With the sun starting to creep below the tree line and steadily losing daylight, Beth started to head towards the edge of the forest. When she reached the usual place her and Lydia would talk, she sat and leaned back against one of the tree trunks, twirling her knife in her hand.

While she waited, her mind kept drifting back to the day prior, and seeing Daryl, alive, for the first time in years. If she had to guess, it'd been at least seven years, if not more, since she last saw him. Trying to keep track of the months and years seemed pointless when she was alone, and she never bothered after she'd joined Alpha's ranks. She'd never expected to see anybody from her family again, and to see even one of them had her questioning too much.

Beth was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard a twig snap behind her, and she turned her head and saw Lydia approaching, arms crossed over her middle, mask not present. Beth stood slowly, but continued to lean against the tree. She made eye contact with Lydia, and the girl stood two feet from her, shifting from one foot to the other. The silence stretched for a moment, before Beth decided she'd have to be the first one to speak.

"You're still not wearing a mask." Beth said, stating the obvious, but the underlying message was clear; something happened that you're not telling me. Lydia broke eye contact, glancing out towards the field, watching the small herd of walkers shuffling about in circles.

"I know." She made no excuses, Delta knew her better than her own mother. She saw no point in lying to her, not if she knew Delta could see right through it.

"You failed to mention the boy," That made Lydia look back at her, "-he a friend?"

"…If I say yes, are you just gonna kill him?" Even though she was younger, Lydia glared at Delta, refusing to back down. Beth smiled softly at her, shaking her head.

"Of course I'm not, you know that." She stated, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder in comfort, "-but you also know it's not me you need to be worried about. Alpha and Beta haven't gotten many answers from the boy-"

"-His name is Henry."

"-and if they decide he's outlived his usefulness, you know he won't survive." Lydia bowed her head, taking a deep breath and trying to hold back her emotions. Delta was the only one who was actually kind. And she'd saved Lydia more than once from her own people.

"He's my friend." Beth's heart broke for her, she understood how she felt, but there was nothing that either of them could do. They would need an insanely good reason to let the boy, Henry, she called him, go. That, or a fucking miracle. Neither seemed very likely. Deciding she need to know the full story, Beth spoke up.

"I need you to tell me everything that happened, start to finish." Lydia nodded, and leaned back against the tree beside Beth's, before she started to speak. She told her everything, how Gamma's group that she'd been traveling with was taken out, how she'd given herself up and held prisoner, and how she'd met Henry, the boy who was in the cell next to her for getting drunk and caught in a pit, or so he'd said. She explained how the man in the vest, Daryl, had questioned her, didn't buy a word of her bullshit story she'd try to tell him, and Beth held back a snort to that, remembering how good Daryl was at reading people. Beth listened closely when Lydia told her about being interrogated, and how she finally came clean to Daryl, telling him the truth, mostly. And how Henry had let her out, and she'd thought about attacking him, but changed her mind. She listened, absorbing every detail Lydia gave.

When she finally finished, the sun was barely visible, and stars were beginning to litter the sky. Beth stood there, staring out at the walkers, trying to organize her thoughts.

"So Gamma is dead?" Lydia nodded her head in confirmation. Beth can't say she cared that much, Gamma was an asshole, he had it coming. If he was dead, that meant she was now third in command. It also meant she'd have to watch her back, because somebody was most likely going to challenge her position, and having to kill somebody was something she'd never enjoy, not like Alpha or Beta.

Beth was about to ask her next question, but was interrupted by somebody screaming from within the trees. Both their heads snapped around, trying to see what the hell was going on, but Beth looked back towards the walkers in the field, that also heard the noise and were now trudging towards them. And Lydia didn't have a mask on.

Well, fuck.

Grabbing Lydia by the shoulder, Beth shoved her back into the trees, mouthing the word 'go' at her, and Lydia gave her a single nod, running back in the direction of their camp, Beth not far behind her, knife poised and ready to strike.

Once they reached camp, the screams only continued. Somehow, a group of walkers had stumbled into their camp, and had begun to devour the few who were sleeping without masks covering their features. Beth glanced around, but couldn't figure out where they could have come from. Hearing more snarls behind her, she turned around and noticed the walkers from the field were only a few feet from her and Lydia. Grabbing the teen's hand, she started to pull her away from the insanity that was going on, but Lydia ground her feet into the dirt and stopped her.

