Michonne, Rick and the others lost Merle's trail and were heading home. At least, they knew, that he was gone. They were, however, surprised, when they heard Daryl's cycle start up and saw him driving away from the prison. Rick was worried that he was going off after his brother, so they started jogging, waving their arms at him to flag him down.

They raced to the road, but Daryl just blew by them, not even glancing their way. They all stopped to watch the tail lights on his bike disappear. Rushing inside, they hurried into the cell block but stopped when they saw everyone standing around talking quietly in the main room.

"What happened?" Rick asked, his face a mask of intensity.

"Daryl left." Hershel stated, looking at the teary-eyed Carol who stood chewing on her lip behind him.

What do you mean, left?" Rick asked, trying to clarify.

"He's angry and upset. He said he wasn't coming back." Glenn offered.

"Is he going after Merle?" Rick asked, trying to piece together what happened.

"We don't know. He just flipped out, got angry, started ranting like a lunatic, and then said he was leaving and never coming back." Glenn explained.

Rick and Michonne glanced at each other with concern.

"Where's Katelyn?" Rick asked, still confused over what happened.

"She's in their room. She hasn't moved or said anything since the whole thing happened. Daryl freaked out and left and she's in shock. Still lying there not moving…I don't know. The whole thing was crazy." Carol said, babbling. She didn't really know how to explain it.

"Is Daryl mad at Katelyn, or Merle?" Rick asked.

"I'm pretty sure he's mad and Merle…and himself." Andrea stated, trying to explain the situation.

"Why did he leave then?" Rick asked. This made no sense to him.

"I think he panicked. His own brother hurt the woman that he loves and he feels…ashamed and guilt-ridden." Carol said softly. She had always understood Daryl.

"I still don't get it." Rick admitted, sighing in frustration.

"Underneath it all, he's scared that he and Merle are the same. They're blood after all…he's got a case of self-loathing going on." Andrea clarified.

"So he left Katelyn?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. Before he hurt her." Andrea finished, feeling bad for Daryl. She'd always liked him. He was gruff and stubborn as hell, but when she shot him on accident, his true colors came through.

"He would never hurt her." Rick rationalized.

"Yeah. You and I know that…everyone else here knows that, but Daryl. He's blaming himself for his family." Andrea said, smiling sadly at Rick.

"Shit." Rick swore, thinking about how they'd make it without him. Daryl was an important member of their family. They needed him, but more than thought…they all wanted him around. Every member of their group had come to care for him.

Daryl was family.

"Should we go after him?" Andrea asked, looking to Rick to decide.

"No point. We don't know where he went and even if we did, he's stubborn. No, if Daryl's gonna come back, its gonna be on his own terms." Rick said, knowing exactly how Daryl was.

Everyone nodded.

###########################################################################

A month passed at the prison and Rick and the others knew that they couldn't wait any longer. They had to get out of there. They'd avoided it for as long as they could, but Madeline's research was a priority they just couldn't ignore.

Katelyn might as well have been the walking dead at this point. She wandered aimlessly most of the day, saying little to anyone, and eating even less. She'd lost weight and it was all they could do to get her to eat anything. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, her skin pale, and she cried herself to sleep every night.

Her heart was broken.

The others were careful not to talk about leaving around her but the time had come and they had no choice. Today, Rick was going to tell her they had to move out.

Walking into her bunk area, Rick paused to knock. Sitting on her bed, she looked like a ghost. Her food was untouched and she didn't even seem to notice him enter.

"Hey, Katelyn." Rick said softly, not wanting to startle her.

She turned her head to look at him, her face devoid of expression.

"I need to talk to you." He said, sitting down on the bunk next to her.

Katelyn looked up at him and Rick sighed.

"There's no easy way to tell you this but we gotta move." He decided it was best to just come out and say it.

Katelyn closed her eyes for a second, her tongue snaking out to wet her dry lips before opening them again.

"We've gotta help Madeline find a lab and a way to communicate with others. It's important." He explained, taking her hand in his to comfort her.

Katelyn's eyebrows narrowed in pain.

"I know this is hard, but we're gonna pack you up and you're coming with us. You're family now and we take care of our own." Rick tried to comfort her and let her know that they all cared. He knew that Daryl would have wanted it that way.

Katelyn closed her eyes again, a tear slipping under her lid, before trailing down her cheek.

"I'm sorry." Rick whispered, squeezing her hand before looking up to see Andrea standing in the doorway.

"I came to help her get packed." Andrea said quietly.

They both looked at Katelyn for some sort of sign of acknowledgement.

Katelyn's eyes opened. Wet from tears, and with her lip quivering, she nodded sadly.

Rick stood, patting her hand once more as Andrea moved into the room.

Katelyn began to stand up, but all of a sudden bolted for the bucket that served as the bathroom in her room. Grabbing the sides of it, she heaved the empty contents of her stomach into it.

Andrea grabbed her hair to pull it back and started rubbing her back soothingly as Kate continued to dry heave into the bucket. Rick ran to get a cold washcloth for her and when he returned, Kate was leaning back against Andrea.

"How long have you been sick?" Andrea asked, worrying that her frail condition was taking its toll on her.

Katelyn shrugged.

"Just a few days." She said quietly, leaning her head against the wall as Andrea put the cloth on the back of her neck.

"You gotta eat somethin' baby." Andrea said, wiping her hair from her sweating face.

Katelyn closed her eyes.

"You gotta keep up your strength. Moving isn't ever easy. Come on. Let's get you in bed and then you're gonna eat some of your lunch there." Andrea ordered, mother-henning Katelyn.

Katelyn nodded acquiescently.

"You've been through a lot. You're stronger than you think you are. You can do this." Andrea comforted, knowing that Kate needed some encouragement.

Katelyn took a deep breath and laid back against the pillows Andrea propped up behind her.

Andrea picked up the bowl of soup and handed it to her. Katelyn's shaking hand grasped the spoon and she began to eat.

"Good. After that, you'll nap. I'm gonna pack your things and then we'll make a bed in the back of the car for you to lay down, okay?" Andrea said.

Katelyn nodded again.

Andrea smiled and got busy while the last of Katelyn's hope for Daryl's return, was packed alongside of her things.