Beth sat across from Daryl, eating a piece of venison. He sat next to Carol who was also eating. Beth was tired of keeping quiet and she said

"So where will we be sleeping tonight?" Carol looked up and said

"Well I was thinking Daryl could stay with me in my apartment and I can arrange for you to have your own room." She looked up at Daryl, wanting to silently plead with him to not separate from her. He sat up and said

"Na-uh, I ain't leavin' Beth alone, we've come too far. I want her in my sight at all times." Beth smiled and looked over at Carol who looked surprised.

"Oh ok," she said, "I can find room for both of you in my apartment." Beth would have preferred them having their own separate room but they were lucky just to be here so she couldn't complain. Carol smiled and said

"Well you two can make yourselves at home, I have to go and help with the laundry. Feel free to take a walk around." Beth was thrilled to have some alone time with Daryl. Carol grabbed her things and left leaving the two of them in a ringing silence.

"Wow," she said, "I can't believe we found this place." If it was up to Beth she'd definitely stay here. They were better off staying here; it was a lot more than they had had at the prison. It seemed as if he read her mind and said

"We ain't stayin' here Beth," he said, "I'm not riskin' it. We can make it by ourselves until we meet up with the group. Carol can make her own choice on whether she wants to come or not."

"Everything here seems perfect," she said, trying to reason with him.

"It was that way with Woodbury," he said, "And look what happened."

"Please just take a look around a bit more."

The pleading look in her big blue eyes was getting to him. He knew there were no certainties back out on the road. Things could go bad in a split second like it had back in the house. But they barely knew anything about this place; they couldn't just put their lives into the hands of a stranger. He looked down at her. She was still looking up at him with a pleading look. He looked her over. Her light blonde hair was up in a messy bun. She looked so delicate, her thin petite frame wrapped in bandages. One thing could go wrong and she'd be gone forever. He sighed and couldn't believe he was giving in.

"Fine, I'll take a look around and think about it. But don' get your hopes up." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. He hugged back pulling her into him.

Beth looked around as she walked down the sidewalk. She and Daryl had split up to look around. He wanted to find out more about Richard, the town leader. It was strange to be walking down the street like everything had gone back to normal. People in the town were obviously close and knew one another because she kept getting looks from people never having of seen her before. She looked at the storefronts, most of which had been converted into first floor apartments. She came to an intersection. The rest of the road was blocked off by tall walls of storage containers, the road going through horizontally continued on both sides. She went down the right side. This place was pretty big, bigger than they needed. It was clear the buildings down this street were not being used although they had been cleaned out. When Beth peered inside one of the windows all she saw were empty rooms, not a walker in sight. It was probably a good idea, no matter what people were going to keep having babies and the more people that found the town would bring in permanent residents. There were no other people on this street and she turned around, to walk back to the comforting fantasy that everything was back to normal.

Daryl stood in the center of the town, which was a large shopping square. The old faded out signs of what stores used to occupy the square had faded out over time. A Mcdonalds, Tjmaxx, Shaws Supermarket, old reminders of the past. People moved around, seemingly busy with whatever task they had. Something Daryl liked to see was that people carried weapons with them. Mostly it was handgun tucked into people's back pockets or belts. The Governor had taken away his people's weapons. He heard a voice from behind him.

"Amazing isn't it?" He turned around to see Richard there, smiling at him.

"Ya," he said, unsure of what to say to the man. He decided to play it safe and said "Just glad to see Carol again."

"She's a survivor," said Richard, "Drove in here with a car packed full of supplies. Usually a lot of the people who find this place are starving, injured or near death. But Carol surprised us all."

"All?"

"We're a very close community here," said Richard, "It's great, everybody knows each other. Didn't take long for her to fit right in." Daryl looked at him. He looked trustworthy. He had a warm smile on his face; he looked like he had nothing to hide.

"What kinda town you runnin'?" he asked.

"One that gives people a chance to rebuild their lives," said Richard, "A long term and hopefully permanent place to call home." Daryl didn't reply, and he said "You and you're daughter-"

"She's NOT my daughter," said Daryl, looking up at him. Richard looked surprised at Daryl's stern tone and said

"You two would be safe here. We need as many people as possible."

