DPOV

"Are we close?"

I was teaching Beth how to track. We were following some right now as she held my crossbow in front of her, ready to aim and shoot. Even though I'd been a jerk last time we had talked about her learning, she still insisted. So far... she wasn't too bad.

"Almost done." I answered from close behind her.

"How do you know?"

"The signs are all there. Just got to know how to read them."

She lowered the crossbow a little, moving forward. "But what are we tracking?"

"You tell me." when she turned to look at me I shrugged. "You're the one that wanted to learn."

Looking to the ground, she watched the tracks go further in a pattern. "Well, something came through here. The pattern is all zigzaggy." she noted. "It's a walker."

"Maybe it's a drunk."

Smiling, she lifted the crossbow again. "I'm getting good at this. Pretty soon I won't need you at all."

Nodding I gestured for her to go on. "Yeah. Keep on trackin'."

We got to a clearing. Behind the trees, as we moved around, we could hear the snarling of the walker that knelt in the middle of the open space.

"It's got a gun." Beth turned to me.

I gave a short nod to her, and she turned back to the walker, slowly moving forward. She raised crossbow to eye level, moving carefully and cautiously taking it step by step.

Suddenly there was a mechanic nose as she took a step. Her foot caught on something she fell to the ground with a yelp.

The walker turned to her, dropping the squirrel or rat it had been eating and getting to its feet.

As I rushed towards Beth, she shot at the walker, getting it in the mouth. Close but not close enough. I snatched the crossbow away, stepping up to the walker and smashing it in the head with my bow, brains splattering out.

Without waiting, I turned back to her, moving to kneel by her foot and let it out of the trap. "Can you move it?"

She slowly started to move it in the air, gently and lightly to make sure it was okay. Panting, she gave a short nod. "Yeah."

...

My arm around Beth, I helped her move as she limped along. We came to the end of the tree line, opening up to a graveyard and what looked to be a funeral home up the hill, a road between the two.

She stopped, leaning down to reach for her foot. "Can we hold up a sec?"

"You all right?"

"I just need to sit down."

I looked up at the house, it seemed secure from over here. There were no walkers around which was a bonus, and besides, we didn't have anywhere else to go...

Adjusting my crossbow, I strapped it around my front. "All right. Hold up." turning so my back was to her, I bent down a little. "Hop on."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, this is a serious piggyback." I answered sarcastically. "Jump up." I told her. She did as I said, putting her hands on my shoulders before jumping up. I grabbed her thighs to hold her there as I exhaled. "You're heavier than you look." I teased, pulling her up to make sure she'd stay before walking.

"Maybe there are people there."

"Yeah, if there are, I'll handle them."

"There are still good people, Daryl."

I sighed sadly. "I don't think the good ones survive."

We came up to the graves, passing them as I moved towards the house. But as we got to one, I felt Beth shifting on my back, leaning over and sliding down so she could stand in front of it. Once she was off I stopped, turning to look at the grave...

NOV 12TH 1837

DEC 10TH 1874

BELOVED FATHER

I knew she was thinking about her father, how she'd never get to bury him like she was supposed to. How he was just gone and she didn't have a place she could go to visit and talk to. There were no goodbyes, no farewells.

It was all too sudden...

I turned grabbing some flowers that were growing like a weed. At least they'd add colour. I set them on top of the grave stone before stepping back, moving next to her.

I looked away from a moment, and froze. The grave next to it was a little too close to my heart...

Victoria Davis

Daughter, Sister, Friend

She will be missed.

I walked towards it, crouching down as I stared at the name, feeling my heart break.

I knew it wasn't my Vic, I knew it was just a name on a piece of concrete... but it still hurt. Vic was out there somewhere, alive or dead I didn't know, but I hoped for the best. Beth said to have faith, and that was what I was holding on to. Without the idea of Vic being out there... I'd be a different man.

Beth came to stand behind me, resting her hand on my shoulder.

We didn't say anything, because we didn't need to. Over the time we'd been together since the prison fell, we'd grown close friends. We understood each other better now. That's how she knew I was hurting as much as she was, but it's also why she knew not to say anything.

...

I opened the front door of the funeral home, Beth staying back as I banged my hand on the door frame.

Giving a whistle, I listened out for movement. "Give it a minute." I told her.

When there was no sound, or movement I carefully stepped inside, crossbow at the ready, moving slowly and silently. Beth closed the door gently, staying close to me, but far enough that she could run if we got in trouble.

"It's so clean." she noted.

I nodded. "Yeah. Someone's been tending to it. May still be around."

I walked into the first room, chairs set up in front of a coffin, with a piano against the wall. A body lay in the coffin, but it didn't look like a walker...

I reached forward, my knuckles brushing the skin. Makeup wiped away, leaving it the waxy grey coloured skin walkers had. Looking to Beth we shared a look before moving on.

We got to the basement, where whoever had worked here put the make up on the walkers and dressed them up. I moved to the cabinets, pulling out some strapping for Beth.

