Very early the next morning, Daryl and I were walking through the woods, and I noticed something kind of strange.

"Do you smell that?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He replied. "Don't breathe through your nose."

We continued walking. Daryl stopped and shined his flashlight on a bush. He seemed a little concerned.

"What is it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "That ain't walker blood."

We shared a look, but then moved on.

The smell got worse as we were moving. Then, I saw something very alarming. There was a dead woman on the ground, she must have already been put down. Normally, that wouldn't be that peculiar, however, the weird thing was that she didn't have any clothes on.

"Damn." I muttered. I felt a little embarrassed for some reason, though.

"Let's just keep going." Daryl said. He probably felt the same way as me.

I took a few steps and saw an arm and then a leg once I got closer. That's when I noticed a pile of dead bodies behind a big tree! All women, all naked!

"Oh. My. God." I said. Daryl didn't say anything, just made a sound. "What's going on?" I sort of panicked. "What happened to them?"

"I-I don't know. Just come on." Daryl put his hands on both of my shoulders and kind of pushed me. He seemed eager to get out of the woods…or he seemed eager to get me out of the woods.

"Daryl?"

"It's okay."

We finally reached the road. Daryl rushed me the entire way.

"Sorry." He said. "I needed to get you out of there. Remember, we're not alone out here."

"Do you think whoever did that is still alive?" I asked with clear concern in my voice.

"Have to be. Couldn't have happened more than a couple of hours ago."

My eyes widened a bit.

"Don't worry." Daryl reassured me. "Nothing's gonna happen to ya."

We walked through a little neighborhood. We made a quick sweep of the houses, we didn't find much, then we continued on our way.

"See, those houses on top of the hill?" Daryl asked me.

"Yeah?"

"That's where we need to go."

"How are we going to get up there?"

Daryl stared at me for a moment. "We climb." He started in that direction.

"But it's so steep."

He snorted. I followed him.

We crossed a highway then train tracks. Why are there train tracks everywhere? It's like we can't escape them. We stopped when we got to a river.

"Now what?"

"You can swim, right?"

I huffed. "You're kidding."

He smirked at me. "We'll find a way around it somehow, if not…I'm throwin' you in there."

I let out a small laugh. "I don't want to get wet, and besides…rivers have those holes that you can get sucked into."

Daryl snorted again.

"They do!"

"Well, then you better be quick."

"Daryl." I rolled my eyes.

We continued walking along the shore. I was playing with a stick I found. I kept tapping it on the ground. I looked up when I saw something white up ahead.

"Hey, look!" I yelled. "Is that a boat?"

"Where?"

"Straight ahead." I pointed.

"Yup. That's what it looks like."

I giggled then ran to it. I tried lifting it up, but it was too heavy. Daryl was there in a second and helped me move it. We pushed it into the water some.

"All right." Daryl cleared his throat. "Get in."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." He gave me a stupid look. "I'm gonna push you out into the water then I'm gonna get in."

"But what if you can't?"

"I will." He raised his eyebrows. I sat in the boat.

"Wait, we don't have a paddle." I stated.

Daryl sighed and began pushing the boat into the river. "I'm gonna paddle you."

I smiled and felt my face heated up, I nervously bit my lip. He hopped in. We floated in the water, but the boat was moving very slowly and it wasn't taking us in the direction we wanted to go.

"What are we gonna do now?" I asked hopeless. Daryl sighed again and gave me a look. I giggled. I knew I was annoying him and it was too funny. "I know!" I yelled. I grabbed the middle seat in the boat and tried to pull the piece of wood off. It didn't budge. I tried it at another angle. I looked up at Daryl and he had his hand over his face. Then, I sort of got under the piece of wood and tried pushing it up with my back.

"All right. Enough." Daryl said. "Before ya hurt yerself."

I huffed. Then, I gave the piece of wood a good kick. My mouth gaped open, that hurt more than I thought it would. I tried not to show it though. "Ow?"

"Yer one big problem, ya know that?" Daryl said to me.

I gave him a look. "Okay, Mr. Tough Guy," I mocked him, "why don't you give it a try then instead of just sitting there staring at me?"

He got up and grabbed the piece of wood and wiggled it a few times. "I think ya actually loosened it." He said. Daryl pulled hard on it and eventually it broke off. He looked at me.

