When the group got to North Carolina, Kayla immediately felt as if she stepped through a portal into the literary world. Nicholas Sparks was her favorite author and just about all of his books to place in the Tar Heel State. However the walking corpses, abandoned cars, destroyed homes and local businesses sort of took away from the place. They got into the state early afternoon on the tenth day after Grady, stopping and taking shelter for in an abandoned house at the first signs of an approaching rain.

The house they stayed in was barely big enough for the group to squeeze into, but they didn't plan on staying in one spot too long. They had to keep moving. Kayla helped carry the essential bags indoors, passing Daryl in the doorway without a single word as she moved past him. Ever since their argument back in South Carolina they not only have exchanged even fewer words, but Kayla took to sleeping farther from him come night time. That's what hurt Daryl. Ever since the fall of the Greene farm she would sleep curled into his side, finding comfort and safety with one of his arms around her. It also made Daryl feel needed- like he had a purpose. Now that was gone. He would still guard her if she ever needed his protection, but she was strong on her own. She could handle herself just fine around walkers and humans on her own. But at night when her guard was down to allow some relaxation course through her muscles, Daryl was there to shield her from harm. But now she slept with space between them.

Once the group got settled, Daryl passed sometime in the living room cleaning his arrows while Rick and Carl escaped upstairs with Lil' Asskicker to put the baby down for a nap, Glenn, Michonne, and Maggie took watch with Eugene and Rosita while Noah, Sasha and Tyreese caught up on some sleep, Eugene read a history textbook, Tara organized some of the food supply, and Angela and Kayla flipped through some herbal medicine books with Jonathan by Kayla's side. That little guy was inseparable from her, going where she went and always doing as she said. Daryl couldn't help but assume Johnathan looked at her as another mother. Although the one he lost could never be replaced, Kayla was taking on the role. Daryl consistently looked over at his wife, hoping to find her eyes on him just once but he never did. After some time he gave up and just focused on his arrows.

"Alright we can definitely scrounge up dandelions, blackberries, dogwoods, pine, jimsonweed, and wild cherry around here." Angela said as she made a list and a sketched a few drawings in pencil next to each of the plants for easy identification. "If we gather enough we may be able to prolong our name brand medicines and antibiotics."

"Well we aren't going anywhere today and risk getting caught in the rain." Kayla replied. "But this was a good idea, Angie. We'll put something together tomorrow before we head out."

Kayla closed up the books, tucking two in her backpack. Angela had found them once they got settled, causing a light bulb to go off in her head. The group was always looking for bottles and boxes of things, they didn't think to take advantage of the natural remedies Mother Nature offered. Lucky for them, North Carolina offered several natural medicines. Mostly from tree bark and leaves, a lot could be used to fight infections, fevers, colds, and flus. Now with a list, they could gather some.

Standing up, Kayla walked over and tossed her bag by her sleeping bag before going back to Jonathan while Angela disappeared upstairs. "Hungry, kiddo?" she asked as she ruffled his hair. He laughed and playfully pushed her hands away. They managed to find a good bit of food at a grocery store coming into the state and it was going on five in the evening, a good time to start dinner for the group.

"Definitely." Johnathan responded. "What's on the menu?"

Kayla chuckled as she led him to the kitchen. "Well let's take a look at the inventory, shall we?"

Once she was out of sight, Daryl went over to the now empty table where Angela left the list of natural remedies on it. Looking at it, he recognized all the plants on the list as they were native to Georgia, too. Figuring he may be able to make a peace offering out of the plants, he tucked the list in his pocket and went out the front door with his backpack and crossbow. Kayla heard the sound of the door opening and closing, but it was just another noise at this point. She didn't dwell on it. Despite the truth she yelled at Daryl days ago, he didn't seem to hear her as he still slipped away during the day. It did however make her wonder why he was going out when rain was coming with possible thunder. He didn't like thunder at all.

Regardless, Kayla peaked her head out of the kitchen and into the living room to see if he took his crossbow and backpack. He did. Which meant he'd be out for a while. Before going back into the kitchen, Kayla noticed the absence of Angela's list on the table.

OOOOO

Once out of the house, Daryl entered the woods with his crossbow in hand and bag on his back. Pulling the list out of his pocket, he read through it again. He knew the trees would be easy to find but the blackberries, jimsonweed, and dandelions may take a little while. Those would have to wait tomorrow if the rain came too soon. The last thing he wanted was to get caught in the rain. Slinging his crossbow over his shoulder, he carried he backpack in one hand and a knife in another to cut the barks off the trees. He made sure to keep the different barks separated in the bag to avoid confusion later on when it came time to use them.

