A/N: A little short one. But the next one will be longer and up soon.

Daryl retraced his steps through the woods to their camp, or what counted as their camp. The bare earth clearing and worn tarp strung close to the ground scarce warranted the name. Beth was carefully feeding twigs into a small fire dug into the soil, a couple of tins of water sitting to the side ready to be boiled. Asha was sitting slightly to the side, hair across her face as she twisted her knife over in her hands, running her fingertips along the blade.

His eyes narrowed. She'd been doing that a lot lately.

He dropped the squirrel he'd caught in her lap as he went past. She might as well be useful since she had the knife out again. She picked up the carcass without looking up and started work silently.

He grimaced at the flash of anger in his belly and retreated to the far side of the camp to skin and clean the rest of his catch, a four foot long snake. He wasn't so much angry at her for her accusation about her brother any more – those words still stung, but in a bitter, aged kind of way – but something about her continued apathetic silence made him furious.

Sometime later, the silence unabated in the interval, the three of them crouched around the remnants of the fire finishing their meal. As Daryl licked the snake juice from his fingers Beth suddenly threw the last of her squirrel bones into the dirt.

'I need a drink,' she said.

Without looking up, Daryl tossed her a bottle of recently boiled water. It bounced untouched into the dirt.

'No,' Beth said forcibly. 'I mean a real drink. I've never had one, before because of daddy. But...he's not exactly around any more so...'

Daryl closed his eyes at the mention of the old man.

Asha stayed silent, and Daryl could feel Beth's eyes shifting between them.

'So, this is the plan is it?' she demanded after a minute. 'Go native? Give up on everyone we've ever loved? Are the two of you even in there any more? You're more like zombies that the damn walkers. Don't you feel anything?'

Daryl glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Her lips were twisted in a sneer as she shook her head. 'Yeah, you think everything's fucked, that's a feeling.' Her glare shifted between him and Asha. 'It's only fucked 'cause you two have given up. Why aren't we looking for our people?'

Daryl grunted. Ain't no chance they'd find any of their group, if they'd even survived.

Asha swallowed the last of her snake. 'Because they're scattered in all directions across Georgia, Beth,' she said tonelessly, eyes still on the ground. 'If they're even alive. We don't even have anywhere to start looking.'

'We start here!' Beth asserted, throwing her hands in the air. 'What's wrong with you two? You especially Asha, you spent months looking for Nash. You were so single minded, it was like an obsession - and now you just give up on everyone else, without even trying? You found Nash remember.'

Asha jerked visibly at her brother's name and her head snapped up, eyes flashing. 'After we stopped looking for each other,' she hissed. 'Our signs, our plans, it meant nothing. Nothing. In the end we found each other by pure chance...' Her voice was harsh as she forced the words out. 'And I found him just to watch him die, Beth. Because of me. Because he wound up being caught between the Governor and us.' Her shoulders collapsed in on themselves and when she continued her voice shook with loss. 'And all the days Nash and I spent tracking Ren...too late. Tell me Beth, what was the damn point of it all?

They were your family,' Beth insisted. 'And you look for family.'

'Why? Just to watch them die?'

'Enough Asha,' Daryl said quietly.

'Why?' she demanded, face twisting as she turned on him. 'How long did you have Merle back before you had to watch him die?'

Daryl snarled instinctively, gut tightening at his brother's name. 'At the damn Governor's hand, who's dead now remember.'

'So?' Asha said bitterly, 'You think this world hasn't turned out hundred just like him. What about Sophia, how long did you waste looking for her.'

Daryl bared his teeth at her.

'Screw the both of you,' Beth snapped. 'I'm gonna go get that drink.' With an angry head toss she stormed away through the branches.

Daryl growled in frustration, getting to his feet. Asha's good hand was clenched whilst her bandaged hand twitched at her side.

'What?' she snapped.

'Ya happy now? She didn't' need ta hear that.'

Asha shrugged, lips pressed into a frown.

'Fuckin idiots,' he muttered under his breath, reaching for his crossbow.

'You got something else to say?' Asha challenged

Once he would have hated her being angry at him. But lately anything was better than the strained silence and apathy he usually received from her. He twisted back towards her, not bothering to fight his anger. 'Nothin'. It's just my damn luck to get stuck with two idiot women who can't see straight past their damn feelings.'

'Fuck off Daryl.' She virtually spat at him.

He scooped up their one remaining semi automatic – the other having been abandoned when it ran out of ammo – and thrust it roughly towards her. 'Good. Stay angry. Ya more damn use to me pissed off than…' He waved his hand vaguely, trying to think of the most insulting way to describe the way she been since the prison. '…Sulking.'

'Sulking?' Her voice went up an octave. 'Sulking!'

