"A group calling themselves 'Wolves' attacked yesterday, almost all fatalities were Alexandrians except for…" Aaron looked towards Kate and she braced herself for what he was going to say while at the same time being glad that she didn't have to. "Zach."

The mere sound of the teenagers name was enough to create a lump in the back of her throat. Kate swallowed the pain as she battled the unbearable task of keeping herself together. Just as she thought she might fall apart she felt strong arms wrapping around her. Daryl cradled her against his chest and reminded her that she wasn't alone. She didn't have to keep herself all the way together, Daryl could hold some of the pieces too. Kate nestled herself over the place where she could hear the steady rhythm of his heart and let it soothe her.

"Half the herd made it back to Alexandria, the walls are holding for now but we should return before it gets dark so we can start trying to lure them away," Aaron finished his update then joined Abraham and Sasha who were already starting to clear the road and gather supplies from the dead bikers.

Kate stayed in the safety of her favourite rednecks arms for a little longer before she finally forced herself to pull away. The way he looked at her made her feel like she was the only person in the world. Daryl gently ran his fingers through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. His thumb traced lightly over where she knew the purple bruises painted her neck and she resisted the urge to wince.

"It's nothing," Kate pulled Daryl's hand from the marks and rested her cheek on it for a moment before she forced a smile. Half of her heart was broken for Zach but the rest of it still beat fiercely for Daryl. There wasn't one feeling she hadn't felt in the last 24 hours and she wanted to try and hold onto the good ones, the ones that weren't trying to tear her apart.

"I shoulda been there," Daryl said.

Kate shook her head, "it's not your fault." What was it that Aaron had said to her? "You don't control the universe." It was very good advice. She walked over to where the dead men lay in the road and instead of feeling guilt, Kate wanted to think 'fuck you'. Fuck them all, she knew she would kill a thousand men to save one of her people and if that made her a bad person well, fuck that too.


"Let's just get this over with," Kate mumbled before she began to pick up the arms of one of the fallen bikers.

Daryl grabbed the man's legs to help her drag him from the road and his eyes drifted to Kate's stomach. He cursed Glenn for putting ideas in his head yesterday because even though the world was falling apart and the worse kinds of things had happened, it was all he could think about. If she was in a delicate condition… delicate condition, the phrase almost shot a highly inappropriate laugh out of his mouth before he reminded himself that he was doing a fucking awful job of taking care of her.

Kate was covered in bruises and had been doing all manner of stupid things. She probably shouldn't have been lugging these bodies with him but it was hardly the time to discuss the matter. So he kept his mouth shut and tried to ignore the soppy plans that were starting to creep around his brain.

When the road was clear Daryl had almost asked Kate to ride on the back of his motorcycle before he thought better of it and instead helped her climb into Patty. Although she probably preferred that situation anyway since she didn't seem the biggest fan of climbing onto his bike no matter how much she seemed to enjoy it when she was riding. But then Kate was a woman who liked the driver's seat.

Aaron joined Kate in the truck while Sasha drove the military jeep. To Daryl's surprise Abraham had found himself a motorcycle. The moustached man sat on his new ride with a huge grin on his face, "cigars, rocket launcher and I always wanted my own bike… next thing we'll probably find a wagon full of beer."

Daryl chuckled and admired his optimism. Maybe everything would be okay. Daryl climbed on his bike and fantasied once more about what it would be like to have a family with Kate. Then he backtracked what Abraham had said and raised his eyebrows, "cigars?" He was out of smokes and that made his teeth itch like crazy.

Abraham's grin widened even further, "we make it through this shit and we'll toast the day with one of my new Cuban friends."


Kate spotted the broken down car which she and Aaron had been travelling in earlier in the day and she pulled over.

"Do you think they'll be here?" Aaron said as they climbed out of Patty.

"If I was them I would probably be long gone…" Kate admitted.

Daryl climbed off his motorcycle with a look of confusion and Kate realised they hadn't discussed how she had come by Patty. "I left Dwight, Sherry and Tina here. I said if they waited we might take them with us."

Her favourite rednecks eyes immediately scanned through the trees before he called out for "Dwight." Just like Kate had said, Daryl was a good man. Even after the trio had abandoned him he was still willing to take them home. Kate wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his back to breathe him in before she began to call for the abandoned three.

Eventually they realised that the search was pointless, as Kate had suspected Dwight, Sherry and Tina were long gone. There was no trail and they hadn't the time to wait for them so all they could do was keep heading back to Alexandria.

As Kate climbed into Patty she felt awful. In hindsight she should have kept the trio with her but it was easy to second guess her decision now she knew for certain that they hadn't harmed Daryl. In some ways she should just have been grateful she hadn't done what she had almost wanted to do. Kill them. She'd been so close to shooting Dwight in the head that she barely even recognised herself in that moment.

I only abandoned them, Kate told herself. It wasn't the worst thing. They could have waited for her to return and they didn't. Still, she was sure that the sight of that medical container would probably haunt her nightmares for a while, or at least it could join the queue of nightmarish things. Because no matter how much she rationalised she couldn't control her subconscious.

An uncomfortable silence clung to the air in the cabin as Kate drove along the road and eventually she asked Aaron, who was the voice of good reason, "do you think I did the right thing?"

The wait for Aarons answer was tormenting but eventually he said, "you didn't do the wrong thing… you did what you had to do and to be honest… I was happy to let you to decide."

Hindsight could be a wicked thing.


The convoy of vehicles pulled up ten minutes down the road from Alexandria where the group was sure that the dead wouldn't be able to hear them.

"We'll walk the rest of the way, scope it out before we make a plan," Aaron said as he grabbed his gun from Patty.

