This is hands down the longest chapter i wrote, but it is the second season finale!

"Dale could get under our skin. He sure got under mine. Because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought…how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare…and brave. Whenever I'd make 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. He saw us for who we really are. In the end he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken…the best way to honor him is un-break it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves, take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way, That is how we honor Dale."

That was Rick's eulogy for Dale that Kayla kept replaying in her head as she and the others packed up camp to move into the farmhouse. It was an impressionable thing that Kayla couldn't shake from her mind as she loaded her and Daryl's few things into her car. She was feeling better than before after what happened last night, thanks to Daryl. The thought of him brought a smile to her face as she closed her car doors and started the engine. Then she remembered the several confused looks she got as she and Daryl exited his tent. No one said anything, but all got the message loud and clear even though no words were spoken.

Daryl was standing with Rick on the side porch discussing on where they were going to take Randall when Shane pulled up. "That thing you did last night." Rick said, giving Daryl a look.

"Ain't no reason you should be doing all the heavy lifting." Daryl replied.

"And Kayla?" Rick added.

Daryl looked over at Rick for a moment who had a sarcastic, but knowing look on his face. Daryl let out a chuckle. "What about her?" he questioned.

"The two of you seem to be getting pretty friendly these past few days. Ever since that run you two did."

A car door closing caught the mens' attention and turned to see Shane walking over. "I'll talk to you later." he excused himself to let Shane and Rick talk.

Daryl went into the house and saw Kayla helping everyone set up their beds on the floors and couches. She was laying out a comforter on the carpeting in the main living room when she noticed Daryl in the doorway. "Hey." She greeted with a smile. "I put your things over there." She pointed at the spot across the room made up with a light brown comforter and dark blanket along with two pillows. His bags were beside it along with his crossbow and arrows. "Thanks." He said walking over to her, taking in her appearance. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, her boots, a red button up shirt with long sleeves, and a jacket. "When are you and Rick leaving?" she asked.

"No not too long, he's talking with Shane." Daryl told her.

"I have the provisions Carol got together for you guys. Might as well start loading the car." Kayla told him. Daryl nodded and went over to grab his bow and arrows while Kayla got the box of extra supplies for Daryl and Rick. She carried them out to the truck and put it in the back, making sure nothing would fall out. Daryl came over and loaded his crossbow into the cab of the truck, stealing a glance at Kayla in the process. "If all goes right, we should be back a little after dark." He told her.

"Sounds good. I'll be waiting." Kayla replied with a smile as she turned towards him.

"Imma take it your glad we didn't kill him?" Daryl asked.

"Yes, but I wish Dale didn't have to die for us to spare him."

Daryl fell silent for a moment before he felt Kayla take his hand in hers. "Just come back alive." She said changing the topic of conversation. Daryl nodded and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She smiled as he stood back up straight as T-Dog approached. "Only got so many arrows." He said to Daryl as he handed him a gun.

"Is that Dale's gun?" Daryl asked, accepting the gun. "Yeah…" T-Dog answered after a few seconds of hesitation. "Wish I knew where the hell mine is…" Daryl replied, tucking the gun in the back of his pants as Rick walked up.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." Daryl said.

"I'll get the package." T-Dog told Rick, walking off.

"Kayla can I talk to you?" Rick asked. She walked over to Rick and stood in front of him. "Whatcha need?" she asked. "I already talked to Andrea about it, but I need you to keep an eye on Shane while I'm gone. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Rick told her.

"No problem." Kayla replied. "Be careful out there."

"I always am."

Kayla smiled and went over to stand next to Daryl when T-Dog yelled for them. "Rick! Daryl!" he yelled. "Get over here! He's gone!" Kayla stood up straight and followed Daryl and Rick over to the shed. They found it empty with the cuffs still attached to pipe with blood around them. Daryl checked the door for any weak spots or ways Randall could have gotten out. Kayla looked around at the roof and other parts of the shed to see if he could have gotten out anywhere else.

"What happened?" a southern voice said from behind. It was Maggie as well as everyone else.

"Randall's missing." Kayla told them.