"Let's get that ankle wrapped." closing the cabinet I ripped open the plastic around the strapping with my teeth. Looking at Beth, I watched her stare at the walker in front of her, make up half done. "Looks like somebody ran out of dolls to dress up."

"It's beautiful. Whoever did this cared. They wanted these people to get a funeral. They remembered these things were people, before all this. They didn't let it change them in the end. Don't you think that's beautiful?"

I watched her, staying silent, thinking it over like maybe I'd give an answer... but I wasn't sure what I felt about it really because it didn't matter what or who they were, what they became was a thing that ate people.

I pushed off the wall. "Come on." setting her up on the counter I knelt down on the ground, wrapping her ankle up.

...

It was getting late. We were staying here for the night, obviously, but we had no food... so we headed for the kitchen where we searched the fridge and all the cupboards.

"Dang." she sighed when she came up with nothing. "You find anything?"

I opened the last cupboard... it was full of food.

"Whoa!"

"Peanut butter and jelly, diet soda and pig's feet. That's a white trash brunch right there." I grabbed a jar of the first thing I saw, jelly.

"It all looks good to me." she shrugged, grabbing her own jar of food.

"No, hold up." there was something weird about this food. Stepping back, I took a better look at it. "Ain't a speck of dust on this."

"So?"

"That means somebody just put it here. This is someone's stash. Maybe they're still alive." I nodded. "All right. We'll take some of it, and we'll leave the rest, all right?"

"I knew it." she smiled.

"Knew what?"

"It's like I said. There are still good people."

I open jar jelly sticking my finger in it and digging out some before bringing it to my mouth, licking my fingers like a pig. "Mmm."

"Gross." she grabbed her food and turned away.

I went to follow before turning back. "All right, those pig's feet are mine." I told her, pointing at the jar before walking out with her.

...

I followed the sound of a piano, Beth singing in one of the rooms. It was like the first one, chairs and a coffin, just no walker. She'd set up some candles too, giving her some light so she could see what she played.

I leaned against the doorway, watching her.

"And pine for summer. And we'll buy. A beer to shotgun. And we'll lay in the lawn. And we'll be good."

I cleared my throat, causing her to jump and turn to look at me.

"The place is nailed up tight." I told her as I set my crossbow on the old fancy chair. "The only way in is through the front door." I added, moving to stand by the coffin before jumping into it.

"What are you doing?"

I sighed swinging my legs in. "This is the comfiest bed I've had in years."

"Really?"

"I ain't kidding." I laid down. "Why don't you go ahead and play some more? Keep singing."

"I thought my singing annoyed you."

"Hmm, there ain't no jukebox though." I joked, giving her a small grin.

She smiled before turning around to play again. "And we'll buy. A beer to shotgun. And we'll lay in the lawn. And we'll be good. Now I'm laughing at me boredom. At my string of failed attempts..."

...

"Going as fast as I can."

"Forget that."

She chuckled as I lifted her into my arms, pushing the kitchen door open as I carried her towards the table where we'd set up some food.

"Here you go." I set her in a chair with a sigh, moving around the table to my own seat. "All right. Let's eat."

The cans outside rattled, something pushing on the rope they were tied to.

I got up, grabbing my crossbow. "Stay." I told her before rushing out, aiming for the door just in case as I moved towards it.

Once I was close enough I looked out the crack of the wooden panels, out the glass and to the porch. There I saw a white scruffy dog with one eye.

I opened the door, calling out to Beth. "It's just a dog."

I turned back to it, thinking of Houdini.

Vic loved that dog, they'd been inseparable from day one. Then Aly came along and he'd protected and loved her just as much as Vic. The three of them were best of friends... I had no doubt that if Vic was alive, he'd be with her, protecting her.

I crouched down, reaching for the dog. "Hey." he sniffed my hand. "Come here, boy." I went to grab its collar, but it jumped back, making a noise before it ran off.

Shaking my head I stood, walking back inside.

"He wouldn't come in?"

I closed the door, looking at Beth over my shoulder. "I told you to stay back."

"Yeah, but." she shrugged. "Daryl, you said there was a dog."

She was a lot like Vic, I realized... they were both caring and kind and understanding. They could read into things, people, better than others. They loved people so much it crushed them once they were gone. They fought for what they believed in and never backed down.

But Vic was tougher. She was stronger, and braver and smarter. The world had built her into someone who didn't fully belong in the old world, but was still a little too gentle for this one...

Beth, she'd changed, I could see it even if she couldn't. But it wasn't by much... it wasn't enough.

"Maybe he'll come back around." I shrugged, nodding for her to turn around. "Come on." I told her before we headed back for the kitchen.

...

"I'm gonna leave a thank-you note." Beth smiled as she searched through the bag I'd grabbed from the lodge, trying to find a pen or something.

"Why?" I asked, eating jelly from a jar with a spoon.

She shrugged. "For when they come back. If they come back. Even if they're not coming back, I still want to say thanks."

I thought about the people that might still live here. I had a feeling it was only one person... Maybe they could use some company. It wasn't like Beth and I really had a place to go. We had no idea if anyone else got out alive and if they did we didn't know where they went or where they were going...

