A/N: A lot is going to happen in this chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead and all of its characters do not belong to me. I just borrow them for my own enjoyment and to pass the time until they finally give me a new episode.

Daryl continued to let his crossbow hang at his side as he stared down at the ground. Letting his shoulders sag as he let out the breath he had been holding in for what seemed like days. After a moment he looked up and saw Rick sitting back against the vehicle. He never thought he'd see any of them again and here were Rick, Carl, and Michonne. "Damnit"…he thought….."she was right." Beth had always said that they weren't the only survivors that everyone was still out there. She'd been so set on that belief until that day at the cabin. When he blew up at her, telling her she wasn't going to see any of them ever again. That was the last time she ever said anything about it, and though he was pretty sure she still had hope, he felt bad that she couldn't say it out loud anymore. He walked over to the vehicle and sat next to Rick.

"I didn't know," he said looking at Rick's blood caked face. "I didn't know they were this bad. If I would have known…."

Rick stopped him, "You're here now, that's the important thing. How did you end up with them?"

Daryl didn't want to talk about her. It was too painful. The absence. The constant reminder that he'd failed her. He was supposed to keep her safe. Since he'd left the prison with her he'd been determined to keep her safe. But after the moonshine cabin his sole purpose in life had been to keep her safe. She had been his everything and she didn't even know it. But he figured that Rick had a right to know. "I was with Beth for a while."

"Is she dead?" Rick asked hesitantly. He could see emotion run across his brother's face as he spoke her name. Could tell that there was pain and sadness there that was hardly ever seen on the hunter's face.

"She's just gone," Daryl spoke so softly that Rick for a moment didn't even think he'd spoken the words.

Rick nodded, "Well you're here with us now and that is everything."

Daryl looked over at the man he considered a brother. "But she's gone…first Dria…now Beth."

Rick perked up at the mention of a new name, "Who's Dria?"

"The woman I lived with before the turn."

This was news to Rick. As far as he knew Daryl had never really been open about his life before everything happened. He did give pause though to the fact that he grouped Beth in the same category as the woman he lived with before everything. Which made Rick think that there had been more going on between Beth and Daryl. He tucked that bit of knowledge away for another time thought because he sensed that now was not the time to talk about Beth.

Rick looked over at Daryl, "We saw some signs for a place called Terminus. Thought we'd head there…see if anyone else had the same idea."

Daryl looked at him, "I remember hearing something about a place called Terminus on the radio while we were on that run to the veterinary college."

"What did it say?" Rick asked.

"Dunno, we ran into a fucking mega herd and the mission kind of went south at that point."

"Well I think we should try. Others could have headed there," Rick said in a somewhat hopeful voice.

"It could be a trap." Daryl said leaning his head back against the vehicle. "Everything's always a fucking trap."

"We'll be careful. Try to sneak in a back way or something and scope things out before we make ourselves known."

Daryl looked over a Rick. They'd been through enough together that he'd follow Rick and the rest of them anywhere. Maybe if they could find more of the prison group that would be more people to help look for Beth. "Why the hell not? What's the worst that could happen?"

-D/B-

Beth walked across the yard towards the swing set that was set up for the kids. Alex was there with the girls. Beth over the last few weeks had really grown to like Alex. The girls were absolutely precious and reminded her so much of Judith. She'd always thought one day if things ever got somewhat back to normal she might find someone to settle down with and have a few, but with the luck she'd been having lately she wasn't too fond of the idea of bringing a new life into the world just to possibly have it ripped from her the next minute. "Hey there guys….." she said walking up.

Both girls immediately stopped babbling to each other and screamed "Beth!"

"Girls," Alex whispered, "I know you're excited to see Beth, but remember we have to use our indoor voices. The girls both nodded at her and looked back over at Beth. They both motioned for Alex to get them out of the swings and one by one they ran over to Beth.

"Are you going to tell us another story today? Are you? Are you?" the girls whispered as they were hugging her tight. Beth gave them both a smile. She had been telling them stories about the man known as 'The Hunter' with his mighty crossbow saving princesses from creatures in the forest. And due to their age the creatures were icky slimy snails and big fuzzy bears. She smiled at the thought of Daryl saving princesses from slimy snails and fuzzy bears. Alex had once asked her if the stories were based on someone Beth had been with before she met the group she was with now. Beth never could actually truly talk to anyone about Daryl because it brought too many memories and feelings that she didn't know if she was ready to deal with yet. She simply nodded and Alex left it at that.

"Well I think it's about time for your morning nap," Beth said as the girls collectively whined while Alex was nodding her head in agreement. "But if you go quickly I'll be there in just a few to tell you a quick one before you sleep."

The girls started running off towards the main house as quietly and as quickly as their little legs could take them. Alex started to follow after them. "You spoil them with all these stories," Alex said with a smile as she walked past Beth who smiled and walked over to the front gates to check in on things before she headed to the main house.

-D/B-

Alex had just tucked the girls in and was shutting the door to their room. Upon getting into bed they had both fallen asleep so story time would have to wait. The sound of gunfire and tires screeching from the front gates had Alex running out of the main house towards the gates to see what was going on and she caught a glimpse of someone throwing Beth into the back of a car and driving off. "What the hell happened?" She yelled at Adam.

