Reagan slowed the black stallion and withdrew her desert eagle from its holster before firing a shot through the left eye of the walker caught in the swampy ground a few feet away from her. She watched as it slumped over backwards, spine snapping audibly.

The morning had been one thing after another, one extreme to the next and after Daryl had taken off with T-Dog, Quinn, Andrea and Shane to fix up any broken fences and pick off whatever walkers were roaming the farm, it had left her alone and the last thing she wanted was to be stuck in her own head for too long.

She nudged the stallion into a smooth lope before the woodland open up into a large rolling paddock giving them the space for a flat out gallop, something she'd been dying to do. She knew she couldn't outrun the thoughts or memories swirling through her head but she could try and forget them for just a little while.

=Dale's Funeral=

Spud was sat at her feet as she stood beside Quinn, the two of them and Daryl had spent the night drinking and smoking after Dale's death, his death had seemed to have a rippling effect through the entire farm, it was the one night when there was no noise, everyone had been silent.

"Does anyone have a prayer or something they'd like to say?" Rick asked looking around the group.

She looked to the rosary in her hand and rubbed the worn beads before nodding lightly. "Aye, I do," She stepped forward keeping her eyes on the beads. "Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near. Still loved, still missed and very dear," She looked towards Dale's grave and made the sign of the cross on her chest. "Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam"

Rick nodded and stepped forward towards Dale's grave. "Dale could... could get under your skin, he sure got under mine," He lowered his head, hands clasped together in front of him. "Because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt, that kind of honesty is rare and brave," His voice wavered slightly as if he was trying to keep it together. "Whenever I'd made a decision I'd look at Dale, he'd be looking back at me with that look he had, we've all seen it one time or another, I couldn't always read him but he could read us, he saw people for who they were, he knew things about us... the truth... who we really are," He exhaled softly shaking his head lightly. "In the end, he was talking about us losing our humanity, he said this group was broken," He looked around at each of them. "The best way to honour him is to unbreak it, set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future," He tilted his chin up looking towards the sky. "We're not broken, we're gonna prove him wrong, from now on we're gonna do it his way, that is how we honour Dale"

=Present=

Reagan reined the stallion to a halt, his hooves digging into the ground as he skidded to a halt. The fence stretching along the farms border were tall strong post and rail fences about five planks high that looked like they could withstand a charging bull.

She twisted in the saddle as she heard a rustle from the tree's to her right and scowled softly firing at the walker that appeared, she watched it drop to the ground and slipped down from the saddle gathering her reins and leading Jake towards the fence that ran along the roadside.

The silence was welcoming as she leant against the fence and peered out at the deserted road looking for any sign of movement.

=Dale's Funeral=

"Where're you heading?"

She glanced over her shoulder as Rick approached her as she tightened the cinch on Jake's saddle. "Through the woodland. I'll circle 'round the back of the farm, check the fences and make a note of any that are broken"

"All– alright," He seemed hesitant to let her go and she could understand why, Dale's death was still fresh and she was going out alone. "Just watch yourself"

"Always do"

"Before you go, Hershel's agreed to let us move into the house," He nodded towards Hershel who was stood beside the pickup. "It'll be a tight fit with sixteen people but we should be able to make do"

She gave a light nod. "Sounds good"

"We'll get everything worked out better once the others get back from checking the fences on the other side of the farm, they should be back in about a half hour, an hour at the most, think that'll give you enough time to ride out and check the other fences?"

She mulled it over quickly and then nodded. "Should be plenty of time"

"Great, I'm going to need your help sorting out how to work all this," He motioned to the camp, cars and house. "You've got the best strategic mind among us"

"All right, if I set out now, without any delays, I should be back in an hour, maybe an hour and a half," She said as she hauled herself into the saddle and settled herself before looking down at Spud. "Stay here, Spud"

He whined softly sitting down and cocked his head towards her as she gave a soft cluck of her tongue and directed the stallion towards the woodland area.

=Present=

Reagan felt a tug on her shirt and glanced back at Jake as he snorted softly nuzzling her shoulder; she reached out stroking down the length of his face and scratched underneath his forelock before hauling herself into the saddle again and turning him in the direction of the farm. It had only taken her a good twenty minutes to reach her position so by her estimate she would be back inside of an hour.