"Why? To raise an army?" said Daryl bitterly, thinking back to the Governor.

"No," said Richard, "People feel more secure in a larger group, the more people the more this place starts to feel like the way life used to be." Daryl knew it was true. "I lost my wife when this thing first started," he said, "It was just us and five other people. We had set up a small camp in the woods. We had a few tents, no walls but we took turns staying on guard. She left the tent one night to go get a drink of water." Richard closed his eyes and continued. "I heard a scream and I ran outside. She had been bitten in the neck. There was nothing I could do to save her."

"I'm sorry," said Daryl.

"We've all lost somebody," said Richard. Daryl instantly thought back to Merle. "But I want this place to help people heal. To help them see that it's not over, life can and will still go on." Daryl wouldn't admit that he liked what the man was saying. He wouldn't be persuaded that easily.

"Thanks for all your hospitality," said Daryl, "But me 'n Beth are looking for people." He knew it wasn't that good of an excuse. He and Beth could easily stay in the town and continue to search for the others.

"Think about it," said Richard, "You don't have to make a decision now, just consider it." He heard someone call out Richard's name from across the square. "I'll see you later," he said, and with that he was gone. Daryl figured he should go look for Beth. He walked towards the main road. As he was passing by a store he noticed people were going in and out. He changed direction and went to stand outside the entrance. He could see rows of shelves inside. He went inside and was surprised to see the first row was clothing. All folded neatly on each shelf. The next was weaponry. There were boxes of different kinds of bullets, knives and to his satisfaction, arrows. Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all.

Beth continued to explore the streets. She wished Maggie were there with her, safe and sound. Where was her sister? Has she escaped with Glenn or were they also separated.

Maggie crouched in the grass, tightly clutching her gun to her chest. She had been alone for a week now, aimlessly wandering around, eating what she could catch and kill. But it clearly wasn't enough. Her clothes were falling off her. It seemed every morning she had to tighten her belt just a bit more to keep her jeans up. She had been with Sasha and Bob for awhile before they had been driven apart by a large herd of walkers. Now she was completely alone. Or so she thought. She tried to hide herself further in the grass as she heard approaching footsteps. The person didn't sound like they were walking normally. They definitely had a limp or having a hard time walking. It could be a walker. The figure emerged from the thick foliage. She almost dropped her gun, it was Glenn. Her Glenn. He was in bad shape. He was covered in dirt and blood. He was stumbling and his clothes were torn. Before she knew what she was doing she had sprung up out of her spot and was running towards him. She wrapped her arms around him, sobbing. She felt him bring his arms around her and they collapsed together onto the ground.

"I never thought I'd find you!" she said, her voice coming out in broken sobs.

"The people," he said, "The Woodbury people, they're all dead and it's my fault." She looked into his eyes. He looked utterly traumatized and in a complete state of devastation. She took his face into her hands and he continued to talk. "I tried to keep things together. The camp got overrun so quick there was nothing I could do," he said, looking off beyond her, like he was staring into a different world. "Some ran off into the woods, but most of them-" He couldn't finish his sentence before breaking down in her arms. "We've got to get out of here," he said with a shutter. Maggie thought of her little sister, of all the others. The thought of Beth brought more tears to her eyes. Her poor little sister. If Beth was out there alone Maggie knew there was slim chance she'd survive. Her sister had hardened up over the time they'd lived at the prison but Maggie knew Beth, having spent most time caring for Judith, wouldn't be able to get very far alone. She helped Glenn to his feet. She knew there was a road beyond the clearing she had been hiding in. They could take shelter in a car there for the night. She knew Glenn knew how to hot wire a car and once he had come back to his senses they could get moving.

Beth walked by a tall wooden fence. She heard Carol's voice talking. She stopped and listened.

"You found some old friends?" asked a woman, her voice was unknown to Beth.

"Out on a run, found them in the road. Beth, the girl, was in pretty bad shape but Daryl was alright."

"Is she gonna be ok?"

"Ya, just got cut up, the doctors said she should be fine, just has to let herself heal up."

"You used to know them from the prison you use to live in?"