"Yeah, man." I said with raised eyebrows. "See that?" Daryl began paddling the boat across the river.

I hopped out when we reached the shore. "Well, that was a fun ride." I said.

"Says the one who wasn't paddling."

"That's your fault. I would have." I smiled. I turned and started off into the woods. I saw a walker to the left of me, and killed it. "Are you sure about this?" I asked when I looked up at the hill. It looked even steeper than before.

Daryl sighed. "Yup."

I was leading the way. I guess Daryl stayed behind me in case I fell or something? I stopped to take a rest. I looked back, we were about halfway there.

"I hate this." I said out of breath. All jokes aside.

"We're almost there."

I took a deep breath. "No, we're not."

We climbed higher. We weren't very far from the top. The rocks at my feet were loose so I quickly reached up and grabbed the first branch I saw. It just so happens that, the branch was more of a twig, but it was too late, it snapped, I gasped and I starting sliding down. Daryl caught me by placing his hand on my back. I paused and looked back.

"It's okay." He said. "I got you."

I breathed heavily. "I hurt my knee."

"Don't worry. I won't let ya fall." Daryl reassured me. "Keep goin'."

I sighed. I looked around for a branch to grab onto to, I reached up when I found one. I felt Daryl's hand move from my back to my butt. Whoa! My eyes widened a bit. He pushed me up a little.

I climbed the rest of the way to the top. I stood up and grimaced.

"Ow, my knee." I said quietly.

"Can you walk?" Daryl asked me.

"I think so." I started walking. I had somewhat of a limp, but I figured I would be alright for a while.

We walked on a dirt trail. I briefly wondered where the houses were that we saw down on the road, but I didn't say anything. The pain in my knee was getting worse, but I didn't want to complain about it.

Just then, we heard a moan from somewhere. I stopped and pulled out my knife. "Do you see it?"

"Nah." Daryl said. He started in the direction of where the sound was coming from. We found it shortly. It was just one, it was tied to a tree. "We're good." Daryl said. He raised his crossbow.

"Wait." I said before he shot it. "Can I try?" I asked reaching for his crossbow.

He hesitated but eventually gave it to me. He briefly instructed me on how to hold it and everything. I aimed at the walker.

"Abby, get a little closer. Yer not gonna get it from this far away, you've never used that before—"

I pulled the trigger and nailed the walker right in the forehead. I excitedly looked at Daryl. He had a surprised look on his face. "Did you see that?" I was thrilled.

"Yeah." Daryl said. "Yeah."

We continued on our way. Daryl was ahead of me, and my knee was hurting pretty bad now. I don't think I can go on much longer. "Daryl." I called. He stopped and spun around. "Can we hold up for a few minutes?"

"Ya alright?"

"My knee is killin' me. I think I just…need to sit down for a while."

Daryl paused for a minute and looked around. "Wanna get on my back?"

"What?" My head shot up.

"Come on, I'll carry you."

"…uh, no, that's okay…I changed my mind. I can walk for now." I got up and started walking forward. I think I heard Daryl let out a little laugh.

Not far down the road, I felt an awful pain in my knee, and went straight down. I hissed.

"All right. That's it." Daryl said. He moved his crossbow from his back to his front, then helped me up. "Get on my back, now."

"No. It's hot enough out here. You don't need my extra weight. I can—"

"You get on my back or I will throw you over my shoulder." He sounded serious. I sighed and gave in. Daryl bent over a little. "Jump up." I grabbed onto his shoulder and launched myself onto his back. He stood up straight and readjusted me. Then, we continued on our way.

Being carried on Daryl's back was a little awkward at first, but I was thankful for it. It beats walking on a hurt knee.

We headed towards a big house that was in a cemetery. I heard Daryl breathing heavily. I felt kind of bad for him, so…I decided to mess with him.

"Wow, listen to you huffing and puffing." I said. "You really need to quit smoking. You're gonna blow that house down."

He laughed. "I'm gonna drop you as soon as we get up there."

I laughed. "You think there's people inside?"

"If there is, I'll handle 'em."

"Hey, I'm not completely worthless."

"I never said you were."

I was quiet for a moment. "We'll handle them…if we need to."

Daryl sighed.

"There still ARE good people, you know?"

"I don't think the good ones survive."

"…we did."

We were inside the funeral home. We checked it out and everything seemed safe. It was clear.

