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When Daryl had brought the girl downstairs, he knew some people wouldn't be okay with it. Aaron had been fine with bringing her back as long as she didn't make noise, but some of the group was upset they were bringing back another person closely related to another Whisperer.

Daryl simply ignored them and helped her in, knowing that at least she would be healed before they possibly kicked her out.

When they arrived back at Alexandria, he saw Beth come out of the hospital wing. Oh Beth. The poor woman had been fucking going through it the past week. With how many walker waves they experienced, she had been forced to treat more people than she had in weeks.

She often complained to him how the scar on the back of her head from the gunshot wound ages ago would hurt whenever she was under these stressful situations, sort of like 'Harry Potter,' or whatever she had seen when she was younger. He had never seen the movies or read the books. But it was what she referred to all the time. And now she was going to be hurting with this girl.

"Daryl," she starts quietly, looking at the girl as he helped her out of their carriage. "Who is she? Does Michonne know about this?"

"No," Daryl instantly states, glancing around. He could see some people looking at the girl, confused. "Look…I found 'er all alone. She's hurt real bad. She killed one of 'em Whisperers recently. I couldn't let her get killed when we're against those fuckers too."

Beth sighs and shakes her head. "I just hope you didn't just dig a grave for yourself…you know how Michonne is with strangers, especially now." She turns to the young woman and smiles softly at her. "I'm Beth. What's your name?"

Before the girl could freak out again, Daryl steps in. "She ain't sayin' her name. She hasn't talked."

Beth nods quietly before turning back to her. "Understandable. You don't wanna trust people too quickly these days, right?" The girl slowly nods. "Well, you don't have to talk to me. I talk pretty much by myself all the time now. I'll do all the talking for you. May I see your wound?"

Daryl nods at the girl, stepping back. She gently lifts up her shirt and Beth gets on her knees, examining it. She takes a moment, touching it gently and feeling the girl cringe, before nodding and standing up.

"Alright, missy. You're going to have a bad time with this. I'm just putting that out there right now."

The girls eyes widen. Daryl tries to calm the situation, as he was used to recently. "What do ya mean, Beth?"

She sighs. "Here. Come to the infirmary." The girl looks over at Daryl, as if looking for approval. He nods gently, letting her know that it was okay to follow Beth.

The young girl walks after the blonde, looking around the town wildly before walking into the infirmary. Beth closes the door behind them before heading over to the beds, helping the girl onto one of them. Beth stands across from her, with Daryl standing near the window, watching quietly.

"The first thing we're going to have to do is wash you. Now, since you can barely walk by yourself, I highly doubt you're going to be able to get all the dirt and grime and blood off of you. Daryl won't be here, if that's what you're worried about." Daryl rolls his eyes. Of course he wouldn't be. "But we need to get your squeaky clean before we can even think of addressing the wound. And that, in of itself, might be painful, because we need to wash out the wound as well. After that, we're going to have to disinfect it, because something is starting to fester there, and the last thing ya want is to die from infection. From there, we're going to have to stitch it up, and I'm all out of anti-pain meds for stitching, so you're going to have to bite down on soemthin' if it hurts a lot. After that, you should be fine, but we should keep you in the infirmary to have some fluids, get some blood back, and make sure you're stable. I know that sounds like a lot of information, but due to the severity of the gash, we need to take all the precaution we can. Are you okay with this?"

The girl doesn't respond, simply stares down at the gash. Daryl walks over to her. "Ya can trust Beth. She only wants to help ya."

She looks over at Daryl, who was trying to portray the truth in his eyes. He knew exactly what this girl was going through. The fear that she felt. And the last thing he wanted was for her to keep experiencing it while one of the sweetest people he knew was trying to help her. The girl looks over at Beth, before gently nodding.

Beth smiles. "Good. Don't worry. I'm going to make sure you're taken care of, and it'll only be me. I won't hurt you." The girl nods again as Beth helps her stand. Beth looks over to Daryl and gives him a disapproving stare. "Now get out. She's gotta get undressed."

Daryl raises his hands in defense again. "Alright, jeez." He heads out, but not before throwing a glance at the girl again, who was listening intently to Beth. He heads outside, closing the door behind him.

He knew she would be alright.

Hours passed before he was able to talk to anyone. The first person that had approached him was Lydia, who had asked him if it was true he brought back another person related to the Whisperers. When he said yes, she was shocked.

"Why?" he had asked.

"I just didn't think you'd want to bring back anyone closely related to them. It was my bad."

She headed off to training lessons after that, leaving him in silence for a little bit. And then, he instantly gets Michonne on his ass, asking him why the fuck he brought back another person. After a heated conversation for a too long time, they decided they would vote on the matter later on in the week when the girl wasn't near death's door. By the time she left, Daryl was already fucking irritated as fuck, and the last thing he needed was another damn person coming up to him. But that was when Beth came out.

"Daryl-"

"What?" he snaps.

She places her hands on her hips. "Don't you dare talk to me like that, Dixon."

He could tell from her tone she was pissed. He sighs. "I'm sorry…people have been up my ass all day."

