The members of the group walked in silence. Connie was watching Daryl closely while he seemed to be caught up in his thoughts. She liked his silent nature, but she was also wondering why he was looking so sad. Was it because of the short meetup with the people in Alexandria? It had to be. He seemed to be very close with Michonne and Judith. She saw, how hard it was for him to say goodbye. It was a shame she knew so little about him. But at least they had a lot of time on their hands, so there would be many possibilities, to get to know each other better. Connie also wanted to ask Daryl about her sister, but she was waiting for the right moment. Instead she took her notepad out and wrote:

Where are we going?

She touched Daryl's elbow slightly and showed him her note.

"Oh, I know a place." He pointed into the distance. Connie liked how he was gesticulating when talking to her.

"I've a stash there," Daryl continued. "But it's a long walk and it's getting dark. We'll probably have to spend the night in the woods."

Connie understood and nodded.

Before the night fell, they found a place deep in the woods, where they stopped. After they ate, Henry and Lydia volunteered to take watch and Daryl agreed. Connie could see that he was more than exhausted and relieved he could take some rest. She lay down on the ground next to him. They were facing each other and their eyes met for a brief moment. Then she saw how Daryl slowly closed his eyes and it looked like he fell asleep immediately. She was tired too, but couldn't fall asleep directly, so she watched Daryl sleeping for a while. Then she closed her eyes and finally fell asleep.

The next day they were on the road again. Daryl was leading the group to the place he left, after Carol asked him to take care of Henry. It seemed to him, like this was a long time ago and he knew he had to let her know, Henry was alright. They had to figure out what to do next too, but first they had to refill their supplies.

He turned his head, looking behind him, where Henry and Lydia were following him and Connie. They were holding hands and whispering something in each others ears. Daryl rolled his eyes, turned his head back and caught sight of Connie, who was looking at him. Their eyes met and he thought he saw her a slight smile on her lips.

Suddenly Dog, who was walking in front of them, stopped. He pulled his ears back and growled. Daryl gave everybody the signal to stop. He took his crossbow and aimed with it in the direction Dog was looking, Connie aimed with her slingshot too and Henry stepped in front of Lydia with his stick up, ready to protect her. They heard groaning and moaning and a couple of walkers came out of the woods.

"Watch out! Don't let'em get too close!" Daryl advised the others, knowing that the walkers could be Whisperers. His body tensed and he felt adrenaline rushing through his veins, while he was shooting the walkers with his crossbow. He was trying to take them out from distance and he also tried to watch over Connie and the kids.

Despite his injury, Henry was fighting at full strength and Lydia seemed to admire that. She was fighting too and killed a walker with the spear, Henry made for her.

While Daryl was watching the kids, a walker came from behind. Daryl sensed something was approaching him and turned around, ready to shoot it, but in the moment he wanted to shoot, something hit the walker right between the eyes. Daryl nodded gratefully in Connie's direction, who had killed the walker with her slingshot. Then he put his crossbow up and shot a walker, which was approaching Connie. The walker was almost as tall as Beta and when Daryl killed it, the body of the dead walker hit Connie, who was caught by surprise. The dead walker knocked her over and she fell. Daryl was immediately by her side, reaching out his hand to help her to get up. He felt the soft touch of her hand in his and a warm feeling filled his heart, when she nodded and smiled gratefully, when he asked her, if she was okay.

Dog helped Lydia and Henry to get rid of the last walker and then they continued their way.

They arrived at their destination right after the sunset.

Daryl made a fire and they ate in silence, concentrated on the food, since they didn't eat the whole day. The place was secured with alarms, but the alarms were only effective against walkers. Somebody with an intact brain could have still been able to sneak up on them. So Daryl said he would take watch. Connie and the kids went to sleep in a tent.

When Connie woke up, it was the middle of the night and the kids were sleeping soundly.
She got out of the tent, to get some fresh air. It took her a couple of minutes to adjust to the darkness. Dog, who was sleeping in front of the tent, woke up when he noticed her presence, and she softly petted his head. She saw Daryl, who was sitting under a tree, not far away from her. His eyes seemed to be open, but he didn't notice her. He was looking in the opposite direction, his crossbow in his hands, ready to shoot whatever was lurking in the woods before him.

She took a moment to observe him. She was usually attracted by a different kind of man and still she couldn't deny that there was something very appealing about him.
His broad shoulders, the strong arms and his protective manner. He gave her the feeling of security and since the outbreak she only felt that way when she was with her friends. Connie knew, he would give his life to protect her and the kids. He had proved it already several times.
What she liked about him too, were his anticipated looks when she was writing notes to him. He peeked at them, like he couldn't wait to see her answer. She also had noticed how he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Did he feel attracted to her too? She didn't know for sure, but he seemed to admire her intelligence at least, which was a big compliment for her. She stood up and started walking towards him.

Daryl turned his head as he heard the steps behind him. Connie sat down next to him and they exchanged a look. The moonlight shone brightly in their direction and Connie could examine Daryl's features, his beard, which was slowly turning gray, the scar over his left eye. The right eye looked a bit puffy and there were a couple of bruises on his face. He looked tired too.

He must be very exhausted, she thought. The fight with Beta wasn't an easy one and he probably still felt the after-effects of that. They had to walk so many miles since then and she didn't notice him resting much either. He only had slept a couple of hours last night.

He was staring into the dark woods before him as she softly touched his hand. Surprised by this touch he looked at her hand and at her face. She smiled at him, like she was saying: Thank you for everything. She hoped he would understand this gesture and the look in his eyes told her he did.
Then she pointed with two fingers to her eyes and then towards the woods.

"You wanna take watch?" He asked her and she nodded. It was time he got some rest.

"Alright," his lips said. He stood up and added: "Thanks."

Before he left, he paused for a moment and then his hand touched her shoulder. It was only a brief, soft touch, like the one from two days ago and still it made Connie's heart beat faster and gave her goosebumps. Then he left. Connie gazed after him and wished his touch would have lingered on a little longer this time.