbing the clip he had ejected earlier, Daryl slid his final round into the chamber as he hurried around to where Shane was cursing.

Just as he came around the back side, Rick hurried around from the front, dropping to his knees to take a look at Shane.

"Ugh!" Shane cried out as Rick pressed hard against his side. "Stupid! I know better than that. Expose myself like that."

"I thought they were all dead too," Rick said. "Seems like fate, considering that's how the last shootout I was in with you went as well. Think you got the better part of it though, bullet passed clean through."

Shane chucked then groaned. "Hey man, don't make me laugh, this shit hurts. Give me a hand up."

As Rick pulled Shane to his feet, Daryl became aware of a noise behind him and swiveled around. "What the-?" he whispered. Dale stood not three feet away, his feet shuffling slowly over the ground as his hands reached out longingly towards Daryl. There was no mistaking the glazed look in his eyes, Dale was dead. Without thinking he raised his arm and pulled the trigger.

Leaving Shane holding onto the shed wall for support, Rick hurried over, his gun drawn. Seeing nothing wrong he asked, "Why did you fire?"

Daryl jerked his head toward Dale's body. "He was up. Don't understand it, he wasn't bit."

"Up?" Rick asked quietly. Daryl just nodded in return. Rick looked like he was going to continue, but the sound of gunfire coming from the house had him rushing over to Shane. "We gotta get up there!"

Daryl scanned the fields behind him and felt his heart drop. Hundreds of walkers were coming from the back fields. "Shane! You got any extra ammo?" Rushing over to Shane's side Daryl grabbed the clip he was holding out.

"Go, we'll be right behind you," Rick said. "Just get everyone out!"

Daryl was off and running though, the moment his hand closed on the ammunition. Loading the gun as he ran, he scanned the area up ahead. There was a flurry of movement outside of the house and he could see people running back and forth between the house and cars. At least two people were shooting that he could tell. He wished he could see the campsite, to see if anyone was out there, but the house was blocking his view.

As he got closer, the truck and station wagon sped past him, to fast for him to see who was in them. He did see that the duffle bags he had just brought back with him had been tossed into the bed of the truck. Good, at least someone was thinking in all this chaos.

As he got near the house, walkers were everywhere. Daryl fired, covering Maggie and Glenn as they ran towards the hybrid, carrying bags of supplies.

"Is everyone out?" he yelled as he reached his bike.

"My dad's still up there!" Maggie yelled back. Daryl looked and sure enough there was Hershel on the front lawn firing a shotgun.

"Shit," he swore as the gun clicked empty. Reaching back into the saddlebag he pulled out the P226 that he had found earlier. "Hurry! Get out of here!" He called out. "This is my last clip!"

He could see Hershel by the porch still firing the shotgun, but the old man didn't show any signs of moving. "Hershel! It's time to go man!" he yelled. The old man just waved him off and reloaded.

"Don't worry, I got him!" Rick called out as he ran past him. "The SUV's still here. We'll get out in that!" Shaking his head in disbelief, Daryl spun the bike around and took off down the driveway. At the crest of the hill he stopped, and looked out over the farm.

His eyes narrowed as he saw something that looked like a horse at the edge of the tree line all the way at the other side, but then it disappeared and he thought he must have imagined it.

He turned to the right out of the driveway, hoping to make it out to the highway, but a mile down there were walkers everywhere. He tried to turn around, head through the town and pick up the highway on that side, but the road behind him was completely blocked. A particularly grotesque walker reached out toward him, the fingers that were stripped of all flesh scraped on the leather of his jacket. Daryl had just enough time to take in the half eaten face and the empty eye socket before he spun his bike back around. The walkers rushed up to him and pushed Daryl off onto a side street that was heading in the wrong direction from where he wanted to be.

It took him a few hours to find a way to backtrack to the town and when he finally turned onto Main Street, he breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully everyone would head to where they lost Sophia, there was no other place that they were all familiar with. He couldn't believe that they had been so stupid as to not have an exit plan just in case anything happened.

Twenty minutes later he whooped for joy. He could see Maggie's car up ahead, and he hit the gas and pulled out in front of them. Glenn's face lit up when he saw Daryl, the expression of happiness and relief unmistakable.

