Daryl and Aaron had been tracking a man in a red poncho for a couple of days, having spotted him out in a nearby field, but now they seemed to have lost him. It was not something Daryl took well; he prided himself on his ability as a hunter and tracker, so to lose someone in such a striking outfit was hard to swallow, and he rode along now before Aaron, stewing. Having searched areas of both road and forest, Daryl pulled over off to the side of the road, drawing his bike up into a clearing.

Aaron climbed out of the car and looked around them as he gently closed the door behind him. He nodded to Daryl, who began to lead the way through the trees, stalking through the under brush, pushing the low hanging branches out of his way as he went. Aaron kept behind Daryl for some time as they walked, watching as the other man kept his eyes firmly on the ground, walking with a deliberate silence, his shoulders hunched and his head held low.

'Someone came through here a while ago,' Daryl gestured to the ground, showing where the mud and the leaves were disturbed.

Aaron nodded.

'If we see them we hang back - set up the mike and hang back.' Aaron said.

'For how long?' Daryl asked.

'Until we know,' Aaron said. He looked across at the back of Daryl's head. 'We have to know.'

Daryl nodded.

'Y'sent people away before,' He said gruffly. It wasn't a question, but he was not prying neither.

'Yeah,' Aaron said slowly.

Daryl climbed up a bank and looked around - the tracks here were thin, but they were there. He just wasn't sure how old they were, and whether or not they were chasing a dead end.

'What happened?' He asked.

Aaron stepped carefully across the ground, keep his eyes on the floor as he trod, but looking up to watch how Daryl was stepping.

'It was early on.' Aaron said with a gentle sigh. 'It was three people. Two men and a woman. Davidson was their leader. Smart as hell, strong. I thought they'd work out. They didn't.' He shrugged, and Daryl, ahead of him still, nodded. 'I brought them in and I had to see them out. So me, Aiden, and Nicholas, we drove them out far gave them a day's worth of food and water and left them.'

'They just went?' Daryl asked.

'We had their guns.' Aaron said. 'We had all the guns.'

He looked up at Daryl, who was still walking ahead of him; the other man did not look back at him. Even without Aaron's tale, Daryl understood the risk they were taking in bringing people back into their community. It was their home, their families. Despite the risk, Daryl knew it was something they needed to do – the world ran on people now. The work, the support, the resources, the protection. But, as Aaron proved, it didn't always work out. People could be shady. Slippery. It was always a risk.

'I can't make that kind of mistake again.' Aaron said, as if he too were thinking the same things.

'No,' Daryl said.

Aaron followed him in silence for a little while, pondering on the conversation they had just had, on the implications it may have had. But Daryl did not seem one for turning back.

Eventually, they broke through the trees and the brush to find another road. Daryl stopped, lowering his crossbow. Directly ahead of them loomed a large store front, surrounded by a big car park in which stood four food trucks, all fenced off. Daryl swallowed, and glanced at Aaron, who's face seemed to be pondering the same thing.

Slowly, the two men approached the fence. There were several walkers within the confines, roaming freely and seemingly idle. Daryl eyed it up as Aaron peered in close through the links of the fence.

`We checked the forest, we checked the roads.' Aaron said. 'We can't find him. Sometimes they slip away. It happens.'

Daryl looked towards the other man, keeping quiet. He was torn.

'But you don't come across something like this every day.' Aaron said.

Daryl kept his steely blue eyes on him, unsure. He chewed on his lip.

'We do this now, it means we're giving up.' He said.

'Home is 50 miles back.' Aaron said softly. 'It's time to go.'

Daryl ran a hand across the scratch of his chin, thinking. It felt wrong to abandon the man in the red poncho, but their people back home were real and tangible, and they needed food.

'I'd like to get back to Eric, and I'm sure you want to get back to Beth.'

Daryl looked across at Aaron, who was offering him a smile of understanding, his soft eyes on Daryl's hardened face.

'Yeah,' he said with a sigh. 'She's why I'm out here. She's the one who convinced me there are still good people out here.'