"Daryl, look." she pulled out a ring from the bag, showing it to me.

It was nice, expensive looking, but simple too. I wouldn't have been able to afford it... Silver with a diamond and two pale blue gems on either side.

"Maybe when you find Vickie, you could give this to her?"

I looked up, shocked. "What?"

Her smile widening. "Yeah. You could give this to her, and you can get married. Not like before, but like how Maggie and Glenn did. You'll be together, and never lose each other again."

Thinking it over for a moment, I slowly nodded. "Maybe. But for now... why don't we stay here? Just for a while. Till your foot gets better. The people will come back, and we'll just make it work. They may be nuts, but maybe it'll be all right."

The can outside rattled again before the dog barked.

Grunting, I set my jar down before reaching for the pigs feet. "I'm gonna give that mutt one more chance."

I made my way back to the front door, opening it without checking. That was a mistake.

Walkers were piled on the porch, pushing at the door.

I tried to close it, pressing my back against it as I yelled out. "Beth! Beth!"

She hobbled out as fast as she could, carrying my crossbow. I gestured for her to pass it, and so she tossed it my way.

I caught it mid-air. "Run! Run!" I told her.

Once she was gone I stepped away from the door, letting it open. Aiming my crossbow I shot the first walker, but I knew there were too many and I couldn't shoot them all. Not like this.

"Beth, pry open a window. Get your shit." I yelled out before running through the house, the walkers following me.

"I'm not gonna leave you." I heard her call back.

"Go out. Go up the road. I'll meet you there. Go!"

I stabbed a walker in the head with one of my bolts. "This way." I called them as I moved to the basement.

I stopped and waited for a moment, shooting the first one I saw to give me sometime before I grabbed the table the dead walker with makeup on was lying on, rolling it over so I could stand in the corner and use it to keep the other walkers away from me.

They pressed against it, reaching for me, trying to grab at anything so they could pull me to them. I stayed back, only getting close enough with my hand to there were too many, I couldn't stay like this.

I got down on the ground, crawling along the floor until I was on the other side and away from the walkers. I grabbed the other bed, pushing it against them to keep them away before turning to leave.

A walker went for me, and I stabbed it quickly, running up the stairs to go. Before I did, I grabbed my bolt for the walker I'd shot, and then run through the house.

Once I was outside, I kept running, moving as fast as I could, heading for the road, my feet pounding on the ground as I tried to get away from the few walkers that were around.

One came out of the trees, standing in front of me.

I stopped, smashing its head in with my crossbow, grunting, before moving on.

At last I got to the road, the walkers far enough away that I was safe for now... but there was something wrong. The bag I'd gotten from the lodge was lying on the road, everything lying on the ground as if it had been dropped suddenly.

The sound of tyres screeching had me turn just in time to see a black car with a white cross on the back window speed off.

"Beth!" I yelled, running after the car. "Beth! Beth!"

I was not losing her. I was not losing anyone else.

...

The sun was up and the car was long gone. I'd been following this road all morning, in the hopes of finding it again. I wouldn't give up, I couldn't. She needed me. They could be doing anything to her. And I needed her. Or I'd fall and turn into something I didn't like.

If I gave up on her, it I just let them go, what kind of person would I be? What kind of man? Definitely not one that deserved to live. Definitely not one that deserved Vic.

I came to a fork in the road, two choices, two way the cay could have gone... Train tracks they could have followed, houses they could be holed up in.

I had no idea which way to go, where to start, how to move on...

My crossbow fell from my grasp, landing on the ground as I dropped next to it panting... I was lost.

...

"Well, look here."

A man stopped in front of me, five other guys moving around in a circle to surround us. I looked up, seeing they were all armed, and not one of them looked too friendly...

The one that had talked, I guess he was the leader, stepped forward, going to reach for my crossbow.

I threw my fist up, smacking him the face as I grabbed my crossbow and stood. All the other guys aiming their weapons at me as I pointed mine at the leader who was now on the ground.

"Damn it!" he grunted. "Hold up!"

"I'm claiming the vest." One of the other said from behind me. "I like them wings."

"Hold up." the leader wiped his nose, looking at his hand where there was blood. Laughing, he got to his feet, shaking his head. "A bowman." his laughter stopped as he grinned at me. "I respect that. See, a man with a rifle, he could have been some kind of photographer or soccer coach back in the day, but a bowman's a bowman through and through.

"What you got there, 150-pound draw weight? I'll be donkey-licked if that don't fire at least 300 feet per second. I've been looking for a weapon like that. Of course, I'd want one with a bit more ammo, and uh, minus the oblongata stains."

The guy behind me laughed. "Get yourself in some trouble, partner?"

"You pull that trigger, these boys are gonna drop you several times over." the leader noted. "That what you want? Come on, fella, suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people?" his smile widened. "Name's Joe."

I lowered my crossbow, looking at all the guys before turning back to Joe. "Daryl."

BaMbY