"The cuffs are still hooked, he must have slipped them." Rick told them as he stepped out of the shed.

"Is that possible?" Carol questioned.

"It is if you don't have anything to lose." Andrea replied.

"The door was secure from the outside." Hershel said.

"RICK!" a voice bellowed. "RICK!"

Everyone turned to see Shane coming up with his nose and mouth covered with blood. "What happened?!" Lori asked.

"He's armed! He's got my gun!" Shane told them

"Are you okay?" Carl asked.

"I'm fine, the little bastard snuck up on me, clocked me in the face!"

"Alright Hershel, Kayla get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl come with us!" Rick ordered, unholstering his gun.

"Just let him go." Carol said. "That was the plan wasn't it, to just let him go?"

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here not on our front step with a gun!" Rick reminded her.

"Don't go out there, you don't know what could happen!" Carol begged.

"Get everybody back in the house, lock all the doors and STAY PUT!" Rick ordered walking away with Glenn Shane in tow. Glenn looked at Maggie sadly before walking off and Daryl did the same to Kayla. "Keep everybody safe." Was all he said before following Rick and the others.

OOOOO

Kayla did what Daryl told her to and kept everyone in the house, down in the living room. She, T-Dog, and Jimmy were keeping watch by the windows for people and walkers while the others sat down and tried to remain calm. Night had already fallen and Kayla had a sick feeling in her stomach. She didn't know if it was just her worrying about Daryl and the others out there or what would happen if Randall got to his old group with vengeance in mind, but it wasn't a good feeling. She didn't realize her hands were shaking until a pair of hands gently grabbed them. She looked over and saw Hershel's calm face. "Just calm down." he said. "You don't have to worry about them…they are very capable and know how to handle themselves."

"I know they can…but things happen out there…things people can't stop." Kayla told him, looking back out the window.

"Something you want to talk about?" Hershel asked. Kayla shook her head. "Nothing worth a conversation." She replied when the sound of the front door opening caught her attention. She turned around and saw Daryl and Glenn walk in. A breath of relief escaped her lips as she and the others walked closer to him. Daryl walked over to Kayla as he looked around the room. "Rick and Shane ain't back?" he asked.

"No." Kayla told him.

"We heard a shot." Daryl told the group.

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggested.

"We found him."

"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked.

"As a walker." Daryl clarified.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel interjected.

"The weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn told him.

"His neck was broke." Daryl explained.

"So he fought back." Patricia suggested.

"The thing is Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other." Daryl informed the group. "And Shane ain't no tracker so he didn't come up behind him…they were together."

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what the hell is going on?" Lori asked.

"You got it." Daryl told her. He walked towards the door when something caught the corner of Kayla's eye in the window. She looked outside and her jaw literally dropped. "Guys!" she called out. "You may wanna see this." Andrea walked over and looked out the window to see what Kayla was looking at…which was the herd of hundreds of walkers coming towards the house. "Oh my God…" Andrea gasped as she and the others rushed out to the porch.

On the porch Kayla stood behind Daryl, gripping the fabric of his shirt at the forearm. "Patricia kill the lights." Hershel told his sister. "I'll get the guns." Andrea said, returning inside. "Maybe they'll just pass like the herd on the highway, should we just go inside?" Glenn asked Daryl.

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size will rip the house down." Daryl answered.

Andrea came out with the gun bag and Maggie passed the firearms around. She handed Kayla a 20-gauge shot gun and ammo. Kayla loaded the gun as Daryl told them the walkers had an advantage with the amount of them. "You can go if you want." Hershel told Daryl as the farmer loaded up his shotgun.

"You wanna take em' all on?" Daryl questioned.

"We have guns and cars." Hershel reminded him.

"Kill as many as we can." Andrea explained. "Then use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."

"You serious?" Daryl questioned.

"This is my farm…I'll die here." Hershel told the group.

"Alright…good as night as any." Daryl swung around the banister of the porch and landed on the ground. Kayla quickly went inside to her bag and grabbed them, knowing they weren't going to be able to stay on the farm. There were too many walkers and not enough ammunition. Even if they managed to clear the farm, all that gunfire would attract more. On the way out to her car she saw Daryl's bag and grabbed it as well, carrying everything out to her car.