When the station wagon and truck pulled in behind them not even three minutes later, Daryl relaxed some more. Now all they had to do was find the SUV, and he was pretty sure he knew where Rick would be.

When he pulled up by the car that still bore the remnants of the sign they had made for Sophia, sure enough, the large SUV was there, Hershel and Rick. He heard the cars brake behind him and then people rushing out to see everyone else. Carl made a beeline for his dad while both Beth and Maggie ran for Hershel. Carol's voice calling for Hershel from the back of the station wagon broke up the reunion.

Daryl hurried over behind the old man to see what the problem was. Shane was lying down in the back seat of the station wagon, and Carol was kneeling over him, her hands covered in blood and pressed to Shane's side. "I think I've stopped the bleeding but I'm afraid of what'll happen if I move."

Reassuring Carol, Hershel removed her hands and began examining Shane and Daryl turned away to scan the faces that were crowded around him. He didn't even notice as Lori rushed towards the station wagon, pushing him aside. All he could think of was that the one face he really wanted to see wasn't there.

Grabbing Maggie's arm he whispered, "Livi? Penny?"

Her eyes met his for a brief moment before she lowered them to the ground. "I don't know," she said softly. "They were down in Livi's tent with Patricia when everything started. Patricia come up to find out what was happening when the shooting started and then she said she was going back down to get Olivia. I didn't see either of them again."

Daryl looked around at everyone else, hoping someone else would have something to say. They all looked at each other but no one was volunteering any more information. After a minute they started to take stock of who else was missing.

"Jimmy?" Beth called out.

"No, the walkers got him," Maggie said softly.

"Well what about Dale, Andrea?" T-Dog asked.

Rick stepped forward. "Dale was shot, he didn't make it."

"I saw Andrea go down," said Lori.

Daryl listened to what everyone was saying, but he felt as if he was rooted to the spot. Hershel emerged from the back of the car and said, "Bullet's gone clean through, but he's lost a lot of blood and he needs to be stitched up. We've got to get him someplace we can do that."

Those words galvanized Daryl into action. "I've got to go look for Livi. Just let me know where you're heading and I'll catch up."

Rick rushed forward. "Daryl wait a second. She's not going to be back at the farm, she wouldn't have stayed there."

Daryl simply snarled at him and stepped over to his bike. When Rick grabbed hold of his arm, he tried to shake him off, but Rick held on tight.

"Don't do this Daryl, we need you here with us." Rick took a deep breath. "Besides, where would you even start to look for her?"

Daryl opened up his mouth but nothing came out. Where would he even start looking for her? Frustration built up inside him. "The hell with you!" he snarled as he leapt off the bike. "She's out there somewhere and you want me to leave her?"

"Daryl, there's nothing that you can do," Rick said sympathetically. "You know that with a baby, in that swarm of walkers, chances are she didn't make it out of there."

It wasn't just his words that caused Daryl to stop pacing, it was that fact that no one else was speaking up. He realized that no one thought that Livi could have made it out of there alive.

Rick patted Daryl's arm awkwardly and moved off to check on Shane. "Listen up!" he called out as he was walking over. "I want to consolidate the cars. Let's get everything out of the truck and into the SUV or the back of the Hyundai. We can transfer Shane all the way to the back of the station wagon so he can lay down there."

As everyone started transferring the supplies from the truck to the other cars, Daryl sat there despondently on the bike. He had never imagined it ending like this, that after all those years apart, he and Livi would find each other in hell to end up only having a few weeks together.

As he thought about Livi, pictures of her flashed into his mind. How she looked when he first saw her that day in the woods, sitting on the couch at the cabin feeding the baby, bouncing a crying Penny gently. He was so focused on his memories it seemed as though he could actually hear Penny crying, that she was somewhere nearby.

"Daryl..." Carol said, "Do you hear...?"

She didn't need to say anything else. Daryl had already pushed himself off of the bike and was climbing on top of a truck to look around. He definitely heard a baby.

When he saw the horse emerge from the edge of the woods, the breath that he had been holding rushed from his body as though he'd been kicked in the gut. He scrambled down off the truck and rushed through the mess of cars to where she was.

