Daryl's lungs felt like they were on fire. They'd been running for what felt like hours, but in reality it had only been about forty-five minutes. He finally came to a stop, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. Glancing around him, he could tell the others were just as tired out as him, but they couldn't stop. Not yet.

"So what now?" Daryl looked over at Henry, standing up to his full height before replying.

"Now we gotta se' a trap." Lydia and Henry both looked confused, but Connie pulled out her small tablet and jotted out a quick note, striding closer to Daryl so he could read it.

I know someplace we could hide.

He nodded, stepping aside so she could lead the way now. Stuffing her tablet back into her bag, she looked behind her to the two teenagers, pointing the direction they were heading and waving at them to follow along. They began moving at a quick pace, no longer running since they'd put a good bit of distance between them and the Whisperers. While they walked, Daryl let his mind wander to the one that'd helped them escape.

He remembered seeing her that first day, when they all came to the Hilltop to make a trade for Lydia. She'd been the one to guide Lydia away, and he recalled making eye contact with her and giving her the dirtiest look he could muster. He hated all of them, especially that bitch in charge, Lydia's mother. Alpha. But none had made as much of an impression as Delta had. Daryl couldn't fathom why she had bothered to help, and for a split second he actually considered grabbing her arm and bringing her with them, but when she'd spoken those words to him he'd been too stunned to make another move. And she'd taken the opportunity to shake herself from his grip and sneak back into her camp, not sparing him another glance.

It sent chills up his spine, how such a small detail could drudge up so many memories that he'd tried to lock away. How a few simple words could make him feel things that he'd tried his damnedest to forget. Daryl hated to even think about those days, hated to think about how he'd failed one of the most important people in his life, and it had cost them theirs. Fuck, he couldn't even bring himself to say her name, and it'd been, what…seven, maybe eight, years?

With Daryl so lost in his thoughts, he almost walked right into Connie's back, but managed to stop himself in time. She turned to look at him, and gestured to a tall, off-white building. She pulled her table out again, writing quickly.

Choke point.

"Good idea, les' go." He said, and they began walking towards the building.

"I don't understand…" Henry spoke, trying to keep up with Daryl and Connie, but not leave Lydia behind. Daryl glanced back him.

"Use walkers to hide themselves, righ'? So we go up, where tha walkers can't go. Sep'rate tha livin' from tha dead." He kept walking, but turned to his attention to Lydia, "They trav'l in a herd, bu' there's only like, five or six of 'em in tha middle, righ'?" Lydia nodded her affirmative, but looked hesitant.

"Yeah, but if we go up there, we're trapped." She stopped walking, causing the others to pause in their step. Daryl turned his body and faced her. "Alpha's not gonna send a whole army if she doesn't have to…she'll send Beta." Daryl considered her for a moment.

"This Beta, he yer bes'?" The young girl could only nod her head again, worry etched into her brow. "Good. Kill him firs'. C'mon." And with that, they started moving again. Lydia kept following behind them, but her heart was torn.

She didn't want anybody to get hurt, especially not over her.

Flashlight in hand, Daryl and Connie walked into the lower half of the building, Henry and Lydia following behind. He aimed the beam of light around the room, getting a feel for the layout. Splitting up, Connie headed for one of the stairwells, while Daryl continued to explore the lower half of the building. He opened doors and noticed the piles of furniture and timber that barricaded the stairs, realizing somebody had been here before. Shutting the door, he left the two teens in a room on their own and headed for the stair case that Connie had gone up.

He found her in a hole in the floor, surprised to see a stock pile of supplies surrounding her. The pieces began to fall into place in his head.

"Stairs are a'ready barricaded…" He stated, glancing down at her, "-guess you know tha'." She bobbed her head in acknowledgement, offering him a water bottle. "Thanks." Twisting off the cap, he took a couple large swigs, pulling the bottle away and wiping his mouth. He watched as Connie pulled her tablet out of her back pocket, listening to her pen scrape against the paper.

We stayed here once.

"Ya, secret stash fer emergencies…smart." She smirked at him and lifted her chin, her face quickly changing expression to be serious, gesturing for him to follow her across the room. He followed behind her, and she stopped beside a paper pinned to the wall. It was the floorplan for the building. Taking a couple steps closer, Daryl put his hands against the wall and studied the entry points.