Kayla threw everything into the backseat when she saw Daryl ride over on his bike. She closed the back door and walked over to him. "Follow the other cars around and clear out as many as you can." He told her.

"What if we have to leave the farm?" Kayla asked.

"Go back to the highway. Rick and Glenn will head back that way and so will I." Daryl informed her. Kayla nodded and leaned down to kiss his cheek, but was surprised when he turned his head and met his lips with hers. She widened her eyes in surprise, but they fluttered close after a few seconds. The kiss was short, but enough to leave Kayla with a smile on her face.

"You better be alive next time I see you." Daryl said. Kayla nodded and stepped back, allowing Daryl to drive off. She rushed over to her car and jumped into the driver's seat starting the car and following Glenn and Maggie and T-Dog and Andrea into the herd of walkers. Since she was driving on her own, she stopped by the one fence and rolled her window down to shoot at the walkers. She wasn't as use to the shotgun as her handgun, but was still able to shoot the walkers coming close to her car. When they got too close for comfort she drove off to another part of the farm and did the same thing several times until she realized it wasn't doing anything. They just kept coming and coming. She slid back into her car and rolled the window up when the engine cut off. "Oh no." she said turned the key. The engine churned, but it didn't start. "Come on, come on!" she yelled as the walkers closed in on her car, banging on the windows and hood. She turned the key over and over, but it wouldn't start. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw all the walkers right outside her car when she finally got the engine to start. She sped off towards the road, dozens of walkers following her car.

Off by the gates, Daryl watched as the flames brought down the farm that once housed the walkers Hershel kept because he thought there was a cure. Daryl knew there wasn't one, that this is what the world was now, but after tonight…any hope he had was gone. The world was too far gone for anything to fix what the world had become. All he had left was this group. They were the only thing that mattered anymore to him. Them and Kayla. Kayla was part of the group, but Daryl wanted to always know she was safe. They've gotten too close for him to watch her go. He couldn't see where her car was or which way it went if she did leave which he was already regretting…letting her go out there on her own. He should have gone with her or brought her on the bike with him. At least that way he'd know she was safe.

OOOOO

The sun was up when Kayla got almost to the highway. She couldn't escape the thought of what could have happened to the others. She didn't know if they made it off the farm or made it to the highway…but she'll know soon enough. She was no more than ten minutes from the highway when she finally realized she may not be going back to a lot of people…or anyone at all. For all she knew she could be alone again. The group could be gone and she's been on her own like she was since the beginning. But she kept driving… because there was still the chance that the others had made it to the highway.

Kayla's thoughts were interrupted by her driving over a hole in the road and her face hitting the steering wheel. She stopped the car and put a hand to her face as the blood started to pour out of her nose. "Son of a bitch!" she said loudly. She opened the middle console where she had some napkins when the a loud sound on her window made her jump and let out a small scream. She turned and came face to face with a walker as a few of its friends came up the road. She slammed on the gas and high tailed it out of there to the highway, wanting to put as much distance between her and the farm along with all the walkers in-between.

Pulling up onto the highway, Kayla saw Rick, Hershel, and Carl by Hershel's station wagon looking her way as she pulled her car up near them. She shut the engine off and pulled out more napkins she held to her nose as she climbed out of her car. "Kayla!" Carl called out as he ran over. He wrapped his arms around her mid-section, much to her surprise and put the side of her face on her stomach. "You're alive." He said.

"So are you." Kayla replied putting her free arm around him. She looked over at Rick who gave her an acknowledging nod. She returned it and walked over to him and Hershel, Carl by her side. "Is it just you three?" she asked.

"So far." Rick answered. "Did you see anyone else leave the farm?"

"My car got swarmed with walkers. The engine cut off and once I got it started I got out of there. Daryl told me to come here if we had to leave."

Rick turned and looked at Hershel and then back at Kayla whose nose was no longer bleeding. She wiped the blood from her face with the bundle of napkins and then tossed them on the ground. Thankfully her nose wasn't broken, but it would definitely be severely bruised.