Adam looked up from the mound on the ground and looked Alex in the eyes, "You're not going to fucking believe this."

Alex looked down to see that the heap was Derek, the asshole who'd taken Beth originally. "Shit".

-D/B-

After a very short interrogation that ended with the death of Derek, Alex and the few others they could spare made the trek over to the place called Terminus. They had heard stories from a few people who had passed though the place before. Or a better way to put it would be the few who had barely escaped with their lives. They told stories that the place had promised sanctuary, but in reality it was a community that didn't take kindly to outsiders. Especially people who potentially posed a threat. They were also if the rumors happened to be true, cannibals. Alex had only had one run in with their leader back about nine months ago. Both groups recognized that losses would be significant if they fought so they made a somewhat truce. Promises had been made to not harm any members of either community, but Alex didn't trust the leader Gareth. She could see deception in his eyes. Therefore they were always on the lookout for people from Terminus. There had been a few at the beginning scouting their home, but they made sure to send them back to Gareth with a message. Usually Adam gave the message to be delivered. Gareth finally got the hint after a couple times.

They were about five miles from Terminus she guessed when they noticed a couple up in the road ahead. As they got closer the couple turned around at the noise and Alex noticed that they had a small child with them. She made Adam stop the vehicle and she got out and walked towards the couple. She didn't see them pull any weapons so she figured they'd try to talk to them. "Hello there."

"Hello," the man said.

"Where are you guys headed today?" Alex asked if only for the fact that she was concerned about the child they had with them.

"We saw some signs about a place called Terminus," the man said. "Promised sanctuary. I know that sometimes things are really too good to be true, but with the little one here we really don't have an option."

"Don't go to Terminus. If you're not prepared you'll never make it out of there alive. The only reason we're going there is to take back a member of our group that they took from us."

"Thanks for the advice." The man looked over at the woman "Names Tyrese, this is Carol, and the little one is Judith."

The name Judith threw up a big red flag for Alex. "You said the little one is Judith?" The man nodded. "You're a friend of Beth Greene then?" She saw all she needed to know in their expressions. They needed to get going, but Alex felt a quick explanation was in order. "Beth is who we are on our way to get. We'd like you three to go back to our compound. It is safe there for the time being, but we'll have to see what happens after Terminus."

She saw the hesitation in both their eyes and tried to quickly reassure them. "We can walk the rest of the way while our vehicle takes you back. It's not safe out here with the little one. We have others there that are keeping an eye on everyone else including my own children. I would not have left them there if I did not think it was safe."

"Tyrese, you're injured. Take Judith back to their compound. I'm going with them to Terminus," Carol said.

"But….." Tyrese started to say.

"It's possible that some of the others ended up at Terminus. You're in no condition to put up much of a fight with your arm. If they're there I need to be there to make sure they get out alive. If anything I need to go help get Beth. She's one of us also." Carol said in a manner of fact.

Tyrese nodded and the two quickly hugged before he took Judith and walked toward the vehicle.

Carol turned to Alex, "Do you have a plan?"

Alex looked at her, "We need the element of surprise. We need to somehow get in and make it look like it's only me there. We have a general idea of where they are keeping Beth from one of the people who helped take her from our home. I do know that they keep snipers on the rooftops. We need to get rid of those people first and without drawing any attention. We take out the snipers we might have a fighting chance of getting out of there alive. Those are the only people who can really shoot in that place. I figure now that we're on foot we've got a few hours before we get there to figure out the rest of the details."

"Well let's get going then ladies, we don't have all fucking day," Adam said as he threw the duffle he'd gotten out of the trunk over his shoulder and started to walk in the direction of Terminus with the rest of them following.

-D/B-

'It was a fucking trap' Daryl thought to himself as he leaned against the side of the boxcar. Daryl was ready to be done with this place. He was gonna go find Beth. He knew she was out there somewhere alive, just waiting for him to find her. He wasn't gonna fail her again. They had been locked up in this goddamn boxcar for almost two days, which was two days too much, and he'd had enough. They wanted to get together a plan of escape, but they needed to do some recon first, which was made more difficult by the fact that they were locked up in a box. By the end of the second day they had just decided to screw recon and they were getting the hell out of there. They had begun to hear screams in the buildings. At first there were only a few, but as the day wore on they became more constant. They knew then that they couldn't wait and were just waiting for the right moment which hopefully came very soon.

Just then another commotion caused everyone in the boxcar to become alert. There were several footsteps and they could hear the sounds of several guns outside of the boxcar.

"Well I'll be….." they heard Gareth say. "Alex, how are you this wonderful afternoon?"

They were all trying to look through the cracks to see what was going on.

"Cut the crap Gareth….I know you took Beth…now where the hell is she?"

Two things happened in that train car after the person named Alex spoke. The prison group all perked up at the mention of a Beth. And Daryl went ashen. So much so that Rick walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You okay brother?" he asked Daryl. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Daryl fell back against the side of the boxcar "I know that voice."

A/N: So hi there! It takes me over a month to update and then I leave it like this. I'm terrible I know. Lots happened in this chapter. Gosh I hope things sort themselves out. We had a lot of Alex in this chapter, but we are building up to the Bethyl goodness. Leave me a review and let me know what you think.