Hey Guys! So I know that this story has been on hiatus for a bit, but it's now back. I made a small edit to the ending of Ch. 17, but that was just to take the ending out. I needed it to fit with this chapter and was unable to with the way it was.

I would like to thank everyone who stuck with this story so far and has supported it since its inception. I hope you guys like this chapter. I would like to let you know that the next one will be completely in Chloe's POV, so get prepared.

I hope you all enjoy! With that all said, let's get onto the story!

Daryl POV

The prison was in flames around me, making it harder to see and breathe. I could hear the bus start and barely see the tank turning to aim at it. Quickly pulling out the grenade, I pulled the pin and chucked it down the barrel to stop it. I heard him scream before jumping from the tank only to be met with my crossbow in his face.

"Give me a reason. I dare you" I say as I hear the moans from the walkers getting closer.

"Look man, we don't gotta do this. You put it down and we can get outta here together. We people of the hood, I can tell you are. Whaddy'a say man?" he says as I glare.

Putting my crossbow down, I keep my gaze on him. "You tried to kill my daughter when you shot up that tower. You don't get to live". Quickly moving, I push him towards the horde so he can have a slow death.

I look over the yard and see corpses laying everywhere. None of my friends except for Hershel by the gate. Turning around, I make my way back towards the prison with hopes of finding anyone. I run into Beth and look around.

"Where are Maggie and Glenn?" I ask quickly.

"They were on the bus. I was trying to find the others and it took off. I can't find anyone else".

Quickly moving, I grab her hand and tell her that we need to go. We head into the woods and keep moving, only stopping when absolutely necessary. Eventually we come across some kind of flower field with a church in the middle. We make our way to the church, but something bangs inside.

"Stay here until I say otherwise." I tell her and she nods. Making my way in, I see a stair case to the right, an empty room to the left and a room full of pews in front of me. I slowly walk down the aisle, checking every bench until all of them are cleared. Just as I reach the front, I hear something upstairs clanging around and see Beth pop her head in the door. Putting my hand up in a 'stop' motion, I go back to the stairs and pull out my knife. Getting to the top, I only see one room. There's a closet in there, but nothing else. I check behind the door and under the desk, until I come to the closet door. Quickly pulling it open, I see a squirrel and throw my knife before it can get away.

Looking out the window, I can see that it's about dark at this time. I see a big piece of rope and, knowing that it could alert others to our location, I pull it. I can hear the bells dinging, but over those I'm able to hear a car screech followed by a scream that sends me bolting down the stairs. I can't find Beth, but I can see the small car with the cross on the window driving away.

"BETH!" I scream out, but am halted quickly.

"Daryl?" I hear, making me turn around to see Maggie and Glenn. Never mind the fact that a horde is here thanks to me pulling that rope.

"Look we can talk later. Now, we run" I say and we go after the car. We follow it as far as we can before losing it completely at a three way fork in the road. I try to catch my breath and end up dropping my crossbow, falling to my knees on the road.

"Was Beth with you?" I hear Maggie ask and I nod.

"She and I got out together. We found this church and came for refuge. I told her to stay out while I cleared it, but bolted out when I heard that car and her scream. I pulled the rope to make the bells go off, trying to tell you guys that we were here, but that was a big ass mistake.

"Did you see anyone else? Do you know if anyone else got out?" Glenn asks, but I shook my head.

"I didn't see anyone else. I blew up the tank and grabbed Beth, making our way to the woods. What about you guys? See anyone else?"

"We had the elderly and children with us, but they didn't make it. We only got off that bus alive because they were all devoured by flames and walkers. I don't know about anyone else from our group".

So we were lost in the middle of nowhere.

"Well, well. Look what we got here" someone says and we turn to the voice, all ready to attack. Some pudgy man with a group behind him. "Some could say that you three are lost. Where you headed"

Rick POV

I struggle to open my eyes and to breathe. Finally opening my eyes, I see the house around me. I'm on a couch and there's a fireplace in front of me. Groaning, I sit up and nearly fall off the couch, but someone catches me.

"You need to be careful Rick" she says and I look her way.

