This is a chapter I've had written since the very beginning of this fic. I hope that you all like it, because it's leading us directly into the resolution of all that's been going on. I'm so excited!

As he made his way through the seemingly deserted town, crossbow held just high enough that he was ready to fire a bolt off in an instant if necessary, she effortlessly matched each of his steps with her own. Aaron had split away to circle around the main part of the town. They'd lost the man in the poncho a while back when the rain fell and only could only guess that he'd made his way here to scavenge for supplies. Daryl tried not to focus on the gentle sway of her ponytail or the way her arms swung so careless and free at her sides.

He couldn't be distracted. Not when it came down to someone else's life. Someone who could be that rare kind of good that the real Beth had been so convinced still existed. But it became harder and harder to ignore her. Knowing that her appearances had grown closer and closer together. That the numbers dwindled. That they only had one more after this. A dreaded ending. He felt like something was looming over him. An unknown shadow that wouldn't come to light until she said that final number.

As hard as he tried not to let her tear his attention away from tracking down the man in the poncho, Daryl couldn't help but slow his steps when he realized that she'd stopped in place. Turning around to look at her, he found himself staring into her eyes that held a certain look that he had seen before. Immeasurably sadness mingling with awe, uncertainty, and a little bit of fierce anger.

"You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon."

There was no sad smile on her face this time. None of her lingering laughter still ringing in his ears. Just distance and the aching sense of finality creeping up on him.

"Don't," he said, a note of pleading in his voice.

Beth pressed her lips together, clasping her hands together tightly as she rocked back on her heels and inhaled a deep breath, looking away from him.

"I don't know what to say," she admitted, her voice catching on the words as she stared at the smashed-in window of a storefront like it might hold all the answers.

Daryl shook his head, taking a step back. Just as he did, her eyes swung back towards him and pinned him in place with their intensity.

"I'm not gonna say goodbye," Beth said, her voice suddenly layered with steel. "Not ever."

He swallowed hard, gripping his crossbow tighter as he fought the urge to yell out that saying that was as good as saying goodbye. They still had one more number. One more time. Why was she doing this?

"I-I do have to say one thing," she said, taking several steps closer to him.

His mouth felt dry. His jaw clenched tight enough to ache at the effort. His eyes burning as he fought the urge to blink. He wasn't willing to take the risk that she'd disappear the moment his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry," Beth whispered, her voice carrying to him on the breeze that ruffled his hair and did nothing at all to hers.

Blinking away the tears that gathered in her eyes, she shook her head and lifted her arms to wrap around her middle. She looked small in a way he'd never seen, even at the farm or in the days after the prison fell. Almost as if she was trying to collapse in on herself.

"I'm so sorry, Daryl," she said, her voice breaking again as she shook her head. "It-it's going to get hard, after the next time. Really, really hard. I-I wish that I could do somethin'. That I could keep you from goin' through it. But…"

Beth trailed off helplessly, tilting her head away from him as her lips trembled and her eyes fell closed. He could see the slow drip of blood start seeping out of her hairline. Knew what came next. Surged forward with a spike of anger in his chest.

"The hell're you talkin' about?" he demanded.

She blinked, looking back at him with turmoil in her eyes. Her body gave a shudder as she dug her fingers into her palms.

"Two," she whispered, just loud enough that he could barely hear it.

"No," Daryl all but growled, gripping the crossbow so tightly that his fingers ached at the effort. "Dammit, Beth, don'-don't do this. Don't go."

Beth's arms dropped to her sides as that blood began soaking into the collar of that dirty, thin yellow shirt that she wore. He remembered that day at the country club, averting his eyes as she stripped away the dirt and blood-caked shirts to replace them with the yellow one. How clean and fresh it looked on her. How it didn't take very long before he dirtied it with one swing of a golf club, spattering walker blood across the front of it. She hadn't even yelled at him for it, stripping away the pristine white sweater she wore over it before continuing her hunt for booze.

"You'll be okay," she said, that sad smile finally pulling at her lips. "I promise."

He opened his mouth to yell something, he wasn't sure what, only to whip around at the sound of low growls and a clatter behind him. Just as his bolt struck the walker between the eyes, Daryl felt the sudden sense of aloneness and he knew without even looking. Surging forward, he ripped the bolt from the walker's head and wiped it off on his own pants before starting forward with a raging helplessness in every step that he took. He had a job to do. A person to find, who could prove Beth right once and for all that good people still existed.

Even if she wasn't alive to see it.

Tell me all your thoughts, even if you want to yell at me.