When everyone went away, only Daryl and Carol were still standing near the front gate.

"Tell me what happened. How they died," Daryl said to her.

Carol was silent for a moment and looked at him, like she tried to read in his eyes, if he really was ready to hear it. He noticed that and nodded.

"Everyone arrived here and the fair was going well. But then those people... those Whisperers were able to lure several of our people away. We still don't know how it happened and what happened exactly. We only saw Luke suddenly walking through the Kingdom with a stabbing wound in his side. He said 'it was them' before he collapsed. Then we noticed that someone must have killed the guards and taken their places during the fair. Also several people were missing. When we went out to look for them, we found them not far from here. Their heads… they put their heads... on pikes."

Daryl's eyes widened in shock, he breathed in heavily.

"What?" He asked. He couldn't believe that.

Carol looked at him.

"Yes, that's what they did. Those Whisperers, they were still standing there. Their leader, Alpha, the mother of the girl I suppose, demanded to bring her daughter to her and when we said we don't know who that is, she told us, she will kill her and anyone close to her when she sees her again. She also told us that the pikes are the border to their territory and anyone, who will cross it, will die."

Daryl was starring into space, trying to process what he just heard. They experienced a lot of sick shit already, but this was by far the worst.

"Do you understand now what kind of a danger the girl is?" Carol asked.

Daryl looked at her and then at Lydia, who was standing next to Henry in the distance.

"And what do you want me to do? Hand her over to people who will kill her?"

"Well, you did it once, didn't you? I've heard the story. You did it to save the community, that was right."

"Things have changed. I ain't giving her up."

Carol didn't say anything but the look on her face still showed disagreement.

"Look, they don't know she's here, right? We don't cross their border they don't cross ours, ain't that the deal? They won't see her by the border. And better don't let anyone else going there too."

"Well, some people want to go there and I'm afraid we can't stop them."

Daryl frowned and Carol sighed.

"We weren't able to retrieve the heads from the pikes with the Whisperers still being there."

"They're still there?"

"Yes and Earl, Gabriel and a couple of others want to go out there and bring them back."

Daryl thought about it for a moment.

"Alright. I go with 'em."

Carol wanted to protest but Daryl continued:

"They want closure. I get that. I'll make sure they get it."

Carol was inspecting Daryl's face very closely before she said:

"You would do anything for her, wouldn't you?"

Daryl was confused about Carol's words and also about that faint smile touching her lips.

"She's just an abused girl, who doesn't have anyone else," he answered.

"I wasn't talking about her." Carol was still smiling and before Daryl could say something she continued:

"I have to find Ezekiel. He's still crushed because of Jerry. Please be careful out there."

She hugged him before she went off.

Daryl saw Connie coming out of the infirmary with her friends and approached her. He hesitated when he was standing in front of her and saw Magna and Yumiko watching him and Connie closely. But both of them must have sensed that they needed a moment alone, so they went off. Daryl took Connie into his arms.

After holding her tight for a moment, he carefully loosened the embrace. He didn't know how to say it and he also didn't know, if Connie knew the whole terrifying story. But he was determined to do anything, so she would finally find closure.

"You ain't gonna like this, but I've to go out there again."

I'm coming with... She started to write but he stopped her, softly taking her hand in his.

"No. Not this time," he said quietly. He saw the protest in her eyes.

"I need you to stay here. Take care of Lydia and Dog. I'll be back soon"

Where are you going? She wrote then.

"Just taking care of some unfinished business out there," he said, evasive.

"Don't worry," he added as he saw the concerned look on her face. "I won't be alone and we ain't intending to get into a fight."

I can't take it to lose you too. She wrote then, tears pouring out of her eyes. Daryl felt a sting in his heart.

"You won't, I promise." He said and kissed her tenderly. It was hard for him to leave her even if it wasn't for long, but he had to do this.

A little group gathered together at the gate, consisting of Daryl, Michonne, Gabriel, Earl and Tara.

Daryl was surprised to see Michonne at the Kingdom.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Michonne told him quietly when they hugged.

"And still you're here." Daryl smiled.

"Yeah." The exchanged a meaningful look.

In the last moment Ezekiel came to them, saying he will accompany them.

"You sure about that?" Daryl asked him, knowing how hard it must be for him, to see Jerry's head on a pike.

"Yes. It's something I have to do."

Daryl nodded and they left the Kingdom.

It didn't take them long to get to the border.