"A'righ'. Only two ways up, thas' good. These two barricades are a lil' too barricaded-" He tried to make gestures and face her, so that Connie could follow along and understand what he was saying, "-so we cut open holes, so they can walk up 'ere." He stood up straight and looked at her, waiting for a response. Connie smiled and gave him a thumbs up, indicating she had understood and agreed. He patted her shoulder and thanked her, telling her how good the place was and that this might actually work. She watched him, thinking for a moment before puling out her trusty tablet, and Daryl paused, giving her a chance to write. She held the notebook to him when she finished.

Then what?

"Then we go." He replied, making a sweeping gesture with his arm, water bottle still in hand. She looked at him with a straight face, flipping to the blank side of the paper.

The girl stays.

Daryl shook his head no, an irate expression on his face. Connie looked annoyed, taking her pen and underlining the same words twice, just to reiterate her point. He tried to explain to her that people would die if they brought her back, but she couldn't understand him, so he took her tablet and the pen and scratched the words into the paper.

Our friends will die.

Connie snatched the paper and pen back, rolling her eyes and writing another note, looking more and more irritated with each letter. When she finished writing, she ripped out the paper and smacked it onto Daryl's palm before storming away.

We have friends, she doesn't.

Well, fuck. That's an easy way to make him feel like an ass. He'd already lost too many of his friends and family, he didn't want to see any more people die. But he couldn't worry about that right now, he needed to start setting up a trap.

There was nothing but silence, except the groans coming from the walkers that surrounded them. Beth walked slow, sagging her body forward so that she didn't stand out amongst the dead. The sun had been up for an hour or two, and they'd been tracking Lydia, tracking Daryl, since the first rays of sunlight shone across the sky. Beta trudged beside her, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings, searching for signs of the living. Beth kept her eyes down on the ground, tracking the movements and knowing which direction Daryl and his group had gone.

"This way." She murmured to Beta, turning in the direction of the paved road that ran between the trees, knowing it led to the outskirts of a city. They kept ambling at a steady pace for another thirty minutes until the road reached the city, the trees thinning out and coming upon wide open space, a large building on one side, and broken-up parking lots on the other. Beta looked around slowly, glancing up and paused for a moment. Beth took immediate notice, but did nothing to acknowledge him, she only paid more attention to her surroundings.

It took all her willpower not to jump in fright when the walker directly in front of her was shot down, an arrow sticking out of the side of its skull, and she knew immediately who'd shot it.

Daryl.

Apparently, Beta also took notice, along with the three others they'd brought with them. Amos, who'd unfortunately volunteered, a man named Jacob, and a female who insisted she go as well, whose name Beth couldn't recall. She followed Beta's line of sight, and saw Daryl standing a few stories above them on a balcony, crossbow balanced on his hip. Right away, she knew it was a trap, and she was certain Beta knew as well. But he didn't care, he lived to serve Alpha, and Alpha's orders were to bring back Lydia. So, it looked like they were going to play along and head into the building.

Beth followed behind Beta and watched as he and the two other men pushed hard on the double doors, the walkers hearing the noise and adding their own weight to it. It only took a minute until the doors gave in to the pressure, and Beth could hear crashing and banging, the sound coming from what she assumed they'd used to barricade the door, albeit weakly. Once inside the building, she could see the two stairwells on either side had been barricaded more heavily, and she knew what that meant.

"They're trying to separate us, Beta." Beta turned back to face her, ignoring the snarls of the dead pouring through the doorway. Before responding, he glanced towards the stairwells and saw what she was talking about.

"So we leave them no way out." He enunciated the words, making it clear that they weren't leaving the building without a fight. The group split up, her and Amos taking the North stairwell, while Beta and the other two headed for the South one. The walkers obviously were trapped below, they couldn't get past the barricades. Beth and Amos silently made their way up the staircase, with Beth leading first. Finding a door that was unlocked, they opened it and slipped inside, shutting the latch behind them as quietly as they could.

At this moment, Beth had absolutely no clue what she would do if she came upon Daryl. Would she fight him, or would she give up and turn against her people? She was so pissed at herself. It'd been over seven years, and seeing him brought back a whole mess of feelings that she wasn't sure she could handle, not as the person she'd become.

So distracted by her inner turmoil, she didn't see Henry until it was too late. Quicker than she expected, he knocked the blade from her hand and smacked his staff into her head, causing her to smack into an old filing cabinet, knocking her out cold.

Why can't things ever be easy?