"I can't leave Henry!" She hissed at her, and Beth gave her an exasperated look, before glancing back towards the camp. She could see Henry still tied to a tree, lifting his one leg to push a snarling walker away from him, even though it wouldn't help for long. Making a snap decision, Beth shoved Lydia into the bushes, and wielding her knife, ran back into the massacre. She stabbed three walkers that were in her way, and stabbed one more that was trying to bite Henry. He looked at her in fear as she walked straight towards him and held her knife high up.

"Don't make a sound." He gave her a confused look, until she stepped to his side and sliced through his restraints. Henry rubbed his wrists, then glanced at the ground where his staff was laying and picked it up, smashing a walker over the head. He nodded his thanks to her. Beth let out a low whistle, and Lydia stepped out of the bushes, a large rock in hand to use as a weapon. Their people were still screaming around them, and she had no clue what her next move would be. She didn't get to decide either, because somebody snuck up behind her and held a knife to her throat.

"No, stop!" Henry shouted, making Beth wince at his volume, her eyes scanning around. Thankfully, there was too much chaos for them to draw any extra attention to themselves, at least for the moment. Whoever was holding the knife to her throat pushed on her body, forcing her to walk. They continued to do so until they were a few yards away, and both of the teenagers had followed, begging her captor not to hurt her.

"Please don't hurt her." She heard Lydia plead, "-she's my only friend. And she saved Henry's life!" Henry, who had apparently had enough, yanked the person's arm that was holding the knife to her throat away. She immediately stepped away, rubbing her throat while turning around, only to immediately be confused. Why were two of her people attacking her? But everything became clear when one of them pulled off the mask, and Beth thought she was going to throw up.

Daryl.

"You need ta fin' better friends!" He said, pointing at Lydia.

"Daryl, back off!" Henry growled, stepping between them. Beth could only watch, unable to process her emotions. She noticed from the corner of her eye that the other person, a woman, had pulled off her mask and was now aiming what appeared to be a slingshot, at her. She was trying to assess the situation, when she heard somebody yell for her from the camp, and all their heads snapped back the direction they came.

"We need ta go, righ' now!" Daryl said, grabbing Henry by the shirt and pulling him, but the boy yanked himself free, standing his ground.

"I'm not leaving without Lydia!" He said, jaw set in place and moving to stand beside her. Beth kept looking between them all. Part of her so badly wanted to reveal herself and go with them, with him, but she knew she couldn't. Knew she wasn't that girl anymore, so she made the decision for them.

"Go." She said, and they all looked at her, though Daryl's look was more of a glare than anything, "-go, right now. I can buy you some time, but not a lot." Lydia immediately started shaking her head.

"No, Delta!" She whimpered, no longer caring if she cried or not, "I'm not leaving you here. If Alpha finds out you let Henry and I leave-"

"-I can handle myself, and you know that." Beth put her palms on Lydia's shoulders, pulling her in for a hug, "You deserve better than what's out here." She felt Lydia sniffle into her shoulder, and turn her face so she could whisper into her ear.

"So do you." Fighting back her own tears, Beth pulled away from her, giving her a sad smile. She put her knife in Lydia's hand, so she'd have something to defend herself with from any enemies, dead or alive. Hearing her name being called again, she bid the girl farewell.

"You all need to leave, while you still have the chance." Daryl regarded her, before looking away and gesturing with his head to the others that it was time to go. She stood there and let them past her, about to turn and leave when Daryl grabbed her by the arm.

"Why you helpin' us?" Beth looked at him through her mask, wishing she could tell him all of her reasons, but knew she couldn't.

"Because no matter how shitty everything is, there's still good people in the world." And with that, she pulled her arm from his grip, and walked back towards camp, refusing to look back. She didn't think her heart could take it.

If she had looked back though, she would've seen that Daryl was frozen to his spot, the words that Delta had whispered ringing in his ears, echoing through his head and reminding him of somebody he'd never forget, no matter how much he tried.

There are still good people in the world, Daryl.

A/N: This chapter was going to have more stuff going on, but I really liked the way this was flowing, so I left it be. The next chapter will be posted in a day or two I'm thinking! In the mean time, reviews are always appreciated!