DPOV

I stared down at the fire in front of me, bugs buzzing and chirping around us, the cool air hitting my bare arms. We hadn't had time to grab any supplies, which left us with what we had on our backs. But I didn't mind much, I probably wouldn't have even had the fre going if it weren't for Beth.

"We should do something." Beth looked up from the fire to me. "We should do something."

I just ignored her. There was nothing we could do. Not right now. It was dark and we had no supplies. We needed to get ourselves sorted before we even thought about doing anything else.

"We aren't the only survivors. We can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn could have made it out of A block. Vickie, Aly and Zach too, they could have survived."

My eyes snapped up to look at her. The sound of Vic had my heart pumping a little faster. I knew she was okay. If anyone got out of the prison it would be her. She survived on her own for two months, and then eight months a different time. Sure the second time left her a little worse for wear, but I knew she'd still be alive, nothing much else really mattered to me except that.

"You're a tracker. You can track." she noted expectantly as she stood. When I didn't reply she continued to look down at me, as if waiting for me to get up and join her . "Come on. The sun will be up soon. If we head out now, we can-"

She realized then that I was going anywhere. She may want to go on and look for others, wandering around aimlessly, but it was a stupid idea. It was dangerous, and would end up getting one of us killed.

"Fine." grabbing my knife, she went to walk off. "If you won't track, I will."

I watched her walk off for a moment, thinking about what I should do. Stay and do the safe, smart, right thing... or follow her. If I didn't she'd just get herself in some trouble...

I got up, putting the fire by kicking some dirt onto the flames. Reaching down I grabbed my crossbow as I thought about how fast my patience was going to run out with her. But nether the less, I really had no choice, so I simply followed her.

...

The sun was up now. We had been wandering around for a few hours without any sign of life. Things weren't looking too good. If others had gotten out, they could be anywhere out here in the woods. We didn't have the time or energy to be wasting it on a search party right now.

I stopped, something on the ground catching my eyes. Crouching I moved some leaves out of the way. Gently getting moving them to reveal some tracks underneath.

Beth must have noticed I had stopped. She came to stand by me, looking over my shoulder at the ground. "Could be Luke's. Or Molly's. Whoever they are, it means they're alive."

"No. This means they were alive four or five hours ago." it was harsh, yes, but I was just being honest.

"They're alive." she snapped before walking off, following the tracks.

I stood, following her once more, while keeping my eyes to the ground to make sure she didn't steer from the path.

We came across some grape bushes where the tracks suddenly change.

"They picked up the pace here." I gestured to a spot where some of the grape lay on the floor, squashed from someone standing on them. "Got out in a hurry. Things went bad."

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith."

"Faith. Faith ain't done shit for us. Sure as hell didn't do nothing for you father."

I paused, realising what had just said. I didn't mean it like that, I didn't want to hurt her. Hershel had been a great man. He had been a friend, and he had saved Vic's life. He hadn't deserved to die the way he did. It was wrong of me to say what I had...

Turning to Beth our eyes locked as she staredat me, offened and disappointed. I silently apologised, hoping she'd see I knew I was wrong. I knew she had when her eyes softened ever so slightly before she turned back to the grapes. I looked away then, watching our surroundings, feeling a light discomfort settle over me.

"They'll be hungry when we find them."

I pulled out my handcachief and move towards her, offering the cloth as I tapped her arm. She hesitated at first before taking it from me, wrapping the grapes up into a little bundle in the cloth.

I watched and waited before walking off with nod, sighing. She joined me not long after and with that we kept going.

...

We slowed at the sight of two dead walkers right on the tracks. I reached out, looking at some leave on the bushes next to us, seeing blood.

"What?" Beth looked over to see what had my attention.

I shook my head, letting go of the leaves. "That ain't walker blood."

Shrugging she went to go on. "The trail keeps going. They fought them off."

"No." the place was messy. there were tracks all over the place, going in diferent directions. "Got walker tracks all up and down here. At least a dozen of them."

The sound of wood cracking had us both freeze, going silent. We listened out, waiting for whatever it was to come out. The footsteps were getting closer...

Beth yeled out as a walker come out of no where, grabbing her. It's teeth neared her skin, snarling and growling as she tried to get away from it.

I too action, aiming my crossbow. But the walker was behind her and there was no clear shot without getting her as well. So I dropped the bow, reaching for my knife. I had forgotten she still had it from this morning.

Insteand I grabbed the walker, pulling it away from her and throwing him on ground. I looked to Beth, seeing her grab the knife, knowing what to do. I rolled over so the walker was on top, faing up, just as she rushed to stand by us.

Without flinching or hesitating, she stabbed it in head.

I threw it off, panting with a little nod of thanks. Not wasting anytime I got up, grabbing my crossbow. "Come on."