Daryl was waiting. He could hear them coming, their loud footfalls echoing outside the door. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he had his crossbow armed and ready, his body still as stone. When the door burst open, he took a shot, cursing under his breath when he saw that the big son of a bitch was carrying a table to block the shot. That had to be Beta.

Moving light on his feet, Daryl snuck in between the wooden beams, tossing his bow over his back and running between the tarps that hung from the ceiling. He tossed his crossbow down a couple feet away and lifted the large fire axe off the ground. Waiting, he listened closely as one of them made their way towards his hiding spot. He could see their shadow cast against the tarp, and sucking in a breath, Daryl swung the axe, embedding it into the bastard's chest, blood staining the white tarp as they fell, taking the tarp and the axe with them. Leaving the piece of shit to bleed out, Daryl pulled out his hunting knife and peaked around the next corner, seeing it clear.

He found another one of the assholes and snuck up behind them, grabbing their head and holding his knife to the guy's throat. He barely acknowledged the asshole's objections to being killed, slitting his throat and letting the body fall into a bloody heap on the floor. He took a step back and listened, hearing loud footsteps charging towards him. Beta broke through the drywall and charged at Daryl, hefting him into the air and slamming him into the wall.

Only one left.

Beth groaned as she slowly came to, surmising that she probably had a concussion, which was just fan-fucking-tastic. As if a bullet to the head hadn't been bad enough. Well, that'll teach her not to go first. Gingerly, she pushed herself off the floor and scanned the room, seeing Amos fighting off Henry and the woman she'd seen the other night, but no sign of Lydia. Just as she was about to sneak away to try and find her, Amos had knocked the woman away, her back smashing into a row of shelves, effectively knocking the wind out of her and Henry, who had been holding his own until this point, was tripped and fell backwards. Amos lifted his weapon and stabbed the poor boy in the leg, and Beth decided she had to intervene, because Lydia would never forgive her if she knew Beth hadn't at least tried to save the boy's life.

Beth grabbed her knife from the ground and didn't even hesitate, she threw it straight at Amos, hitting her target. The knife was protruding from his head, and his body dropped to the floor with a thud. Smirking to herself, she walked to Amos' body and leaned over it, pulling her knife from his skull. As she stood up straight, she noticed the woman was aiming that slingshot at them, but Beth didn't feel threatened. Instead, she turned towards Henry, who was leaning against the back of some filing cabinets, holding his left leg, blood seeping between his fingers. Kneeling down beside him, he gave her a wary look, recognizing her from the previous night. Beth didn't bother trying to reassure him that he'd be fine, she just reached for his shirt and sliced it with her knife, making a long strip. She wrapped it a few times around his wound, making sure it was tight to slow down the blood flow. When she finished, she stood up and turned towards the woman, who still was nameless to her, and nodded. Confused, she nodded back to Beth, signing 'thank you' to her.

Beth was about to leave the room when she heard a door burst open and saw Lydia, accompanied by a German Shepherd. Immediately, the two hugged, and Lydia started asking her a million questions, none of which Beth had time to answer. She held her hand up, and the teen grew quiet.

"Beta is here." Lydia released a shaky breath, clearly unsurprised by this.

"Daryl is gonna try to kill him." Beth's eyes grew wide. Daryl and Beta, fighting to the death? Fear gripped her insides, making her heart race and her head spin. She couldn't even form a sentence. And she wouldn't have the time to either, because she could hear bodies crashing from the floor above, and knew where she was needed. She looked at Lydia, putting her hands on her shoulders and looking her dead in the eye.

"I'm gonna do whatever I can." And then she hugged her once more, before pushing her into the stranger's arms, telling her to stay out of the way and not follow her.

Running from the room, Beth bounded up the stairs as quickly and quietly as she possibly could, following the noise. She found where both men were located, and walked in to see Beta holding Daryl's neck against a saw blade. She could hear Beta growling at Daryl, not bothering to keep his voice in check. Terrified that she was about to see the one person she'd spent so long searching for die, Beth shouted at Beta.

"I found her!" Beta's head snapped in her direction, and to say he looked pissed off was an understatement, but it provided just enough distraction for Daryl to regain some control.

"I found her!"

Daryl felt his blood run cold. That voice. It sounded so eerily similar to the one that haunted his dreams, he would've sworn it was the same. But that wasn't possible, there was just no chance it could be her. It was a coincidence and nothing more.

Besides, he had bigger problems at the moment.