He would have reached up and yanked her right down off the horse but she was holding Penny out to him.

"She's hungry and she's wet." Livi said tiredly.

Daryl passed the baby to Carol, and reached up to grip Livi's waist to help her gently down from the horse. When her feet hit the ground, she gasped and her knees buckled underneath her. Pulling her tight and hooking one arm around her waist, Daryl worked the straps of the backpack off of her. "T," he said as he pulled it loose and slipped her empty quiver over her head.

T-Dog rushed forward and grabbed the things Daryl was holding out. His voice broke as he said, "Damn Olivia, can't tell you how glad I am to see you."

Olivia smiled gently at him. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see all of you too." She turned her head back and tilted it to look up at him. "I'm especially glad you're here."

Daryl drank in the sight of her. Her copper colored hair was wild and had leaves and bits of branches stuck in it. There was a long, shallow scratch that ran across her right cheek and she had bags under her eyes. Daryl thought she looked beautiful.

As he stared at her, he felt this need to tell her how sorry he was about the other night. But even more than that, he felt a desire to kiss her. It was a pulling at the very core of him. Daryl forgot everyone else was there and started to lower his lips to hers.

"Well Livi, you sure know how to make an entrance," Glenn joked from behind him.

Daryl jerked upright, a slight redness on his cheeks. "Come on Livi, I'll help you over to the cars." He said his voice somewhat scratchy. He shifted, pulling her to his side so she could walk, but he kept his arm tight around her waist to support her.

"The horse!" she cried. "We can't just leave him like that."

"I got him," Glenn said coming forward. "I'll take off his bridle and set him loose. He'll be alright Olivia."

Nodding glumly she said, "Just doesn't seem right though. I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for him." Giving the horse a kiss on the nose, she let Daryl pull her away.

"Guess you got over your fear of horses then?" Daryl asked. "I remember you running away screaming anytime a horse got too close to you."

Olivia snorted. "You would remember that. It wasn't my fault I was traumatized. Anyways, let's just say I got over my fear of this particular horse."

Maggie approached them. "Patricia?" The young brunette asked hesitantly.

Livi shook her head. "I'm sorry Maggie. It happened so fast, there was nothing I could've done."

Maggie nodded and then walked towards Glenn tears in her eyes. Daryl watched as Glenn enfolded her in his embrace and pressed his lips to her hairline. He couldn't help feeling jealous that the kid was able to touch the woman he loved so easily.

The thought had Daryl missing a step and earned him a strange look from Livi that he didn't even notice. The woman he loved... was that how he'd describe how he felt for Livi? He knew he cared about her, and hell, he supposed he loved her in a way, they were friends. She had been the best friend Daryl had ever had. Satisfied that was all the thought had meant, Daryl pushed it out of his mind.

"Ohhh," Livi moaned quietly as he helped her climb into the back of the SUV. "My legs don't even feel like they belong to me."

Daryl chuckled, "You think they're bad now? Give it a day, there's nothing like being saddle sore."

"Great," Livi said wryly, "A new experience to look forward to."

Just as Livi was settled in the car, Carol came back with Penny. "Here you go, she's clean and she's hungry."

Reaching out for her daughter, Livi smiled and closing her eyes, settled back to nurse. As Penny began sucking hungrily, Daryl stood there for a moment, his eyes fixed upon the both of them.

He was amazed that the feelings of desperation and despair he'd had not five minutes ago were gone. That instead he felt light and hopeful. Against all odds, she'd made it through that, she and Penny both.

Now they just had to find someplace safe to hold up for a few days. They couldn't stay out on this highway forever. "Rick!" he called out. "What's the plan? Any idea which way you want to head?"

"Hershel said that there's a vet clinic in town, we'll be able to pick up supplies we need to stitch Shane up there, but I don't think it's a good idea to be hanging around here any longer than we need to, not after last night."

Daryl agreed. "Well we can head to the pharmacy that I was at yesterday. It should still be locked up tight."

Rick gave him a quizzical look. "Locked up? Then how would we get in?" Daryl simply smiled and pulled a set of keys out of his jacket pocket.