'Merle.' Daryl headed down into the lower parts of the prison, his crossbow raised at the ready. 'You down here? Merle.'

He turned into the far room, spotting his brother leaning against a cabinet.

'Hey, little brother.' Merle said.

'What the hell?' Daryl asked, looking around suspiciously.

'I was just about to holler back at ya.' Merle insisted.

'What you doing down here?' Daryl asked, looking around.

'Just looking for a little crystal' Merle admitted, looking at Daryl. 'Yeah, yeah, I know. Shit mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?'

Daryl sighed, walking away from him.

'I didn't mean to rile you up none earlier,' he said.

'Sure y'did,' Daryl said, turning to look at him.

'Mm,' Merle stroked the stubble of his chin, smiling, 'you like her.'

'Leave it, Merle,' Daryl sighed, closing his eyes.

'I can see it in ya,' Merle said, chuckling, 'she's got you wrapped around her dainty little finger. It don't matter none, no big deal.'

'You talk to Rick yet?' Daryl asked him, ignoring his new attempts to rile him up.

'Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm in' Merle nodded, 'But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?'

Daryl looked at Merle for a while, then sighed.

'Yeah. If he does, he does.' he shrugged.

'You want him to?' Merle asked.

'Whatever he says goes.' Daryl shrugged after a while.

'Man.' Merle looked pained. He shook his head, staring at Daryl. 'Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother? Are they even attached? I mean, if they are, they belong to you? You used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?'

'What happened with you' Daryl said back, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, 'and Glenn and Maggie?'

'I've done worse.' Merle said. 'You need to grow up. Things are different now. Your people look at me like I'm the devil grabbing up those lovebirds like that, huh? Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did- snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me. Yeah. People do what they got to do or they die.'

'Can't do things without people anymore, man.' Daryl said softly.

'Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh? Do their dirty work. The bad guy.
Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you?' Merle narrowed his eyes.

Daryl approached his brother, placing his hand on his shoulder.

'I just want my brother back.' he said.

'Get out of here, man.' Merle told him, but his voice sounded sadder than it did angry.

Daryl shook his head at him before slowly leaving the room, leaving his tearaway brother to whatever destructive tendencies he was indulging in now.

. . .

Daryl was standing guard in the prison grounds when Rick found him.

'It's off.' he said, 'We'll take our chances.'

'I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one.' Daryl nodded to Rick, who looked panicked. 'What's wrong?' he asked.

'I can't find Merle or Michonne. They've gone.'

'Come on.' Daryl said, passing Rick and heading to the last place he had spoken to his brother, 'He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things, actually.'

'Like what?' Rick asked.

'Said that you were gonna change your mind.' Daryl said, 'Here we go' he picked up a blood-stained sack 'Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up.' he said regretfully.

'Damn it! I'm going after him.' Rick said, storming past Daryl.

'You can't track for shit' Daryl said, standing up.

Rick tuned to face Daryl, 'Then the both of us' he said.

'No, just me' Daryl said, 'I said I'd go and I'll go. Plus they're gonna come back here. You need to be ready. And you need to keep everyone safe.'

Rick nodded.

Daryl stood for a moment, deliberating. Then he swallowed.

'Beth.' he said. 'You need to keep Beth safe.'

Rick looked at him, his face grave.

'I will.' he said.

. . .

Beth was sitting on her bed, elbows on her knees, head in her hands, staring down at the floor between her boots. She was afraid. The prison was bustling with movement, everyone getting ready and prepared for the oncoming storm. It felt wrong to be barricading their-selves against humans when the world was already so awful. She wanted to help, but she didn't know how. She had never felt so useless.

'Beth,' Maggie's soft voice caused her to look up.

Maggie, despite everything, was beaming. She walked over to Beth and held out her left hand, where the ring Glen had shown Beth before glinted on her finger.

'You said yes,' Beth beamed, standing up.

'You knew,' Maggie laughed.

Beth nodded, pulling her sister into a hug.

'He wanted to ask before everything goes to shit,' Maggie said solemnly, 'so I knew.'

'So you knew he loved you,' Beth smiled.

'Yeah,' Maggie said, 'just in case.'

'Nothing will happen to you or to Glen,' Beth said, 'you're strong.'

Maggie nodded.

Beth wasn't feeling so confident herself, but more than that, she found herself wishing she was with Daryl. Her sister's words had moved something in her, made her realise something she had only been pondering on until now.

'You knew you loved him back,' she said to Maggie, looking up into her face.

'Yeah,' Maggie said, smiling.

'How?' Beth asked.

'I just knew,' Maggie shrugged, 'come on, I think Rick has something to say.'

Linking her sister's arm, Beth walked with Maggie out in to the courtyard, her heart feeling a little lighter than it had before. Her sister knew love, was loved, and was happy. Whatever happened over the next few days, it would be okay, because Maggie had shown here there was still hope, there was still love.

In the courtyard, she looked around for Daryl, her new found hope prevalent in her heart. She wanted to let him know.

But then Rick was clearing his throat, looking around at them. The darkness in his face, the fear in his eyes, took away all hope from her in an instant, like a safety net being torn from under her feet.

'When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal' he said, looking around at them. 'He said- he said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne. And I was gonna do that to keep us safe.'

Beth swallowed, looked at her father who she had sat next to. His hands were folded on the table in front of him, his eyes dark and solemn. Beth was suddenly struck by a thought: Her daddy had known.

'I changed my mind' Rick said, his eyes lingering on Hershel, 'But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late.'

Beth's heart dropped.

Rick was still talking.

Carrying on.

But she wasn't listening.

Wasn't hearing.

Merle took Michonne.

And Daryl followed him.

Daryl was gone. Again.

Daryl had walked right into the bear-trap, into the midst of the Governor after his stupid, stupid brother. Daryl's heart sunk to the very pit of her stomach, her hands went cold, her mouth dry. She glanced across at Maggie who was stood beside Glen, their bodies touching at the arms, so simple and yet so profound. Her left hand hung by her side, the ring barely visible, but there.

Beth's head was swimming, she felt dizzy. Daryl had left, gone after his brother, he was out there, alone, unsafe, and Beth had no way of knowing if he would come back. She had no way of letting him know how important he was to her before everything collapsed.

The lump in her throat was back, and she had to remove herself from the situation before the tears spilled down her face in the open.