Aaron nodded; he understood that. Beth brought out the best in him.

'We need more people and we'll find them.' He agreed. 'But when we do, we'll need to feed them.'

Daryl looked at him. He nodded. That made sense – but admitting defeat was a hard pill to swallow. He hated giving up, hated turning back. He had been known to stalk a deer for days on end. It just made the end result all the more satisfying. He sighed; Aaron was still watching him, that small smile still on his lips. He nodded.

'All right.' He said. Aaron had a point. This was a good opportunity – if those trucks were full of food, they could not pass it up. He had Beth and the baby to thin about. Daryl pulled out his knife and began to tap it against the metal of the fence; the walkers within turned their faces to the noise, slowly beginning to head on over.

As the dead made their way to the fence, curious about the ding of the knife, both Daryl and Aaron took them out through the links, swift and sure in the close combat – safe enough behind the link of the fence, but still wary of their reaching, grabbing hands.

Once there were only a few walkers left loitering further away from the fence, Aaron pulled the fence aside and Daryl followed him in, stepping over the now piled bodies of the dead. Daryl took out the last few with his crossbow, then the two men made their way over across to the trucks, crossing the expanse of the mostly empty car park with a quickened pace – neither of them ever felt all that safe so out in the open now.

They walked up onto the ledge that the trucks backed on to, and Daryl walked slowly up and down, checking out the area. It seemed safe enough; there was no evidence of any people and the walkers that had been around had all been taken care of. Aaron rejoined him, grinning for having found another number plate for his collection. He held it up.

'Wasn't sure I'd ever see one of these.' He said.

Daryl just nodded.

'Hey, listen, I don't like giving up either, but the guy is in a red poncho.' Aaron said, his smile fading as he understood Daryl's moroseness. 'You can see him from a mile away. We've gone a lot of miles here. No sign of him. But if we come away with a trailer full of cans, I'd say that's a good trip.'

Daryl nodded. Aaron was right. He crouched down and pulled away the latch of the truck.

'Here we go.' He grunted.

The back of the truck sprung up, and to Daryl's dismay, opened up to a whole host of walkers, who instantly begun to snarl and turn towards the flood of incoming light. As the door drew up, an elaborately set up contraption released all three other doors, and more and more walkers spilled out into the area.

Panicking, Daryl jumped down from the ledge, followed closely by Aaron. The two men headed out to the open area, which was already flooded with walkers by now, gaining on them as they exited the trucks. Daryl plunged his knife into the rotting skull of one, but they were overrun.

'Over here!' Aaron called, as he pulled the now bloodied number plate from the divided skull of another walker.

Daryl ran after him and together they barrelled beneath one of the trucks, ducking for cover. He scooted across the concrete on his back, trying to catch his breath, as the walkers began to follow them. One crawled across the floor, snapping her jaw at them, her face thin and robotic as the flesh and humanity had rotted away. Daryl stared at her, drawn to the jagged W carved into her head. The walkers spilling out from the trucks had had the same initial on their own heads.

Finding a chain on the floor, Daryl gathered it up and crawled to the woman, stabbing her in the W before crawling out the other side. Gathering himself up, he whipped the chain through the air, catching the heads of three oncoming walkers and killing them in one fell swoop, the chain whizzing as it carved its way through their soft scalps, splattering their brains and their blood up against the walls of the trucks ether side.

He gathered his crossbow back up from the floor and turned to see Aaron fighting off another walker. Daryl grabbed it and threw it back against the truck, then stabbed it through the head.

'Come on!' Daryl cried, and they carved their way out through the crowd and towards one of the cars. Daryl fought his way to the door, kicking aside the lumbering dead as they lunged for him. He pried the door open and forced his way inside, crawling across the seat and over into the other side as Aaron fell in after him. He kicked away the dead that tried to follow them and pulled the door shut, trapping the head of a desperate walker in between the door, slamming it several times until the head turned to mush and the walker fell away from the car. He slammed the door shut and sat back, panting.