As he stripped the bark pieces from the tree, he really hoped this would ease some of the tension between him and Kayla. He did feel guilty about his absences and distance lately, he really did, but Beth's death just hit him like a ten ton truck. The thought of her still hurt like a sharp pain in the chest. He blamed himself a lot, thinking how if he'd of gotten to her sooner or did a better job of staying closer she'd never have been taken in the first place. Or if he stopped her at Grady, just grabbing her arm and pulling her right out of the hospital himself she'd still be here. Not in a grave back in Georgia. Sometimes it felt like she was still with him, watching over him and her voice disguised as the birds' tunes talking to him in the melodic tunes from the branches of trees. What he wouldn't give to hear her sing one more time.

Once he had more than enough tree bark, he holstered his knife and put his backpack back on, keeping his crossbow armed and ready in his grasp. Now he just had to find some dandelions, blackberries, and jimsonweed. Or at least one of the above. He walked farther than he intended, at least a mile, before he finally came across a patch of bright yellow dandelions in a large clearing in the woods. He was surprised by the lack of walkers in the woods as the Georgia woodlands seemed to be teeming with them all the time. Then he remembered the nearest city was quite a while away.

The patch was flourishing with vibrant golden plants. He looked around to make sure the area was clear before setting his crossbow down and pull the weeds from the ground, careful not to damage the leaves. He kneeled on the bed of leaves before him as tucked several handfuls into his bag until the compartment of it was full. The sound of a twig snapping caused Daryl to grab his crossbow quickly and stand, dropping his bag in the process and spilling the dandelions. When he looked up, he saw a female deer in full sprint run across the clearing and in the opposite direction of which it came. Looking the direction the deer came from, Daryl couldn't miss the large group of walkers approaching. There had to be at least fifteen. "Oh shit." he cursed under his breath, heading the direction the deer went as there too many walkers for just him to take on with nothing more than a knife and a dozen arrows. He got thirty feet before he realized he forgot to grab his backpack. Only when he turned around and saw the approaching corpses, he knew he couldn't get to the bag without risking an attack from a walker.

Taking off the other direction, he ran as fast as his feet could manage to take the walkers farther away from the house the group was in. He planned to get far enough ahead, loop around, and head back. Only that plan got shot to shit when he found another cluster of walkers in the woods ahead. Taking a detour to the left, he ran in the opposite direction of the group of walkers that realized he was now there. Sweat was rolling down his face and his heart was pounding, the heat of summer not a saving grace in his current predicament. He kept his crossbow loaded and ready in case he had to use it, but he planned to conserve as many arrows as he could since he left the ones he recently made were in the bag he dropped.

Once he had been racing for quite a period of time, he stopped to catch his breath and check his surroundings. Struggling to get his breathing back to normal, he realized the walkers were about a hundred yards behind him except the first group met up with the second one that created an even bigger group. Twenty or twenty one corpses made their way towards him. Taking a few more breaths while hunched over with a hand on his knee, the sound of a growl came from the side. Looking up, Daryl watched as large walker approached, standing at five eleven, but weighing in at two hundred pounds. Daryl shot up and raised his crossbow as it closed in on him, only he couldn't aim and pull the trigger fast enough.

The walker toppled over on him, making his crossbow fall from his hand. He pushed the walker up, getting its mouth as far away from him as he could manage. Looking to the right at the approaching walkers who were now getting closer. Pushing and shoving at the walker, he tried to get out of underneath it but had no success. Mustering up as much strength as his upper body possessed he kept pushing at the walker, but couldn't overpower the weight of the walker trying to sink its teeth into his flesh. The decomposing smell was horrendous and blood dripped off the walkers decaying face, making Daryl want to get the walking corpse off him all the more. The other group of walkers were now closer, meaning there wasn't much time for Daryl to get up and run.

Then suddenly, the walker's head flew back at an incredible speed right before its body completely stopped moving and the noise of its growls went mute. Realizing that it was shot, Daryl shoved the walker off of him and grabbed his crossbow as he stood up, aiming at the trees where the shooter most likely was. Once he saw who it was behind the gun with a silencer on its end, he lowered his crossbow.

"Kayla?"

She stood there in her open red flannel with a black tank top underneath and jeans, gun in hand and hair pulled into a ponytail. "You're welcome." she simply said before looking at the approaching walkers. "Would you like to continue this chat here or get away from your new friends?"