Daryl looked to the sky and knew that they only had around an hour's worth of daylight left. As shit as it would be, he wondered if they should just take cover for the night and enact the plan in the morning. But first they needed to see what the situation was.

What the group saw when they came within view of Alexandria was everyone's worse fear. Everyone let out a collective gasp as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the road feeling completely dumbfounded. The wall was down. The dead were inside. Daryl recalled the "help," he had heard over the radio but since seeing Kate and Aaron he had assumed that the transmission had come from a group of strangers.

"Fuckin' hell," Daryl uttered the phrase that was probably crossing everyone's mind. He thought about Carol and Rick, the kids, and then he thought about the horses.

Daryl had given Cadbury and Buttons a starring role in his fantasy family with Kate. He'd imagined them raising horses and teaching their kids to ride. Of course he would have had to teach Kate to ride first. He'd imagined long summer evenings spent sharing a saddle with Kate as they trotted along the desolate roads. Of course in his fantasy the dead would actually fucking die and they could take back the earth to create some semblance of normal life.

"Eric," Aaron whimpered as he dropped to his knees.

Jesus fucking Christ, Daryl ran his fingers through his hair and kicked an empty can that sat in the road before he grabbed hold of Kate and crushed her against him. Selfishly, he wondered if they should just run away, find some empty wilderness where there was no living or dead, perhaps a log cabin in the middle of an Alaskan forest. Ice fishing, snowball fights and entire days filled with nothing more than hiding in bed and making love. Of course that idea was imploded as soon as he imagined doing that with a baby or two.


The sight of Alexandria torn apart and swarming with the dead devastated Kate who had already been exhausted at the idea of coming home to lure the walkers from the wall. What they faced now was a million times worse. This was going to be one uphill battle after another and Kate wondered how much more she had left to give. She suddenly felt sick again but then Daryl held her and he gave her strength.

They couldn't let another place be taken from them. This was it. This was their home and Kate was almost certain that another one would be impossible to come by. They bloody needed this place and would have to win it back from the dead. "We'll get the trucks and lure away as many as we can back to the quarry," Kate was resolute. If she had to slice them one by one for the next month then she would do it.

"Block them back in?" Sasha asked.

Daryl sighed and had a far off look in his eye before he pointed to the rocket launcher on Abrahams shoulder, "we can set them on fire with Patty and the rockets."

"Shit yeah… blow those fuckers like the fourth of July... sorry Duchess," Abraham winked.

Everyone began to walk back to the vehicles before Aaron stopped and said, "I have to go find Eric... I can help any survivors kill the walkers that are left behind."

Any survivors, the words turned her stomach over. The walkers were in the town but she hoped that everyone had managed to find a place to hide. What if there were no survivors? The idea entered her mind as quickly as she pushed it out. There was no time for her pessimistic side.

"You should go help him," Kate decided as she looked to Daryl. Aaron had helped her so it was only right that someone helped him and Kate knew what she was planning to do in the quarry so it was best that Daryl wasn't there.


"What about you? I don't wanna leave ya… I wanna…"

"If you say protect me I'll…" Kate smiled and did her best southern accent as she said, "kick ya goddamn ass."

Good lord, Daryl gripped his crossbow and had the urge to tie Miss Uppity's ass to a damn tree where he could keep her safe. He didn't want to leave her to deal with setting the herd on fire nor did he want to her to step foot in Alexandria when it was overrun. Nowhere was safe and there was no way Kate would sit this out so he resigned himself to the shit stick which he had been handed with a miserable grunt before his hand reached out for Kate's and he swept her into his arms.

If they were going to be parting ways then Daryl wanted to forget about the dead and lose himself in her big brown eyes even if it was only for a moment. "Did I ever tell ya that ya make me crazy?"

"Everyday."

"Yeah… well ya lucky you're so goddamn beautiful. There's not a thing I wouldn't do for ya."

"Me too."

"Then promise me two things," Daryl set Kate on the ground and stroked his hands along her body, settling them on either side of her waist. "One, I'd ask ya not to do anythin' stupid but I know ya will… so just make sure ya come back to me…"

Kate rolled her eyes in the way that made him even crazier and Daryl pressed his forehead against hers. "Two," he sighed and smelled in the familiar smell of her, "I want ya to promise to marry me when this is over… no matter what… or where..."

Kate let out a small strained laugh before she placed her hands on his chest and pulled away but Daryl held her even tighter. He kept her flush against him and she shook her head as she scolded him playfully, "you're like a bloody dog with a bone Daryl Dixon."

"I can't help myself… whenever I look at ya, I just want more. Are ya gonna give me somethin' to look forward to or what?"

Their faces were inches apart in their own private bubble and even though Kate's eyes were smiling he could see she was biting that damn lip and for a moment he thought her stubborn side might win the war again. But then she breathed out "yes," and her warm breath caressed his face. Daryl let out a satisfied sigh before his fingers cupped her chin and brought her lips the rest of the way to his.

In another life Daryl would have been embarrassed to kiss a woman in public in the way he was going to kiss Kate, but this was the end of the world and he'd be damned if he didn't get one last great kiss before they had to face a thousand walkers.

Daryl slowly ran his tongue along Kate's bottom lip, nudging it open while one of his hands held the small of her back and the other buried in the soft tangle of her hair. He wanted to kiss her so hard that she would still feel his lips on hers until they could kiss again.

Daryl's heart was racing out of control when he finally released Kate from his embrace. "I betta go make sure Father Gabriel stays alive then," he chuckled. They didn't say goodbye. They just turned and walked away.


A/N- Glad everyone like the last chapter :)