"Michonne? What happened?"

"The Governor took the prison down. We found you on the ground, bleeding and barely breathing. Had to drag you here, constantly stopping to tend to your wounds." She said.

"We? Who's 'we'?"

"Carol and I. We looked around for anyone else, but didn't have much time. We had to get you out of there" she says.

"Carl? Judith? Are they…"

"We don't know. We didn't see them. I'm sorry Rick" she says. I can feel the tears threatening to fall, but suck them in. Needing to rest, not cry.

"So, what now? We just stay here?"

"For now" Carol chimes in, placing a small bowl of cereal on my lap. "We remain here until you can walk on your own. Michonne has been doing runs and grabbing stuff from the other houses around here, while I have remained with you to keep you alive."

I try to fight, but can't. I slowly eat the cereal while Carol checks my bandages. When Michonne goes for her run I stop and look back at Carol.

"Michonne said that she didn't see any of the others. That she doesn't know if they made it or not. What about you? Did you see any of them? Anyone at all?"

Sighing, she stops her work. "I thought that I saw Chloe, but she was limping pretty badly. I didn't see anyone else and I lost her before I could help her."

"Do we have a plan for anything after I heal up?"

"Not yet. We've been trying to think of where the others would go, but can't think of anything. The only thing we've got is to start walking and leaving signs for the others, so they know where we are." She says, finishing up my wounds.

I start to speak again, but she covers my mouth with her hand, "I know what you were about to say and you're wrong. You know everyone else made it out. They're strong and smart, they can do this. Chloe came back and you know she's gotta have someone with her, so they're set. The others will be able to make do."

I nod before putting the bowl on the ground and laying my head against the couch, allowing sleep to take me over.

Maggie POV

"We aren't headed anywhere right now. Just lost our last place and are now just stragglers" I tell the pudgy man.

"You're welcome to come with us if you want. Although we do have some rules that ya'll will need to follow. Name's Joe" he says, but one of his group members steps up.

"They can't come. Don't you remember what happened to Dave, Ryan, Steve and George? They went to talk with that family and never came back. Strangers killed them and now you want strangers to join us when they were the ones who possibly killed our guys?" He said.

"The man who killed our people was killed. We saw the body." Joe argued and the other man laughed.

"Yeah, dead from a knife wound more than twenty feet away from our men. Even if he had played a part of it, someone else was there too. Maybe he had a partner who turned on him – I don't know. But I do know that these people aren't coming with us." The man says right before Joe puts a blade in his eye and drops down.

"Rule number one: Don't question the leader's actions" Joe tells us with a smile on his face. "Now, you guys got names? Or you wanna be rude?"

"Maggie" I say before pointing to the others, "This is Daryl and Glenn. You lost three of your people? Can I ask how?"

"They went to talk to some people, were supposed to see if they would join us, but when we found them they were dead. One had a knife shoved in his head from the back, two were stabbed in the heart and the last was impaled in the side of the head. Although the joke is really on the person who attacked them as we got their blade" he says before throwing a blade on the ground.

I leaned forward a bit to get a look at it before my eyes go wide. I look at Daryl and Glenn only to meet their gazes, all of us recognizing this blade.

"Joe. Can I ask when they died? Like how long ago?" I say, earning a look from him. "I just want to determine if the woods are a safe choice of passage or not"

He smiles before saying, "We found them a few days ago, but can't tell when they died. The woods could be safe, but we're not going in there so it doesn't really matter". I nod.

We start walking along the road, the three of us behind the group as we murmur to each other. I whisper to Daryl, "It was Chloe. That was her knife and she was gone at that time. It has to be."

"And we know" Glenn interrupts, "that if she killed them then those four most likely deserved it."

I look towards Daryl as he's being really silent, but only see determination on his face.

He would see his daughter again.

What did you guys think? If you liked it then please leave a review and let me know what you think! I love to read your reviews and I love to respond to them. I am happy to be back on this story after going through my little funk with it, but am so much happier that you have stuck with it.

Tell me: What do you guys think of Chloe so far as a character in this story? What are your thoughts on her.

I will see you all in the next chapter!

S.S.S.