A few minutes passed in silence as the four waited for the others and soon, the sound of car engines and a motorcycle caught their attention. Kayla looked up and smiled at the sight of Daryl on his bike as he around to the other side of the cars. He stopped the bike and Carol got off who was seated behind him as he put the kickstand down and turned the bike off. He stood up and saw Kayla rushing over to him, a smile on her face. He couldn't hide the smile that was forming on his face as she finally reached him, throwing her arms around his neck. Daryl wrapped his arms around her back and lifted her up off the ground a little, feeling her face bury in the crook of his neck. A few seconds passed until he set her down and hugged her correctly while placing a kiss on the top of her head. She pulled away and looked at him with happiness in her eyes. Daryl leaned down and kissed her, ignoring the dried blood that was left on her face and enjoying the fact that she was alive. When he pulled away, he put an arm around her shoulders and held her close to him.

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl.

"This guy had his headlights zig zagging all over the road…figured he had to be Asian driving like that." Daryl joked as he looked over at Glenn who chuckled. "Good one." He replied.

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked.

"We're the only one who made it so far." Rick told the group.

"Shane?" Lori questioned. Rick just shook his head.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked.

"She saved me and then I lost her." Carol said.

"We saw her go down…" T-Dog added.

"Patricia?" Hershel interjected.

"They got her too." Beth told her father. "Took her right from me." Hershel hugged her as she began to cry over the loss. "What about Jimmy, did you see Jimmy?" Beth asked.

"He was in the RV." Rick told her. "It got overrun."

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol questioned.

"There were walkers everywhere." Lori pointed out.

"Did you see her?" Carol repeated.

No one said anything. "I'll go back." Daryl offered, not pulling away from Kayla.

"No." Rick objected.

"We can't just leave her." Kayla said.

"We don't even know if she's there." Lori told them.

"She's either there or she isn't. She's someplace else or she's dead…there's no way to find her."

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked.

"We gotta keep moving." Rick said. "There will be walkers all over here."

"I say head East." T-Dog offered.

"Stay off the main roads." Daryl told them, pulling away from Kayla and grabbing his crossbow. "Bigger the roads, more walkers, more assholes like this one. I got him." Daryl aimed his crossbow at the approaching walker and fired the arrow, landing it right in its eye.

OOOOO

Tensions were night that night after Rick revealed what he learned at the CDC about everyone being infected. No matter how you died, you came back as a walker. There was no way to avoid it. Either way it was going to happen unless someone put something through your head before you turned. No one said anything to anyone as they sat around the fire, hidden by the small stone walls. Kayla sat between Daryl's legs, his arms around her mid-section as she stared absent mindedly into the flames. She could fell Daryl readjust his hold in her and rest his chin on her shoulder, but didn't say anything.

"You okay?" he whispered so only she would hear. She turned her head to look at him and gave him a reassuring nod. "Long day." She said. Daryl kissed her temple and sat back when a noise in the distance caught everyone's attention. "What was that?" Beth asked as she stood up.

"Could be anything." Daryl said as everyone stood up, including him and Kayla. "A raccoon, a possum."

"A walker." Glenn added.

"We need to leave." Carol said. "I mean what are we waiting for?"

"Which way?" Glenn asked.

"It came from that way." Maggie said.

"The last thing we need is everyone running off in the dark." Rick told everyone sternly. "We don't have the vehicles and nobody's travelling on foot."

"Don't panic." Hershel told Maggie.

"I'm not." She said. "But I'm not waiting for another herd to blow through here. We need to move. Now."

"No one is going anywhere!" Rick snapped in an angry tone. "I'm keeping this group together. ALIVE. I've been doing that all along no matter what. I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I KILLED MY BEST FRIEND FOR YOU PEOPLE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! You saw what he was like. How he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. HE GAVE ME NO CHOICE. He was my friend but he came after ME. My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe I'm fooling myself. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a post card! Go on, there's the door. You can do better, let's see how far you get. No takers? Fine. If you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."