'Yeah, sulking.' He hefted the strap of the crossbow on his shoulder. Her face was twisted and her eyes flaming, but it was an improvement on the emptiness that had marked it before. 'Do ya think this is some sort of fuckin' game. I can't fucking carry you and Beth both. Ya gotta pull ya own weight.' He jabbed a finger angrily in her direction. 'Or was Merle wrong about you?'

Asha's back stiffened, a muscle leaping in her throat as her eyes widened before quickly hardening. She spun around and kicked dirt over their small fire and grabbing up her small pack. 'So let's go get Beth.' Her face was white and pinched with anger.

'Nah,' Daryl growled. 'You wait. I'll bring her back.'

Asha shook her head, moving around the camp and collecting a few belongings. 'Don't bother, she'll just take off again. Take it from someone who used to be a teen aged girl – she's gonna do this with or without us, and it'll be on us if she gets hurt. Besides…Beth's not the only one around here who could do with a drink.'

She snatched up the Beth's blanket and glared at him over her shoulder before disappearing into the brush on the younger woman's trail.

Daryl grimaced. He shouldn't be surprised he guessed – he knew the damn woman liked to self medicate. He glanced around their shabby camp, pausing only to gather the two bottles of boiled water and abandoning the rest.

Then he slipped into the woods after the two blonde women.

'Is it good?' Beth asked, hands wrapped nervously around the bottle of peach schnapps. Asha shrugged, ducking below the bar top in the country golf club they'd raided in pursuit of booze. There was shattered glass and empty bottles as far as she could see. There had to be something better than schnapps, some scotch, tequila...Southern Comfort.

She grasped an empty bottle and hurled it across the empty bar to the shatter against the hard floor. God damn it but Daryl had known exactly how to pull her up short. She bristled again, remembering his narrowed eyes as he suggested Merle had been wrong about her. Asha prided herself on the fact that hard work had never scared her, if she had a task she knew she was best off getting in and getting it done. It was just that for so long her task had been finding her brother. She forgotten about all the other work there was to do.

She hurled another empty wine bottle across the bar, ignoring the crease between Beth's brows and Daryl's glare. Damn Daryl. He was as damn perceptive as his damn brother.

'What do you think Daryl?' Beth asked, hands still twisting at the bottle of schnapps. 'Is it any good?'

'No.' Daryl's voice was flat.

'Well, it's all that's left,' Beth said, opening the bottle. Asha pulled a face as the sickly sweet scent hit her nose from across the bar. God she hated peaches. She was tossing empty bottles aside when the soft sounds Beth was making finally registered. She paused, hand hovering over an empty bottle.

That isn't right, Beth doesn't cry any more.

Her eyes jerked up. Beth's head was tipped forwards, one hand still gripping the bottle of schnapps as her shoulders shook.

She traded a quick startled with Daryl, and was then moving without conscious thought around the bar.

Beth doesn't cry.

She hesitated for an instant beside the young woman's shaking shoulders and then reached out, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her in. Beth sagged against her, no longer stifling her sobs. Asha suddenly realised, really realised, that Beth had just lost her father. Throat thickening, Asha felt the echo of her own father's passing in the shaking of Beth's body - and recalled that not only had Beth just witnessed her father's horrific death, she had also - for all intents and purposes - lost her sister too. Asha was swamped with a wave of shame and cursed herself for being a self-centred bitch. Again.

The bottle of schnapps suddenly flashed reflected sunlight in the corner of her eyes as it was hurled to the ground - the sound of shattering glass cutting through Beth's sobs.

'Ya ain't gonna have no peach schnapps for ya first drink' Daryl growled. His lip twitched viciously as Beth looked at him in shock.

Asha narrowed her eyes at him as he twisted away from them.

What the hell is he talking about?

There sure as shit wasn't anything else left in the bar.

Broken glass crunched underfoot as Daryl crossed the bar area and pushed open the door to the bar patio area. A walker materialized in the open space and Daryl, knife suddenly in hand, drove the blade through its face. He kicked it roughly out of the way before gesturing roughly with his head through the open door.

Beth glanced at Asha, cheeks tear stained, before looking at the sun drenched overgrown golf course beyond the door. Then she dashed at her cheeks angrily, standing, shoulders squaring in determination. Daryl gave her a small nod of approval as she started towards him.

Asha scrubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands, a little confused, nose filled with scent of peaches as the schnapps soaked into the carpet. Then she shrugged.

'Why the hell not,' she muttered to herself. She had no idea what Daryl was planning, but whatever it was, it wasn't like it could make less sense than what they were already doing. She scraped up the semi automatic from where she'd dumped it on the bar, and still rubbing tiredly at her temple with her free hand, she followed Daryl and Beth out into the sun.