Using Beta's momentary distraction to his advantage, he slammed his elbow into his sternum, knocking him back, then turning and punching him across the face. Beta crashed into a bunch of glass and debris, but grabbed Daryl by the vest and threw him to the ground, trying to stomp on him. Just managing to roll out of the way, Daryl pulled a switchblade from the inner pocket on his vest and swung around, stabbing Beta in the chest.

All that seemed to do was piss Beta off though, because he backhanded Daryl so hard his body went crashing through the drywall.

"Beta!" Beth shouted, having seen more than enough after she witnessed Daryl's body crash through the drywall. She stomped over to Beta, grabbing him by the forearm to stop him. "I found Lydia, she's willing to go back with us. There's no need to kill him." She was lying through her teeth, and part of her felt as if Beta knew that, but she didn't care. She just needed him to stop.

"We don't leave until they're all dead." He snarled at her, ripping his arm from her grasp and punching his way through the drywall. All Beth could do was follow him, she was fresh-out of ideas. She winced when Beta ripped the small blade from his chest, throwing it off to the side. Hearing a noise, they both turned towards a tarp with a tear down the center, and it was obvious Beta thought that was where Daryl was hiding.

"You and your people are nothing to me." He said, taking slow, measured steps towards the tarp, "-your world…is already dead." Beth was standing a few feet back and off to the side, watching Beta's back when she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. She watched in shock as a piece of plywood slid across the floor, and Daryl stuck his head out, seeing Beta and then noticing her. And in that moment, Beth knew she had to make a decision that would greatly impact the outcome of this fight.

Does she give away Daryl's position, and watch as Beta murders him without mercy?

Or does she stay silent, and choose a new side?

Fuck, why couldn't things ever be easy?!

Daryl thought for sure he was fucked when he stuck his head out from his hiding spot. Delta had noticed him instantly, and he was waiting for her to give away his position. But as he watched her for a few moments, he realized something.

She wasn't saying anything.

Taking it as a sign that he better move, Daryl slowly hefted himself out of the crawl space in the floor, barely registering Beta mumbling some more bullshit. Blood running from his nose, he stood up and inhaled a deep breath and started charging towards Beta.

Beta had only just realized that Daryl was behind him, turning just in time to see him crash his body into him, using the momentum to keep pushing Beta until he went through the tarp, and down the elevator shaft. He could hear the big bastard crash at the bottom, and Daryl spit blood out of his mouth before turning and walking away, stopping to pick up his switchblade.

He paused at the doorway when he noticed Delta standing there. Her body language told him that she was nervous, and he stared her down. Out of all of those bastards, she's the only one he couldn't quite figure out.

"Why?" His rough voice startled her, like she wasn't expecting him to say anything. Delta stared at him, unsure how to answer.

"I did it for Lydia." She knew that only the partial truth, but it was all she had. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh, hey Daryl. It's actually me, Beth, remember? I didn't die that day, and I've been searching for you for years. Surprise!'

Yeah, fuck that.

Daryl snorted in disbelief, glaring at her.

"Wha'ever." He walked away from her and picked up his crossbow, heading to the stairs, not caring if she followed or not.

Beth didn't know how to feel right now. Beta was dead. I mean, surely she should feel something? Especially when you considered the type of relationship they had, if you could even call it that. But…Daryl was alive.

And for some reason, that meant everything to her.

She followed Daryl down the stairs, back to the room where she'd left Lydia with the rest of Daryl's people. Seeing the young teen, she gave a rare smile and pulled her in for a hug. When they pulled away from each other, Lydia's face asked a silent question; what happened to Beta?

"He's dead." I think, but she kept that thought to herself. She'd seen Beta live through a lot of shit that should've killed him, and even though Daryl had won the battle, she knew the war was only just beginning. And she was left to wonder one thing.

What the fuck am I going to do now?

A/N: So this is the last chapter for a few days! I tried to make it a lot longer, as per the request of one of my readers! From this chapter on, the story will start to branch off from the show a bit more and it'll have more of my own dialogue and less of the show's.

Also, I forgot to mention this, the cover photo for this story, you can find on DeviantArt, if you'd like to see the full-sized image! The username to search for is easterndreamer95. Don't judge, that account is old as shit.

Anyways, thank you to everybody who has been reading and reviewing so far! It really means a lot to me and it helps to keep me motivated when I'm writing! See you all in a few days!

-Taylor Catherine