The sight of the heads on the pikes was even more shocking than Daryl would have ever expected.
He felt nauseous, it was more gruesome than anything he had seen in his life.
In the distance there were a couple of silhouettes who looked like walkers, but Daryl knew there had to be Whisperers with them too.

He looked around, and saw that everyone was in shock. Gabriel and Tara were crying, Ezekiel also seemed to fight against tears. Michonne was only starring at the pikes with shock and anger written on her face.

"Okay, let's take 'em down," Daryl said.

Earl, who was standing in the background, suddenly ran to the pike with Tammy's head on. He collapsed before it, crying and wrapping his arms around the pike. Daryl could see the silhouettes in the field approaching slowly. He motioned to the others to get to work quickly.

When they got the heads of their beloved people down from the pikes, they put them on the wagon, covering them with a white plane.

Daryl had the Whisperers always in his view and he was glad they didn't stop them from removing the heads from the pikes.

They were about to leave, but then Earl ran out into the field, crossing the border.

"Earl!" Daryl and Michonne shouted, but he wasn't listening.

"I'll kill you bastards! You sick bastards! What did you do to my Tammy?!" He was running towards the Whisperers, who were coming closer to him.

Daryl and Michonne exchanged a look and ran after him, telling the others to stay back. They caught Earl right in front of the Whisperers. There were three of them and they had their knives out, ready to attack.

"Daryl stood in front of Earl and Michonne was trying to hold Earl back.

"Look, we don't want any conflict," Michonne told the Whisperers.

"They crossed the border," the people in the masks whispered. "Kill them."

"Take him back," Daryl shouted to Michonne who was still holding Earl back. Earl wouldn't listen, trying to get to the Whisperers, so Michonne had to knock him out and drag him back to the border. Daryl took out his knives. He was able to kill one of the Whisperers instantly, but another one attacked him and cut him slightly into the shoulder while Daryl was dodging an attack from the third one.

I can't lose you too. Connie's words were spinning in his head. No, he couldn't let this happen, he couldn't let the Whisperers kill him. He was fighting, dodging the attacks and finally took out the second Whisperer. The third one almost stabbed him in the back, but then Daryl suddenly saw the head of the Whisperer rolling on the ground and Michonne standing there with her sword up. He nodded thankfully to to her.

After eating something with Lydia and feeding Dog, Connie went back to see Luke again. She wanted to know what exactly happened to her sister. It was difficult for him to talk about it and he also wanted to spare her all the details. But Connie insisted and so he told her everything. Hearing about the pikes was gut-wrenching for her and she had to run to the bathroom because hearing that made her sick. When Luke finished the story, she was in shock and she couldn't see anything around her. When she went outside to get some fresh air and let Luke get some rest, a sudden thought crossed her mind. She suddenly knew why Daryl went out there again and what the "unfinished business" was, that he was talking about. She couldn't hold back her tears, feeling thankful and worried at once.

It was beginning to get dark and Daryl still wasn't back. Connie was so worried, she was pacing up and down in front of the gate.

Carol came to her and Connie could see the worried look on Carol's face too, even if she tried to smile.

"I'm sorry about your sister," Carol said and Connie nodded thankfully.

I'm sorry about your people too. She wrote.

They both stood in silence for a moment.

"I told Daryl already, that I'm not happy you brought Lydia here." Carol said finally.

Connie gave her an apologizing look. She wanted to write something, but Carol stopped her.

"No, it's okay. Even if I don't agree with you both about the girl, I'm very grateful you kept Henry safe and brought him back here. Maybe it was good that he wasn't here when all of it happened."

Connie's lips moved to a faint smile. Then she glanced at the gate, worried again.

"Don't worry," Carol said. "They will be back soon."

Carol paused watching Connie closely.

"You seem to care a lot about Daryl," she said then and Connie nodded.

"He cares a lot about you too." Connie smiled when she saw Carol saying that.

"But I guess you know that," Carol added with a sincere smile on her face. "I'm glad you found each other."

Connie made a 'thank you' sign.

Then they heard horses approaching, the gate opened and the group came in.

Connie instantly ran to Daryl, hugging him and trying not to think about what was lying under the plane on the wagon. She observed Daryl and her heart started to hurt even more. He looked beaten up, devastated, and there was also a blood stain on his shoulder. When he saw her concerned look he said:

"It's nothing, I'm alright." He tried to smile.

She wrote: Thank you so much for doing this. But you shouldn't have. You could have died!

"I promised you, you ain't gonna lose me," he told her, closing his arms around her once again.