She rolls her eyes. "You shoulda expected that with bringin' someone back here. She's healing in bed now. Do you wanna see her?" Daryl nods and walks inside, closing the door behind her. Beth guides him to a private room, closing the door. He could hear something coming from the TV they had for the patients here, and he glances over to see an old movie playing.

His eyes then move to the person in the bed. His brow furrows. "Where is she?"

Beth snorts. "That's her."

His eyes widen as he walks closer to the girl. He felt himself still at seeing her.

Daryl wasn't a sexual man. He hadn't thought of any woman as beautiful or pretty in years. There just wasn't enough time in the world for him to give a shit about something so minor that he didn't need to live with in this world.

But this girl was fucking stunning.

He had no idea what she had looked like from the muck and grime she had on her body before. Honestly, she had been completely covered from head to toe and looked like she had just stepped out of the black lagoon. But now that she was clean…she was completely different.

Her skin was pale but had color around her cheeks, rosy red. There were freckles that lined across her nose that seemed to travel a little down to her neck, and probably down her back. But what stood out to him was her hair. It was platinum blonde, almost white. It was blonder than Beth's. And it was long and wavy and fell right past the middle of her back.

Her body was covered by the blanket, but he could tell that now that she was in different clothes that fit her, her body was small but fit. She had probably lived in the wild for a long time now, and was very prone to surviving off the land. This was probably the first bed she had in a long time.

"Wow," Daryl states, shocked. "She…I…"

Beth's brow raises. "Is Daryl...speechless?"

He instantly shakes his head and glares down at her. "Shut up. Anyone would be shocked by how she looks. She looked like a fucking swamp creature before."

Beth snorts and nods. "Fair play." She walks over to the sleeping girl, adjusting her vials. "I cleaned her up and washed her down, before stitching her and cleaning her wound. She didn't show that much pain, only when I was stitching. It was kind of unnerving, a little…I think she's used to the pain at this point, which really makes me even more curious about her. Once I hooked her up to some fluids and some blood, I got a movie going for her. She passed out a little bit after."

"She gonna be alright?" Daryl asks quietly, looking over at the girl.

"She'll be fine after some rest. She lost a lot of blood – honestly, I don't even know how she's alive. It was a miracle you found her in time for me to help her. Truly." Beth looks over at the sleeping girl before chuckling. "With the way she looks, she must be an angel to survive this long."

"Angel," Daryl mumbles, looking over at the girl. She was sleeping peacefully.

Beth looks over at him before glancing outside. "So what did Michonne say about her? What do they want to do?"

Daryl sighs before looking over at his friend. "She's gonna hold a vote with the community, see if they want her to stay. She's fucking hurt. I don't wanna send a hurt girl all the way back out into the world…'specially one that looks like her."

"What, you think she's pretty?" Daryl throws her a look and Beth chuckles. "I know she is and I understand. I just didn't think you of all people would notice."

"I ain't blind."

"You act like it half the time with some of the women here."

"What ya mean?"

Beth laughs. "Nothing, Daryl." She sits next to him and looks over at the girl. "If it helps, I'll vote to keep her here." Daryl's brow raises at her. "Why are you surprised?"

"I thought ya hated them too?"

"I do…but you're right. I don't wanna send her out there again hurt like that." She looks back at the girl. "'Sides, she seems sweet, despite not talking."

Daryl sighs before looking outside. "I'm more afraid what Carol's gonna think."

Beth turns her gaze back to the hunter, before squeezing his shoulder. "Carol trusts your judgment. If you think the girl is safe here and of no threat, she'll agree with you."

"I hope so too…I just wish I could help her. She's hurting, Beth. She goes out every damn night lookin' for them," he said pained. Beth gave him a sad smile as they looked over at the young woman who was fast asleep.

"She gave me this after she took off her jeans. She really didn't want the photo ruined or damaged in any way. It means a lot to her," Beth said softly, giving Daryl the photo. He looked at it intently.

The young woman was in the photo with two men, probably her brothers and what looked like her best friend. They all looked happy. Daryl flipped it over to see if there was any writing on the back.

'Will, James, Tammy and Me - July 20, 2010.'

Assuming from how they were written, the eldest brother, Will, had dark blonde, almost brown hair with dark hazel eyes, and his younger brother had dark brown hair and grey eyes. The woman in the middle looked exactly like the woman Daryl had found, and the woman next to her had dirty blonde hair with kind green eyes.

They all looked really happy. This must have been taken before the world had gone to shit. He showed it to Beth, who smiled sadly at the photo.

"Maybe we can ask her what happened to them when she wakes up. Did you see any bodies resembling them?" Beth asked cautiously. He shook his head grimly.

"No, but maybe a herd split them up, or they were ambushed by the Whisperers. Knowing that crazy bitch, she might have thought they were on her part of the border," Daryl said grimly. Beth nodded in acceptance and went to check on the young woman.

She was fast asleep still, an IV hooked into her left arm. He could see a faded scar on her chest. It looked like a burn scar that she had gotten as a child.

All they could do now was wait for her to wake up.

"There's something else, Daryl. She's partially deaf in both ears, so she might respond well to sign language. Looks like your lessons will come in handy," Beth suggested softly. Daryl nodded and sat in the chair by her bed.

She looked young, maybe a few years older than Beth.

That's right, Beth's alive. I ain't having her die in my stories, no siree.

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