Daryl looked desperately about the car, trying to see what they could use to their advantage as the dead outside converged on the car, the sheer mass of their bodies blocking out the light as the car became overrun with the guttural sounds of their moans and groans, plunging them into an early, eerie darkness.

'Glass will hold for a while, right?' Aaron panted, his eyes wide and frightened.

Daryl looked across to the walkers as they pressed their revolting faces up against the glass, lips snarling away from their rotten teeth, glassy eyes focussed on their prey trapped inside.

'Maybe.' He grunted. 'Maybe we can make it so they can't see us. In a couple hours, somethin' will come by, they'll follow it out. There's got'a be somethin' in here we can use to block the view. We can cut up these seats.'

He looked around, peering through his sweat soaked hair into the back of the car, trying to ignore the hands clawing at the windows, desperate to get in to them, and trying to keep his own panic at bay.

Aaron searched down the sides of the seats, chancing upon a scrap of paper. He opened it, and Daryl looked down at the writing scrawled across it.

It's a trap. Bad people coming. Don't stay.

Daryl looked at Aaron. His heart sunk as he realised the gravity of the situation. They were fucked.

Daryl leant his head back against the seat and let out a deep, frustrated sigh. He shook his head lightly, and let out a scornful laugh.

Aaron frowned across at him.

'What?' He said.

'I came out here t' not feel all closed up back there.' Daryl said rougly. 'Even now, this still feels more like me than back in them houses.'

Aaron just looked at him, his lips parted slightly as he tried to take in ragged breaths, the faces of the dead pressed up against the windows only inches behind him.

'That's pretty messed up, huh?' He scoffed.

'No,' Aaron said, 'you were trying.'

Daryl shook his head.

'I was try'na get away,' he said, 'I was runnin'.'

Aaron shook his head.

'No you weren't,' he said. 'You were tryn'a do a good thing.'

Daryl dug a cigarette from his inner pocket and popped it into his mouth.

'I dunno what I'm doin', man,' he said around it, 'I'm out here riskin' m'life an' she's back home carryin' m'baby.'

Aaron swallowed.

'An' I'm here surrounded by the dead but I'm more scared back there, back in them houses, back there with her.'

'I get that,' Aaron said, 'I get that you're scared.'

'I grew up w'a dead beat dad,' he said, 'I don't wanna be that for my kid.'

'You wont be,' Aaron said softly.

Having lit the cigarette, Daryl drew in a deep breath, steadying himself.

'I can't die here,' he said with a huff, 'Beth don't deserve that. Our kid don't deserve that.'

Slowly, Aaron nodded his head.

'I'll lead them away,' he said, 'you make a break for the fence.'

Daryl looked at the man, looked into his earnest face, his heart pausing in its pounding to swell at the self sacrifice this near stranger was willing to make for him. For Beth and their baby.

'No,' he said, 'we go together. We fight. Whether we make it or not, we go together.'

Aaron took a shuddering sigh.

'I ain't gettin' back there and dealin' with Eric if you ain't make it.' Daryl said.

Aaron smiled softly then. He nodded.

'We go on three,' Daryl said.

Together, they pulled out their knives, and got ready to fight.

'One - ' Daryl begun, but before they could get much further, the walker's head against the window suddenly exploded. Then another.

The door to the car opened, and Aaron and Daryl climbed out to see a man fighting off the walker's with a stick – he had carved his way through to the car, to them, taking out the walkers as their backs were turned, occupied with Daryl and Aaron in the car.

Neither Daryl not Aaron wasted any time in fighting off their own walkers, forcing their way back towards the fence, the mystery man in tow.

Sweaty, covered in blood and out of breath, all three of them reached the fence and drew it shut, closing off the remaining walkers who converged at the gates, their jaws snapping in frustration at having missed a meal.

Daryl paced before the fence, looking from the converging dead, to Aaron, to this man.

'That was - ' Aaron panted, 'thank you.'