We didn't say anything else, just kept going, following the tracks. I could see the hope in her eyes, that maybe, just maybe, they were all okay.

...

Walking out of the cover of the trees, we came to some train tracks. The sound of walkers snarling had us look over in the direction of the noise. There, lyng by the side of the tracks, were three walkers, eating the remains of other people.

I moved over to them, shooting two in the head. I pulled the bolt out of one of the walker's heads, before stabbin ghte last walker in the head with it as he was distracted by eating. Once that was done, I colloected the bolts, looking over to Beth,

She looked down tp the ground where a kid's boot sat.

Aly came to my mind then. I had been trying not to think about her all day. Earilr when I had seen te small tracks, I knew they had been a kids, it was obvious. But I didn't want to say anything, to bring it all to light. Because the idea of Aly being out here made me feel sick.

I had told Hershel Aly was like a daughter to Vic, but what I hadn't said was she was like a daughter to me as well. I had only ever really had Merle before all of this, never thought I'd have much more than him. But Vic had proved me wrong, and Aly had just brought us closer; Houdini too. In a world like this, the people you survive with become your family.

I grabbed my things, turning to walk away. I didn't want to think about them any more. not now. Not when there were things I had to do to keep Beth and me alive right now.

Her crying stopped me. Causing me to turn and look at her.

She still stood there, now crying as she continued to look down.

I gestured for us to keep going before turning and starting down the tracks. But her crying didn't stop, and I knew she wasn't following I knew she hadn't moved- probably didn't even see me walk away.

So I turned again, looking to her. And I waited. I waited while she cried, letting it all out because I knew what she had only just realised. We were alone, and for now, there was nothing we could do about it.

...

We sat in front of the fire once more, in silence. Except now there was an air that sat on our shoulders, a weight that hadn't been there before. Beth was losing hope, losing faith. She now knew, chances were we'd never see any of the others again.

She tore pages from a book she had always carried around in her back pocket, tossing the paper into the fire, watching it burn.

I looked to the flames, watching them flicker and wave. My thoughts turned to Vic, even though I didn't want to think of her right now. It was too painful. But I couldn't help it...

I remembered the last time we had sat in front of a fire like this, together. It had been a few weeks after Aly and the other Woodbury people had joined us.

A few of us sat outside, as we roasted some squirels Vic and I had caught that day. Aly rested against Vic, Houdini lying on the ground in a ball by their feet as I sat on Vic's other side, her head resting on my shoulder.

I hadn't really warmed up to the idea of Houdini and Aly yet. I had continued to keep my distance from all the new people. Why get close to people when they're just going to die? That's how I had thought. But that night, the way I watched Vic stroke Aly's hair and whisper sweet stories to her in front of the warm fire, I had let it all go and decided that it was about time I open up.

Once Aly was asleep, Vic looked up at me, smiling , the flames reflecting of her eyes. She had looked so beautiful and I had felt so lucky.

Shaking my head I cleared my mind, not wanting to think of her anymore, to picture how she'd looked. It hurt too much.

I knew she was out there, but after today, after being in the prison for so long, I wondered if she was really okay. She had been sick, a shot shoulder. Knowing her, she'd probably have Aly with her too, maybe even Houdini.

I knew she could take care of herself, she had done so many times, but she hadn't been on the verge of dying then. She hadn't had fresh stitches. She hadn't had a little girl and a dog to take care of.

Yeah, maybe she's alive. But would I find her in time to keep her that way? I didn't even know where she was or where she was going.

I just hoped she was safe...

VPOV

We ran as fast as we could. My heart was pounding hard in my chest, it felt as if it was going to rip itself out of me. My head pulsed, I wasn't one hundred percent yet and I could feel the sickness trying to kick me down. My shoulder throbbed, the stitches tearing at my skin.

But we couldn't stop.

Houdini ran in front of us, staying close. Aly grasped my shirt, as I held her to my back, carrying her through the woods. Zack was only a few steps behind, his illness worse than mine.

We could hear the snarls, the moans of the walkers as they continued to follow us.

Escaping the prison had been harder than I had hoped. We'd only barely gotten out together, and alive. But now we had a group of walkers following us, and we were out of ammo. The only option we had was to run and get away. There was no time to fight, no time to stop.

Our lives were on the line now. No more secure walls and fences. No more help from family and friends. There was just me, Zack, Aly, Houdini and a slim chance of finding the others, finding a safe new home, or surviving at all...

I know you guys re expecting Daryl to be different from the show because of Vickie, so I'm sorry this chapter was badically the same as the show. I just need to set the scene, Daryl knows he's got Beth to take care of as well as himself, and he knows better than to just run out into the woods to find Vickie, who could honestly be anywhere or dead. So hold on guys :):)

Love and miss you all xox

Don't forget to review :):)

BaMbY