"This place is so like…clean." I said.

"Yeah. Someone's been tendin' to it."

We went down to the basement. There was a dead body on a slab. It looked like someone had "taken care" of it. Daryl opened a cupboard, and pulled out some gauze or something. "Let's get that knee wrapped." I just stared at the body. "Look's like someone ran out of dolls to dress up." Daryl said. I thought about what he just said and laughed. He chuckled as well. "Come on." He guided me over to the counter. I hopped up there. Daryl started to wrap my knee.

"I can do it myself, you know."

He raised his eyebrows. "Just let me." I cringed when he touched my knee. "Sorry." Daryl said. He finished wrapping it. "How's it feel?"

"I've had worse." I shrugged.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Daryl smirked.

I sat up and cleared my throat. "I was in a bad car accident when I was thirteen, I almost died. Also, when I was fifteen, I broke my ankle while skateboarding. It was like completely bent. Probably the worst pain I've ever experienced." I bragged.

"Wow." Was all Daryl said. He looked taken aback. He helped me get down.

"Yay. More climbing." I said sarcastically while walking over to the stairs.

"Right?" Daryl said. Then, I felt myself being lifted.

"Whoa!" I yelled. I wrapped my arms around Daryl's neck for support. He quickly carried me up the stairs.

Daryl was setting up cans outside so we would hear someone if they were outside. I found a piano in one of the rooms, and sat down. I skimmed through the sheet music. I started playing just for the hell of it.

I heard Daryl clear his throat from behind me. I stopped playing and turned around.

"Place is nailed up tight." Daryl said. "The only way in is through the front door." I nodded. "I didn't know you could play piano?" Daryl said.

"Yeah." I smiled. "I can play just about any instrument you put in my hands…sorry, I don't mean to brag."

Daryl let out a little laugh. "Can ya sang, too?"

"Yes, actually…but I'm not going to." I got a little awkward after that and hoped that he didn't ask me to because it's been a long time since I sang. Daryl stood there awkwardly then hopped into the coffin that was on display.

"Ew." I said.

"This is the comfiest bed I've had in years."

"Yeah, right?"

"I ain't kiddin'." He kind of laughed. I laughed again, then put my head down. "Hey, why don't you, uh…tell me a story or somethin'?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, make me laugh."

"That's kinda hard to do."

"Shut up."

I laughed. "To be honest, I don't know if I have one."

He smirked. "If it wasn't already the end of the world, it would be now." I laughed. "…so, you said that you was…in a car accident?" I nodded. "How'd it happen?"

I thought for a minute then sighed. I don't talk about that much. I sat up and cleared my throat. "I was at my cousin, Franky's, graduation party. He just got a jeep and I wanted to go for a ride because I wanted to see what it was like to ride in a car with no doors. So, we're riding around and stuff, and all of a sudden he starts acting weird, like he would speed up then slam on the brakes. He did that a bunch of times. I was wondering why he was doing it. Well, I looked down and saw a bunch of beer cans on the floor, and at that moment, this is what I seriously thought: I was like, 'this is either going to be a funny story to tell my friends, or I'm going to regret ever getting into this car.' Unfortunately, it wasn't the first one." I paused. Daryl didn't say anything, just looked down. "I don't remember exactly how it happened, but we started spinning out of control, and…I flew out of the car and landed on my head. The left side, the smart side. That's why I'm so stupid." I laughed.

"Hey, you ain't stupid."

I ignored his words. I am stupid and I know it. "Well, anyway, I died on the way to the hospital, but they brought me back." I nervously laughed. I paused for a moment and thought about the aftermath. I said my thoughts out loud. "Everything was so messed up after that. School was so hard for me. And I was an honor student! I felt like a dumbass. I hated it, I wanted to just quit so bad. I started staying home a lot, I missed school for the dumbest reasons. Things got pretty bad after that." I looked up at Daryl. I couldn't read his expression. "…but, I'm not gonna get into all that right now." I laughed nervously again, and put my head down.

"Hey." Daryl said making me look up at him. "I'm glad yer…okay." I smiled at him. "But don't call yerself stupid again."

I smiled. "Alright. Enough of this…weird, nice stuff…I'm hungry." I said seriously.

"Check it out." I said. I opened a cupboard in the kitchen revealing a bunch of food behind it.