He gathered some of his breath back as the man before them rubbed down the pole he had used to take down the walkers, the dark blood dripping from the end of it onto the ground below.

'I'm Aaron,' Aaron said, 'this is Daryl.'

'Morgan,' the man said.

Daryl regarded him, his heart slowly regaining composure in his chest.

'Why?' he asked him.

'Why?' The man named Morgan turned to look at Daryl, raising his brows slightly and a smile forming on his lip. 'Because all life is precious, Daryl.'

Daryl stared at him, trying to figure him out. He was drawing a blank.

'Whoever set that trap, they're coming.' Aaron said, still a little out of breath. 'But I have good news - we do. We have a community not too far from here. Walls, electricity, it's safe. If you'd like to come join us-'

'I thank you.' Morgan smiled. 'But I'm on my way somewhere. Fact is, I'm lost, so if you could tell me where we are.' He pulled a map from his inner pocket and held it out, which Daryl took.

He looked down at it, his hands black with dirt and blood against the fragile paper.

If you change your mind, join us. Georgia correctional facility. Rick Grimes.

Daryl looked up at the man before him, realising then who he was.

–

Beth needed to pee – there was no denying it any longer. Groaning, she rolled herself out of the double bed and forced herself up to her feet, still grumbling out loud. She wandered over to the en-suite and flicked the light on so she wouldn't stumble and fall over the toilet.

As she walked back towards the bed, she realised what it was that had woken her up – at some point during her sleep there had been the sound of a car – and a motorbike.

Beth made her way out of the bedroom and out into the quiet house beyond; the house all around her was dark, but it was not a discerning darkness. Instead, there was a comfort in it, for Beth knew her family were sleeping or at least relaxing peacefully behind the closed doors. Maggie and Glen, happy and safe with one another in the room opposite her own, Tara, who had settled herself in well with the rest of the family, just down the hall, and Noah, calm and trustworthy in the study turned bedroom downstairs.

Beth made her way down the stairs, careful not to wake Noah, and gently opened the front door, feeling the warm night breeze caress her skin as she glanced up at the twinkling sky.

Daryl turned slightly to look at her across his shoulder.

'Daryl?' Beth asked softly, frowning in the twilight.

He was sitting on the steps leading to the door, his back to the house, looking out over the road before them.

'Hey,' he said gruffly, around the cigarette in his mouth. 'I was gon' come in now, jus' finishing my smoke.'

Beth walked towards him, her bare feet cool against the wooden porch, and sat herself down beside him, tugging her over sized shirt down over her knees.

'Y'shouldn't be near me right now,' Daryl said gruffly.

'What? Cause of the baby?' Beth smiled as Daryl nodded, turning his head away from her to blow the smoke away from her.

Her smile still in place, Beth linked her arm in with his, nuzzling her head into his arm.

'We're outside,' she said, 'I'll be alright for a minute.'

Daryl didn't reply, but he held the cigarette further away from himself.

'Y'been alright?' He asked her after a while.

'Yeah,' she said, 'I'm glad you're back though.'

'Yeah,' Daryl said softly.

'How was it out there?' Beth asked him.

Daryl nodded slowly, taking another drag of his smoke. He was gazing out before them, his eyes dark in the night as he looked across the horizon, out towards the lake. Beth decided to stay quiet, to let him dwell, happy to just enjoy his company and the warmth of his skin against her cheek. He was a pensive man, and she guessed he had chosen to sit out here because he had needed some time to work things over in his head.

'Met a man today,' he said after a while; Beth looked up through her lashes at him, waiting for him to go on. 'Morgan. He's with Rick now.'

'He's here?' Beth asked, a little surprised.

'Mm,' Daryl nodded. 'Rick knows him from before.'

Beth tilted her head in question.

'I remember him tellin' us, met him right at the start,' he said pensively. 'Found him again while we were livin' at the prison.'

'That's weird,' Beth said, 'turning up now.'

'Yeah,' Daryl said. 'It is weird.'

'What's he like?' Beth asked.

Daryl shrugged, the notion nudging Beth slightly.

