So I found time to update! Here's the next chapter.

Galwidanatitud: Funny how that keeps happening ;)

Katarzyna88gb: Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter!

Lady-Finwe: Thanks! I was hoping everyone would appreciate some action and arguing!

I blinked a few times, unsure why everything was so dark. I could hear crickets and the crackle of a fire nearby. Slowly my eyes adjusted to the lack of light and I realized I was lying on my back, a pillow underneath my head. I sat up carefully, feeling a bit dizzy at the movement. I rubbed at my eyes and took in my surroundings. I was in a tent, but it wasn't my tent. I caught sight of a crossbow leaning up against a wall.

Why am I in Daryl's tent?

My ears pricked up when I heard hurried footsteps just outside of the tent. Was that Daryl?

"We can't find Lori," Carol's distinct voice spoke. She sounded worried. "And the others aren't back yet either."

"Dumb woman must've gone off lookin' for 'em," Daryl's uninterested voice replied.

I narrowed my eyes at the tent door that was unzipped and slightly moving in the breeze. Why was Lori missing? And who else had gone off?

I tried to think back to the last thing I remembered before waking up in Daryl's tent. Rick and I had been helping Hershel and Jimmy bring two walkers to the barn. When we got there, there was a fight…Shane let the walkers out of the barn. My face fell when I remembered Sophia walking out of the barn, her face contorted with hunger. And then…

Sarah.

My mouth opened in horror as I remembered seeing our parents exit the barn. They were decayed and rotting, snarling and snapping their teeth just like any other walker I'd seen. And Sarah had rushed forward to stop them from being shot. Had she gotten bit? I'd remembered her screaming…

"What?" Carol's voice asked, snapping me back to the present.

"Yeah, she asked me to go," Daryl told her. "Told her I was done being an errand boy."

"And you didn't say anything?" Carol asked in shock.

There was a long pause before Daryl said in a quiet voice, "Been lookin' after Isabell all day."

I heard Carol let out an exasperated sigh.

"What?" Daryl's gruff voice challenged her. "She's been out for hours. No one else was keepin' an eye on her."

"Hershel could have. If you'd have gone out and helped find him," Carol said harshly.

Daryl let out a bitter snort of laughter. "After we killed all those walkers in his barn?"

Silence met Daryl's words before I heard Carol's feet shuffling away. Figuring now was a good time to get up and find out what happened to Sarah, I got to my feet slowly. My muscles were aching in protest as I made my way to the tent flap, but I stopped the moment Carol's footsteps returned. I could see her outline against the tent just a few feet from where I was standing.

"Don't do this," Carol pleaded suddenly. "Please? I've already lost my girl."

"That wasn't my problem, neither," Daryl shot back.

I watched as Carol's figure shook its head but she remained put. I chewed my lip uncomfortably. I wanted to make sure Sarah was alright, but I was afraid to step out of the tent and walk into the middle of whatever was going on here.

"What're you doing?" Daryl's angered voice called out after a few moments of silence.

"Keepin' an eye on you," Carol said with a steady tone. I could see her figure cross its arms as she spoke.

"Ain't you a peach," Daryl growled at her.

"I'm not goin' to let you pull away," Carol told him. "You've earned your place."

"If you spent half your time minding your daughter's business instead of sticking your nose in everybody else's she'd still be alive!" Daryl snapped.

My jaw dropped and a small gasp escaped my lips. I threw a hand over my mouth hoping no one had heard. How could he say something like that?

"Go ahead," Carol's voice said evenly.

I saw a second figure suddenly looming against the tent. Daryl had gotten up and made his way towards Carol in his frustration.

"Go ahead and what?"

Carol didn't respond.

"Just go ahead and go, I don't want you here!" Daryl yelled at her.

Carol still stayed put, silently taking Daryl's anger. I felt even more uncomfortable witnessing this scene being just a few feet from it, the tent being the only thing between me and those two.

"You're a real piece of work, lady," Daryl shot, leaning forward towards Carol. I could see his arm through the crack in the opened tent door. His hand was clenched in a fist. "What? You gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that?" He let out a snort. "You don't know jack."

I watched as Daryl turned, took two steps away from Carol, before turning back around and rounding on her again. "You're afraid. You're afraid cause you're all alone. Got no husband. No daughter. You don't know what to do with yourself." He pointed at her forcefully. "You ain't my problem. Sophia wasn't mine!" Daryl's hand hit the side of the tent, not too far from where I was standing. I flinched. "All you had to do was keep an eye on her!"

Carol nodded her head once before she slowly turned and headed back towards the farmhouse, obviously having heard enough. Daryl continued to stand there for a minute, watching as she walked off. He kicked the ground before he made his way back towards his fire and sat down.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I took a deep breath and then exited the tent. Daryl's head shot up immediately. I saw him quickly wipe a hand down his face and I briefly wondered if he had been crying.

"You're awake," Daryl's deep voice croaked.

I nodded my head slowly before taking a couple of steps towards him.

"Take it you heard all of that?" Daryl asked me.

"Yeah," I said quietly, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. I didn't exactly want him going off on me next.

"If you're gonna yell at me for it then do it already," he said.

"I'm not going to yell at you," I told him.

He let out a snort. "After everything I said to her?"