Reagan slowed Jake to a walk from the steady lope they'd been traveling at and slipped carefully from his saddle placing a hand on his neck as they stopped beside the tack room so she could untack and clean him up.

"Where the hell've you been?"

She turned to see Daryl heading towards her and cocked an eyebrow, he was tense. "I went to check the fences down the other end of the farm," She motioned towards the homestead. "Rick knew where I was and what I was doin'"

A low growl echoed from him as he grabbed her by the shoulders, his grip tightening as he held her at arm's length. "You fuckin' stupid? Goin' out there alone, you could've got bit or fuckin' killed"

She went to snap back but hesitated when she saw the look in his eyes, one of raw fear, fear that something could have happened to her again. "Daryl, I'm fine, aren't I?" She lowered her voice which seemed to throw him off, he'd apparently been expecting her to snap back at him as well. "You're not gonna lose me, love," She drew him into a tight hug, which he return, and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Not for a very long time yet"

He nodded numbly pulling her closer before finally releasing her. "Come on, Rick wants to sort this shit out with the farm house," His gaze began to drift away, settle on anything that wasn't her. "Been thinkin'," He mumbled rocking back on his heels and cheeks flushing slightly as his body language changed suddenly, a tension rolling through his shoulders and an awkward defensiveness rooting into his posture. "We– we pretty much share a tent already… thought we might as well set up our shit together in the house," He jerked his head towards it still unable to meet her gaze. "Winter's gettin' closer, be able to keep each other warm…" His voice trailed off slightly. "More space for everyone else if we just bunk together…"

She couldn't help but grin and ran a hand through his hair and then down his cheek tipping his face towards her so she could look at him properly. "Do you honestly think I want to bunk by my lonesome, saighdeoir?" She grinned roguishly. "Now why would I do that when I've got my own personal crossbow wieldin' hot water bottle?"

A flicker of a smile crossed his lips as he gave a nod. "Only problem's gonna be when you get horny"

She rolled her eyes. "Me? What about you?" She smirked and threw her arms around his neck. "We're gonna have to sneak off out to the barn or somewhere just so we don't get caught"

A smirk to match her own graced his lips as he curled an arm around her waist pulling her tighter against him before directing her backwards against the wall of a nearby stall effectively pinning her in place as he pressed his lips to hers, the rough strands of his stubble scratching against her cheek as he slowly worked his way across her cheek and down her neck before coming to rest at the crook of her neck.

She bit her lip hard trying her best to suppress a moan and curled her fingers around the edges of his vest. "I think we've got five minutes to spare, don't you?"

A wicked grin slipped to his lips as he gave a nod. "Yeah, unless you got somewhere else to be?"

"Fuck 'em, they can wait," She growled softly. "You put an itch in me and now you gotta scratch it" She stated drawing him into another kiss.

Authors Note

Told you all I'd be updating on Fridays! Trying too at least, I've almost finished Hellhound, only about 5 or so chapters left but there ones I'm really struggling with, either too short or just no idea on how to start them, that being said I have only 3 more chapters of this one left to post so I'm hoping I can get those last chapters of Hellhound finished before then, and I'm not going to lie, I have Reagan and Daryl's story planned out up until Season 9, at least the major plot points I do, I still haven't got around to watching season 10 so we'll see how much that and the new season change things for them.

Lingo Translations

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam - May his soul be on gods right hand.

Reply Time!

sailoryoongi: Thank you doll! I'm going to try my best to keep this up and not leave everyone hanging again.

InsomniacReader1991: Thank you! I'm hoping everyone's going to love the next installation as much as this one.

KEZZ 1: Thank you, more is on the way and there's plenty more to come for these two.

WDFF Fan: Welcome, thank you for all your comments. The story follows the show as a base line but will have more interesting bits further along, when I first started this story it was just after S2 had ended and I was still very unsure of my writing and didn't want to stray too far from its story line but with the next instalment it's mostly my own story line with bits and pieces of what they mention at the start of S3 to guide it, later instalments will also follow the show as a baseline but not as rigidly as this one did.