"Let's go."

Daryl and Kayla took off away from the walkers, they kept at it for a solid five minutes before breaking the tree line and stepping into the parking lot of a motel. There weren't any cars in sight and the motel was the closest building to them. It looked to be a simple one floor motel that was a place shady people went to lay low for a few days. Turning around, the walkers were still approaching. Looking back at the school, Kayla knew it was there best bet to hide out and wait for them to pass. "We don't know what's inside." Daryl commented.

"It's all we got for now. We can just hide out in a room and wait for them to pass." Kayla replied. "Besides, no time to argue."

Kayla headed towards the motel, Daryl following after her. When they got to the front door, Kayla raised her gun and kicked the door open as Daryl stood behind her with his bow raised. No walkers came to view so the couple quickly entered and shut the door. The lobby was a disaster, papers and glass all over the floor and knocked over furniture. There were thick coats of dust on the tables and front desk as well as muck all over the windows.

"Guess housekeeping didn't stick around." Kayla commented as she moved towards the front desk.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Daryl immediately asked, causing her to turn.

"This coming from the guy who nearly became lunch for a bunch of walkers a few minutes ago."

"I had it under control."

"Clearly."

Before Daryl could get another word out, Kayla spoke again. "We don't know what's in here yet so why don't we keep the volume down? That and we don't need the geeks who think were still hightailing it figure out we're in here."

Knowing she was right, Daryl stayed quiet and followed his wife as she walked down the right hallway that led to the motel rooms. Her gun was raised as she nudged the first door open to see it was clear. "While we're here might as well scavenge what we can." she whispered when she saw a few stray candy bars on the end table next to the bed in the room. Daryl said nothing and just poked his head through the door of the room directly across from the room Kayla cleared. Same setup, one bed, an end table with a TV on top of a dressed on the front wall and a desk by the window. There was one closet and another door that most likely led into a bathroom. Once they cleared the rooms, they could go back and see if anything was under the mattress or in the drawers.

When they had the first half of rooms cleared, Daryl decided to go back out to the lobby and see if the mini herd of walkers had passed by. "You alright for a minute?" he asked Kayla.

"Yeah." she replied.

She opened the next door as he walked back down the hall, totally shocked at what she saw. There were clothes strewn everywhere, drawers laid on the floor, and on the bed sat a blood stained towel atop of the blood stained sheet. On top of the towel a pile of bloody teeth, making Kayla feel a tad of sickness rise on her stomach. Then, in front of the bed stood a tripod with a camera on top. Walking to it, she saw it was still on but almost out of battery. Hitting the payback button, she saw the face of a middle aged man on the small screen. Once he saw the camera was on he sat on the bed, holding a towel to his side as blood sept through it as well as a wound that heavily bled from his other side. "One open door and next thing you know the dead are in and you're their lunch." the man said, his voice almost gone. She guessed that he was already feeling the effects of the turn.

"I guess you can't survive alone." the man continued. "I'm gonna turn whether I like it or now. So I decided to capture my last moments as a living, breathing, human on camera. Maybe it will be useful to someone even though I think it's safe to say no one is going to come up with a cure or vaccine or anything else to stop this. So let's get the show on the road."

Before Kayla could fast forward, the camera died. "Damn." she cursed, but decided to pack it in her bag in case she found new batteries for it down the road. For some reason, she wanted to see the rest of it. Maybe she wanted to see what else the man had to say, if he revealed anything, or just spoke words that had an importance to them. Since the camera only recently died, it couldn't have been that long ago.

What happened next happened so fast, Kayla could barely register the situation before it was too late.

A door behind her swung open, making contact with the wall and resulting in a loud smacking noise. As she turned around, she came face to face with the man from the video with blood covering his mouth and front of his shirt. He had only recently turned, making him fast and stronger than walkers who have been walkers for a while. It charged at her and she raised her gun, but as she pulled the trigger the walker knocked her to the floor causing the bullet to hit the ceiling. She felt a sharp, digging pain in her shoulder before shoving the walker off of her and getting to her feet. As adrenaline coursed through her veins, she fired three shots into the walker's head moments before Daryl appeared in the doorway. She turned towards him breathing out, "I'm fine."

And for a second, Daryl believed her until he saw the dark and light blood colors on her skin and flannel by her shoulder. "Kayla…" he choked out with his eyes locked on the area making her look there. When she looked at it, her gun fell from her hand.

AN

So…I'll update as soon as I can.