'I dunna,' he sighed. 'Philosophical.'

Beth frowned.

'What?' She said.

Daryl sighed; he took another drag of his now low burning cigarette then paused to close his eyes for a second, before blowing the smoke out before them.

'He said, all life is precious.'

Beth tilted her head. She gently placed a hand on her slowly growing belly.

'You don't agree?' She asked.

Daryl glanced down at her then, his eyes dark and, Beth thought, a little unfocused.

'Nah,' he said.

Beth kept her eyes on his, trying to figure him out.

'What happened out there?' She asked quietly.

Daryl kept his eyes on her for a moment, then he looked away, finished his smoke, and put out the smouldering tip of it on the thigh of his pants. Beth scowled.

'We fell in'ta a trap,' he said gruffly. 'Got surrounded. Weren't sure we were gonna make it back out.'

Beth felt her heartbeat quicken; she swallowed.

'There are bad people out there,' he said.

Beth bit her lip and she nodded. She knew that pretty well herself by now.

'You going to keep looking for the good ones?' She asked softly.

Daryl turned to look at her again, and Beth couldn't help but feel herself flutter a little – his look was always so intense that even now, months down the line, it still did something to her.

'I ain't so sure no more,' he said.

Beth huffed, offering him a slight smile. She leant in and rubbed her forehead against his arm.

'You'll work it out,' she said.

Daryl sighed; he pulled his arm out from Beth's and instead wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her in close.

'Were y'okay here?' He asked.

'Uh huh,' Beth smiled, opting not to tell him about her trip out side of the walls. Daryl nodded, then flicked the cashed out cigarette out onto the grass before them, before pushing himself to his feet with a grunt. Beth frowned.

'Don't do that,' she said, as he held out a hand to help her up.

'Do what?' He frowned.

'Well, don't put your cigarettes out on your pants for one,' she said, 'and don't chuck them on our grass. This is our house. We're going to have a baby - I don't want him or her crawling around in cigarette butts.'

Daryl looked at her, through his hair, then he smiled.

'A'right,' he said, 'sorry.'

Beth nodded, taking his hand and pulling herself to her feet.

'But these pants are covered in dirt and blood and shit anyway, wha's a bit o' ash gon' do?'

Beth tutted, pushing him in through the door.

'Go and take them off then, Dixon,' she whispered, following him up the stairs. She heard him chuckle beneath his breath as he made his way up to the room they shared.

Once safely back inside, Beth made for the bed again, laying herself down on it, watching as Daryl moved about the room, chucking down his bag and undoing the buckle of his belt – a sound that always sent shivers down Beth's spine. As she lay, her hands lying idly on her belly and her ankles crossed, Daryl stooped down to grab something from his bag.

'Found this whilst out,' he said, holding up something Beth couldn't quite make out. 'Thought we could – y'know – put the picture in it.'

Beth pushed herself so she was leaning on her elbows, peering through the dark at what Daryl was holding – it was a small wooden photo frame.

'What picture?' She asked.

'This one,' Daryl said; he headed to the chest of drawers and picked up the scan Beth kept there. Beth beamed.

'That's a great idea,' she smiled.

Daryl set about inserting the little photo into the frame, then gently set it back down on the top. Beth watched as he paused, and her heart skipped a beat as he ran his hand over the small pile of baby clothes she had forgotten to put away.

'Wha's this?' He asked.

'Clothes,' Beth said, her voice coming out squeaky. 'For the baby.'

From his profile, Beth saw him swallow, then he turned to look at her.

'Where'd y'get them?' He asked.

Beth took a breath, torn between telling him the truth or lying. She sighed, opting for the truth – it would be worse if it came out later, and lies were no stable basis for a relationship.

'We went out,' she said.

'Out?' Daryl asked.

'To a store,' she said.

'Beyond th'walls.' Daryl replied, and it was not phased like a question.

Beth nodded.

Daryl closed his eyes, and Beth could see him trying to control his breathing.