"Peanut butter and jelly, diet soda, and pigs feet." Daryl said. "White trash brunch right there." I laughed grabbing a jar of peanut butter. "Hold up." Daryl said. "There ain't a spec 'a dust on this."

"And?"

"That means someone just put it here. This is someone's stash."

Oh yeah! I thought for a minute. "You think they're still alive?"

"I don't know." Daryl said. "All right, we'll take some and leave the rest."

"See, there are still some good people left."

Then, Daryl stuck his finger in a jar of jelly and started eating.

"Well, I know what I'm not eating." I said.

"Hey, those pigs feet are mine."

I raised my eyebrows. "Go right ahead and be my guest. Those look foul as hell."

"Ya ever have 'em?"

I snorted. "No way, my mom would take one look at that and ban it from ever setting foot in the house. Haha foot." I pointed at the pigs feet. "I didn't do that intentionally."

Daryl smirked. "Yer funny. Ya know, that?"

"That's what everyone tells me." I started opening the jar of peanut butter. Daryl opened the jar of pig's feet and took one out and bit it. "Ew!" I yelled. "I thought they had to be cooked?" He laughed and was about to say something, but there was a noise outside. "What the hell?" I said.

Daryl grabbed his crossbow, I started to follow him but he said, "stay." I stopped dead in my tracks right after he said that. I actually listened to him. I felt like I had to.

I listened carefully. I heard the door open. "It's just a damn cat!" Daryl called.

What? A kitty! I practically ran there. I saw Daryl closing the door. "You didn't scare it away, did you?"

"I told you to stay back." He scolded.

I actually felt a little nervous. "You said there was a kitty!" I pouted.

Daryl sighed. "Maybe he'll come back. Come on, let's go eat." I didn't hide my disappointment. I love cats.

Later on, we were eating and making small talk. It was dark and we had candles lit to light up the room. "I miss pizza." I said out of nowhere. "And french toast."

Daryl snorted. "Weird mixture."

"I didn't mean together." I gave him a stupid look. "Oh and tacos." I grinned.

"Tacos were pretty damn good."

"Yeah, man." I smirked. "One of my favorites." I ate a spoonful of peanut butter.

"What is yer favorite?" Daryl said after some time.

I was surprised that he asked. "Um," I swallowed the food in my mouth and licked the peanut butter off my lips, "pasta or anything with noodles like soup or lasagna." I took a sip of my soda. "Brisket is really good, too, though." I laughed.

Daryl let out a little laugh. I noticed that he didn't have a glass for his drink. I felt an urge to get him one. I got up and opened the cupboard where I got mine. "What are ya lookin' fer, sweetheart?" He asked me.

I smiled to myself, it made me feel good inside that he called me sweetheart. "I was just getting you a glass." I grabbed one and headed back over.

"I don't need no glass." Daryl said. He picked the whole two liter up and started drinking out of it. I looked at him funny and then made a gesture like I was going to push his bottle up and spill it all over him. He immediately pulled away and put the bottle down. "I'd kill ya." He said. I laughed.

Just then, we heard another noise outside. "That cat gets one more chance." Daryl said biting off a piece of one of the pigs feet to give to our new pet. It made me smile. "Ya stay here, okay? I mean it this time." He looked at me sternly.

Again, something made me oblige. I didn't want to make it obvious, though, so I put my hands up. "Okay." I smiled. I watched him leave the room. I think I figured out why I have been listening to Daryl. I don't really let anyone tell me what to do, but lately, I have with him. And I think it's because he…spanked me? I don't know how to feel about it. I mean…I'm not saying that it would have worked with my parents, I just think because it was Daryl. No one has ever done that to me before. "Ha." I raised my eyebrows and put a spoonful of peanut butter in my mouth. Maybe I like him…

Suddenly, I heard the door slam and Daryl calling me and almost choked on the peanut butter. I grabbed his crossbow and hurried to the door. Daryl was holding the door closed. There were several walkers outside! I threw him the crossbow, and he told me to run. "Crawl out a window, and get out outside!"

"I won't leave you!" I yelled.

"Go down the road, I'll meet you there!" He ordered. I didn't want to, but I did what he said. I ran outside and bumped into a walker. It grabbed me and it was pretty tall, so there was a bit of a struggle but eventually I killed it. I bent down to pick up my bag, when it felt like someone hit me in the head, hard. Everything went black.