Their enemies were closing in, they had limited time before all three would be dead. Daryl was shot, Kara frozen in fear. 'Belle was out of ammo and low on knives. They were all exhausted, but 'Belle was the only one who could stand up to them, but she had to make sure Daryl and Kara were safe first. She grabbed the emergency bag and thrusted Kara in Daryl's direction.

"Go! Ah'll stall 'em an' catch up with ye!" she instructed.

"I ain't leavin' you!" he told her seriously, looking behind her.

"Ya gotta take Kara an' get outta here!"

"I ain't doin' it 'Belle!"

"It's our only chance!"

"What about Kara?! She needs her mom!"

"She'll be fine! She's got her daddy!"

Daryl's eyes were wild at her last words. He didn't have a chance to say anything else, she had already turned towards the men from the fort. She unsheathed her katanas, getting ready for battle. Daryl had to do something, he couldn't let 'Belle fight them all on her own. He tried reaching for her, but she had already moved. He had no more arrows on him, only his knife and a bleeding leg. He moved Kara behind him, ready for any that got passed 'Belle. He wasn't leaving her, not after a bomb like that. Her eyes told him the truth, and he had to find out what happened. She was doing pretty good on her own, only three of them ran around her and towards Daryl.

'Belle was well aware that her daughter was behind her with Daryl. She should have kept her mouth shut, but at least it gave her the freedom to deal with these guys. Only three more left, and she only suffered minor wounds. But then they would have to run, and Daryl's leg would give them a trail. She had to think of something fast before more came. It only made sense that if the ones sent out didn't return, more would come. Would they ever give up? 'Belle couldn't take the chance that the two of them had broken their spirits. If anything, it made the situation worse. But the last of them were dead, and she was out of breath. She wiped off her blades and sheathed them, dropping to her knees from pure exhaustion.

Taking only a few moments, she forced herself back up, grabbing their bag and walking over to Daryl. His head was down, he was tired too, and losing blood. She ripped a piece of her sleeve, tying it tight around his leg. She the pulled one of his massive arms around her neck, supporting him. She was thankful that he at least held up most of his own weight. Kara at her side, she started back towards the abandoned by now house. One she got into her car, she'd feel safe again, but it would take at least another day to get there with Daryl's injury. She had made it to their camp of the night before.

"Stay here, sugah, Momma'll be right back," said 'Belle.

"Where are you going?" asked Kara.

"Lead them nasty boys off our trail."

Daryl grunted, moving to start a small fire. It was freezing where they were, but at least they were safe for now.

"Does it hurt?" asked Kara.

He looked at his daughter, her eyes wild with all the excitement the past day, "Yeah. Your mom will fix it."

"She can fix anything."

"I bet she can," said Daryl. He went back to his work, "Your mom ever mention me to you?"

"No. I didn't know about you until that day she brought you guys back to the house."

He was hurt by those words, and only surprised that it pained him. Why didn't 'Belle tell him? Surely she knew? But maybe she didn't. Maybe she found out weeks after he left, and she would have no way of knowing where he went. It would make sense as to why she was so mad about him leaving, why she hated that him and Kara got along. 'Belle didn't see anything different, just what she knew from the past. He had never returned, not wanting to run into her, so for years this young girl grew up without him. It wasn't fair, and he felt terrible for what he did. Even worse than before. But what was he supposed to do now? Did Kara even hear what 'Belle had told him a few hours ago?"

"So you never knew that you had a dad out there?"

"No."

"And it didn't bother you?"

"Well.. sometimes. I did ask momma once, but.. I could tell it hurt her to think of you."

"How did you know it was me?"

"She said I had you if she died. No offense, but I'd rather keep my momma around right now. I don't know you all that well."

"S'alright. I ain't gunna force ya to wanna be around. Just wish your mom told me."

"Ah got mah reasons," said 'Belle, joining them again.

"That's what y'always say."

"Ah ain't gettin' inta it now. It ain't a good time."

He was silent, agreeing with her. Talking about it in front of Kara wasn't a good idea, neither was it a good idea to start screaming at each other so close to the fort. He looked at Kara, looking for features that would have give her away, but he couldn't see any. Maybe the hair, it grew like his, had the same thickness. He was brought out of his thoughts by 'Belle untying the make shift tourniquet. She pulled out some pliers, ripping apart the clothing and looking for an exit wound. There wasn't one, she'd have to pull the bullet out.

He watched her as she worked, putting the pain from his mind. She separated his skin enough and pulled out the bullet. He grunted in pain, trying to keep his voice down. Kara was watching intently, while 'Belle poured some alcohol on the wound. It stung a lot, but it needed to be cleaned. She bandaged it up tight for now. The bleeding had to stop before it could heal properly. She grabbed him pants, tossing them at him. He caught them, his eyes never leaving her.