'Dammit Beth can't you just stay in one damn place for a second,' he growled.

Beth swallowed.

'Jus' stay fuckin' put!' He snapped.

'Hey,' Beth said, not enjoying being shouted at, 'I wasn't alone. It was a quick trip. In and out. Perfectly safe.'

'You step outside those walls you are not perfectly safe.' Daryl growled. 'You step outside this house you are not perfectly safe. Hell, you leave this bedroom you are not perfectly safe!'

'Is that what you want?' Beth snapped, growing hot. 'For me to stay in this room forever?'

'At least until the baby's born, yeah!' Daryl replied.

'That is stupid and you know it!' Beth cried. 'You don't own me Daryl you can't keep me locked away!'

'I own fifty percent of that baby in ya,' he retorted, pointing to her stomach, 'I can tell ya to stay put.'

Feeling defensive, Beth put her hands to her stomach.

'It's my body,' she growled. 'You own nothing.'

Daryl ran a hand down his face with a groan.

'Jus' – jus' don't make this hard for me, girl,' he groaned. 'I was out there riskin' my damn life today and I didn't know if I was gonna make it back to you. Don't fuck me around like that. Don't put yourself in danger too.'

'I wasn't in danger,' Beth said, but she had lowered her voice a little now.

'I can't do this if every time I turn my back you disappear on me,' Daryl said.

'I'm not going anywhere,' Beth replied softly.

Daryl just shook his head.

'I jus' want you safe. I just want to be able t'get up and go about my day, do what I gotta do, and know you're safe. Know that my baby is safe.'

Beth looked at him – she felt pretty bad. Whilst she fully believed she had every right to live her life, she could understand his frustration. She did have a tendency to put herself in trouble, and although the way he had said it had infuriated her, this baby was his too. She had a duty to keep it safe.

'Alright,' she said quietly. 'I'm sorry.'

Daryl nodded, and made his way over to the bed.

'Jus' stay here from now on, yeah?'

'Stay inside for five months?' Beth raised an eyebrow.

'Not inside,' Daryl said, lying down beside her on the white covers. 'Just inside the walls.'

'That isn't practical. And it's boring.' Beth said. 'You got to let me out sometimes.'

Daryl groaned.

'We'll cross it later,' he sighed.

Beth pursed her lips; that was probably as close as she was going to get to her way. She nodded, and it earned her one of the rare smiles she loved so much.

Daryl reached across a ran a hand up her bare thigh, following it with his eyes.

'Y'know,' he said gruffly, 'y'look good. You were gettin' too skinny.'

'You're calling me fat now?' Beth asked, but she was smiling.

Daryl just shook his head.

'No, y'just look better,' he said, 'an' y'look happier.'

'I am happy,' Beth smiled.

Daryl smiled back at her, moving his hand up to her belly – it sent a strange tickle of electricity through her lower stomach; although her bump was barely more than a bulge, it was the first time Daryl had laid his hands on it, and it gave her a swell of love and excitement. Beth looked across at him, but his eyes were on her belly, his thumb lightly rubbing across it.

'Are you okay?' She asked him softly.

'Yeah,' he murmured after a moment, 's'just weird to think about.'

'I know,' Beth said softly, 'but you're gonna be great.'

Daryl looked at her then.

'Y'think so?' He asked.

Beth nodded, her blonde hair moving against the pillow she lay upon.

'For sure,' she said.

Daryl gave her his half hitched smile. Beth could tell that his head was busy behind those eyes, that the events of the past few days had either shaken him up or given him a lot to think about, and he was dealing with all of it alone and inside his head. She reached up and gently stroked a thumb across his cheek.

'Get some sleep,' she said, 'sleeping in a tent with Aaron can't have been fun.'

'We didn't sleep in the tent together -' Daryl scowled, but Beth just smiled.

'Go to sleep,' she said.

Daryl grinned at her, then leant across to kiss her.

'G'night,' he murmured, and Beth snuggled in close to him, pleased to have him back where he belonged, both in her arms and in her bed.