I made my way over to the fire Daryl was sitting in front of and sat down across from him.

"I don't think you should have said those things to her," I admitted. "But…I think I understand why you said them."

Daryl's eyes narrowed at me curiously from over the small fire.

"I know you're upset you couldn't find Sophia. Out of everyone here you were the one who was doing the most for her. It hurt to see that we'd failed her when she came out of that barn," I explained to him. "I know it hurt you to not be able to find your brother. And I'm sure this stung just as bad."

Daryl's eyes dropped to the fire in front of us. He grabbed a stick from off the ground and moved a few logs around in the fire.

"You're tired of losing people," I continued. "You think by distancing yourself from everyone else that you can avoid getting hurt anymore. But everyone here needs you." I paused and watched as he dropped the stick back onto the ground. "And you need us."

His eyes shot up at me and he frowned. "I don't need anyone," he said quietly.

I shook my head. "Those things you said to Carol about being alone? You said them because you know how that feels. You're afraid too, whether you want to admit it or not. You're afraid because you feel alone. Merle was all you had and now he's gone."

"What the hell do you know?" Daryl suddenly snapped at me.

"I'm just telling you that you're not alone. You don't have to be. We're all here for you. I'm here for you," I assured him. "You don't need to push yourself away from us."

"Looked after you, didn't I?" Daryl said. "Not pushin' everyone away."

"Thank you for that," I said softly.

Daryl glanced down at his hands. "What the hell happened to you anyway?"

I shrugged. "Seeing my parents triggered some memories, I think. I just…passed out. I really wish that would stop happening." Remembering Sarah having stood in front of my parents at the barn in order to protect them, I quickly asked Daryl, "What happened after I blacked out?"

"The two walkers," Daryl began to say, then paused and shot me a look before correcting himself, "your parents came at Sarah. Tried to bite her. Everyone else just stood there lookin' like idiots about to let it happen. So I stopped them."

"So Sarah is okay?" I asked him hopefully.

Daryl nodded as he held my gaze.

"Thank you," I told him yet again.

"Not mad at me for what I did?" he asked in what sounded almost like surprise.

I shook my head. "No. They weren't our parents anymore, no matter what Sarah wants to believe."

"She's pretty pissed at me," Daryl said quietly.

"She doesn't understand that our parents died long before they were shot today." I stared at the fire in front of us for a few moments. "How long have I been out?"

"Most of the day. I carried you back here after the last walkers had been put down. You've been out since then."

"You carried me back here?" I asked him in disbelief. "But you could've pulled your stitches!"

Daryl shrugged in response. "Everyone else was too busy cryin' over the dead or arguin'. Someone had to make sure you were going to wake up."

"I know I sound like a broken record, but thank you. Really."

Daryl made a grunt of assent at my thanks. "I cooked up some squirrel, if you're hungry. You haven't ate since this morning."

I accepted his offer, realizing just how hungry I was. He grabbed a cooked squirrel that had been hanging from a line strung between two trees and brought it over to me. I took it, offering him a soft thanks before I awkwardly took a bite. I chewed and swallowed, noticing out of the corner of my eye that he was watching me from over the fire.

I cleared my throat. "What's been happening since I was out?"

"Hershel disappeared," Daryl informed me as I took another bite. "Glenn and Rick went into town to find him. Apparently Lori went after them. Guess none of them came back yet."

I felt my heart sink at the news. I hoped they were all alright.

"Shane, Andrea, and T-Dog burned the walkers' bodies after we had a funeral for your family and Sophia. Course Carol was too stubborn to attend her own daughter's funeral," Daryl growled. "Claimed it wasn't her Sophia we were buryin'." He glared at the fire for a moment before continuing. "Your cousin Beth isn't doing so well. Guess she's kinda in like a coma or somethin'. Not moving or talking or eating. Think her sister and your sister been takin' care of her all day. Beyond that, I've been out here all day keepin' an eye on you and tryin' to hunt for some food for when you woke up."

I had finished eating the meat off of the squirrel by the time he had finished updating me on the day's events. I tossed the small bones into the fire and watched as the flames licked at them.

"I should probably see if there's anything I can do. Make sure everyone in town is alright. I should probably talk to Sarah too. Help her understand what happened and what you did—what you had to do."

"If that's what you want to do," Daryl said disinterestedly.

I frowned at him from over the fire. "I appreciate what you did today, Daryl. And I'm grateful for you looking after me today. I hope you decide to be a part of this group again and stop pushing everyone else away. Carol was right, you've earned your place. These people, they care about you and they respect you. If you try to go out there and make it on your own…maybe you'll survive and maybe you won't. Either way, it'll be a lot harder going it alone." I stood up, Daryl's eyes following my every movement as he studied me curiously. "Thank you for the food. I'll be up at the farmhouse if you need anything."

Daryl said nothing as I turned and made my way back towards the farmhouse. My mind ran through everything that Daryl had told me had happened today as I walked. I wished I could have been there for the funeral. I wished I could have been there for Sarah. I could only imagine what she was thinking about all of us now. I hoped I'd be able to get through to her, to make her understand that these walkers weren't just sick people.

When I reached the porch, I paused for awhile, staring at the light pouring out of the screen door. I took a deep breath and readied myself for the conversation I needed to have with my sister.