She avoided his gaze, not wanting to get sucked into a conversation that she knew was inevitable since she had spoken. She panicked, wanted Kara to be safe. She knew it was better to have not told him about Kara, but she was desperate to protect her daughter. She didn't really think that he would go, but she had tried anyway. She wished she had kept her mouth shut, it would have made things less complicated. Now if 'Belle had any hope of leaving one day, he would have more of a reason to keep her with him. Stupid. If only she could go back in time, heck, maybe she'd tell him before he had left. But it was all up in the air now, and she was hoping that the conversation could wait until they reached a safer haven.

...

The day was warmer than the last few, and that made 'Belle feel a lot better. They covered more ground than expected, stopping only to hide their tracks. They encountered more walkers today, but it was nothing compared to those people that chased them. 'Belle scouted around them most of the journey, making sure there were no surprises. She wasn't sure how close to the house they were, but she knew that they wouldn't make it tonight without any sleep. They were almost out of food too, and she was hoping Rick and the others had thought to leave some in the car.

"I'm tired momma," said Kara.

"We'll get to the car tomorra," said 'Belle.

"Tonight," said Daryl.

"Not a chance, sugah."

"We can if we walk the rest of the night."

"Kara can' handle that."

"She can, it's not that much farther if she stop at our first camp."

"Not far for us, far for her. She's alreadeh tired an' can't handle walkin' all night."

"I'll carry her if I have to, I want in that car tonight."

"Ya can barely walk on that leg! Ah ain't gunna let ya make it worse!"

"You can fix it when we get far 'nough away from here!"

"Momma, I wanna get to the car sooner, I'll keep walking, you guys don't need to fight," said Kara.

"Fahne! But the minute ya feel ya can' walk no more, ya tell meh and we stop for the night!" 'Belle yelled her response mostly at Daryl.

'Belle had never even considered Kara's feelings about her father. If 'Belle was ever going to mention it at all, she was hoping to talk to Kara on her own instead of blurting it out in a high strung environment. What a mess she created, and now she'd have to pick up the pieces not only with Daryl, but Kara as well. And then there was the two of them, how would they handle it being around each other knowing the truth? Fuck, what a huge mess. Why did she have to open up her mouth? How was she going to fix it? She knew she would just end up fighting with Daryl.

They pressed on, 'Belle worried about Kara. The sun was going down, so she knew that they had the rest of the night. It was cold tonight, but not nearly as bad as the past three nights. She was exhausted, as she knew that everyone else around her was. At least they would cover the ground getting to the car. They had to drive before they'd be able to sleep peacefully, but at least Kara would finally be safe. She could deal with the rest of her shit later, this was more important. The moon was out in full, making their path very clear. No point in hiding their tracks anymore, by the time anyone caught up, they'd be long gone. She was finally starting to feel safe.

They had come onto the property of the house. 'Belle could see that the others had gone off, and the reason why. Lots of walkers, but nothing they couldn't handle. It was at least better than sticking around for more to show up. 'Belle noticed that her truck was still there, and it was all ready to go. At least that would make it an easy get away. 'Belle didn't have enough knives to take out many of these fuckers, so they would have to tread carefully.

"Stay quiet Kara, an' get inta the truck first chance ya get," 'Belle whispered. The young girl nodded, following her parents out into the open. It didn't take long for them to get noticed, it was an open field and Daryl's wound was still fresh. It was pretty easy to get to the truck, where they happily drove away from that terrible place. 'Belle breathed a sigh of relief as she followed the tire tracks from the other vehicles. They couldn't be that far, but she was confident that they would find them.

She could see the sun start to peak up through the horizon. She found a place to hole up, the truck practically invisible with the car on the end of it. Kara was fast asleep in the back, wrapped up in a blanket she had retrieved from under the seat. 'Belle smiled, looking at her daughter with tired eyes. She noticed that Daryl was also sleeping, probably from exhaustion and blood loss. She pulled out her first aid kit, taking off his shoe and rolling up his pants with ease. She didn't want to wake him, but his wound needed cleaning. She carefully peeled back the old bandage, happy that his shot wasn't infected. It had bled a little, so she cleaned it up, wrapping fresh bandages on it. When she was finished, she put her things away and grabbed the blanket from under the seat. She unraveled it, placing it on him and pulling his feet up so that he could stretch.

She sighed lightly, getting ready to sleep on the floor of the truck. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he had grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him. He pulled the blanket over her freezing skin, keeping her close. They didn't speak, she was too tired to bother with it at the moment. He wasn't going to pester her right now, there was time for that later when they had actually slept. And sleep they did, intertwined with one another after a long few days.

...

sorry for the late update, thanks for your patience!