"Ya, Beth was one of the kids there. She used to help me with laundry and care for some of the younger ones." Beth felt slightly insulted; as usual she was being lumped in with the kids. "Daryl and I have known each other since the beginning," she said, "We've always had a connection, maybe now that he's here we can finally get closer." She had heard enough and decided to go in. She pushed open the gate. There were six women, all sitting around a large pond washing clothes.

"Oh hey Beth," said Carol smiling, "Have you gotten a good look around?"

"I have," said Beth, "This place seems great, hopefully I'll be able to persuade Daryl to stay."

"I'll talk to him for you," said Carol, "He's hard to budge." Beth wanted to stay she could take care of it herself but she kept her mouth shut. "Let me introduce you to everyone," she pointed out each woman and told her their names. She came to the last girl who was much younger, around Beth's own age. She had dark brown hair, freckles and darker skin. "This is Lily."

"Nice to meet you," said the girl, smiling at her.

"Nice to meet you too," she said.

"Maybe tomorrow you can show Beth around town some more," said Carol, "But it's getting close to dinner, we should probably finish up here." Lily nodded and said

"I'd be happy too."

After dinner they made their way back to Carol's apartment. Daryl was ready to sleep, he hadn't done much but he felt mentally overwhelmed by everything he'd seen and learned about the town today. It was much bigger than Woodbury. But his thoughts quickly shifted to a much more pressing problem, where was everyone sleeping? When they walked inside the apartment he made a beeline for the couch.

"I'll sleep here," he said, sitting down. He could see the slight disappointment on Carol's face.

"Are you sure?"

"I'll sleep with you," said Beth, "I don't mind." As much as Daryl wanted Beth in the same room as him and within his sight he didn't argue.

They were all in bed an hour later. Daryl was the only one awake, his mind still running. When he finally did manage to fall asleep it was quickly followed by a dream.

This time he was eighteen. He was in the front passenger seat of a pick-up truck. His father was driving, a bottle of beer in one hand, his other on the wheel. He looked out the window. He knew the route they were on instantly. A minute later they turned onto a bumpy dirt road. An old trailer home came into sight. They parked in front and his father got out, not acknowledging Daryl's presence as he walked up the front steps. They were at his uncle's house, his father's brother. Every Friday his father would go to his uncle's to have drinks. He'd been doing it since Daryl was a kid. It was the only time Daryl still went to see his father since he'd moved out because if he went along for the ride that meant he'd get to see Irving, his four year old cousin.

His father knocked on the door and his uncle appeared. Just like his own father had been to him, he was abusive to Irving. His mother was long gone and Irving was in a similar situation to what Daryl had been in, only he had no other siblings. His father went inside, leaving the door open. Irving walked out onto the porch. He looked very similar to Merle, they had the same face, made the same expressions.

The two boys went around the back of the house where an old swing set was stood, rusted and broken. Irving sat down in one of them anyway, not swinging but just sitting. Daryl stood in front of him.

"How's everything?" asked Daryl.

"It's alright," said Irving, "When's Merle comin' back?" Daryl shrugged and said

"Ain't sure, my dad doesn't care much, I'm not sure he even knows." Daryl looked over at his cousin. He looked skinny, skinnier then the last time he'd seen him. His little jean overalls hung off of him. "Brought you somethin'," he said, pulling a bag full of squirrel meat out of his coat pocket. Irving's face lit up appreciatively.

"Thanks," he said, tucking it into his own pocket. There was a moment of silence before Irving said "Will you take me with you?" the question broke Daryl's heart. He'd love to have Irving with him but there was no way he could support a kid. He was barely earning enough to take care of himself. Wanting to give him hope he looked over at his cousin and said

"Maybe someday."

It would never happen. That next summer Irving and his uncle moved up into northern Tennessee and he never saw them again.

Daryl woke up, not as startled as he'd been after the last dream. He ran his hand over his face, remembering Irving's hopeful face. He was never sure what happened to them or if Irving was still alive. He'd wanted so much to look out for Irving as Merle had done for him. For awhile he had, bringing him food and giving him survival tips. Was he out there somewhere?

Thanks so much to all my supporters and reviewers :) Sorry for the wait. I got home and had to get ready to head back to college right away. Hope you guys enjoyed this one :)