Disclaimer: Still don't own anything involving TWD.

I just want to send out a thank you for all the reviews I've received and I'm very excited to see that my story keeps getting followers.

The reviews I get are the fuel to my fire on so many levels. I believe that to become a better writer, it's important to get all kinds of criticism and also to be able to handle said criticism. Input on what you like/don't like and why as well as suggestions on how to handle certain topics are always welcome. However, I also believe that for such criticism to work, it has to be constructive. Therefore, I was rather surprised about the guest comment I got on my story and I'd like to address said reviewer.

Dear Guest reviewer. I do appreciate feedback and I try to take suggestions from my readers into consideration. I don't, however, appreciate people slamming my writing for no apparent reason. I have not yet decided which way to go where Beth is concerned, but I find it very presumptive and quite frankly rather rude of you to assume that I'm going to, as you so eloquently put it, f**k it up. How can you possibly know that I'm going to ruin her character? I'm sorry that you don't seem to like the way other Caryl-writers portrait Beth, but that is no reason for you to assume that I'm going to do her injustice as well. And if the problem is that this is a Caryl-story and not a Bethyl one, then what are you doing here reading Caryl-stories? Furthermore, if you do have an input on how you think Beth's character should be portrayed, then by all means, let me know. Tell me how you think I should describe her. Because that really is of much more use to me than to be criticized for writing I have yet to put in print. So please, send me some constructive suggestions in my inbox here on and I'll be sure to take it into consideration and to send a reply.

As for Beth, I'm not really sure yet how her role in the story will develop. She's in the story obviously, but whether to keep her alive or not remains to be seen. I suppose it depends entirely on where my writing takes me. The way I'll portrait her character will be based on what I've learned about her from the show, i. e. my own interpretations. If someone's not happy about the way things turn out, I'm sorry, but as the writer of this story, it is my prerogative to take the plot in any direction I please. But, like I said, I'm always interested in feedback, so if anyone has a thought about what to do about Beth's role in my story, do not hesitate to message me and let me know your thoughts.

Sorry about the long side-track, people! On with the story!

5. Trying

When Carol wakes in the morning, Daryl's gone. Feeling a bit disoriented, she forgets where she is just for a moment, and then it all comes rushing back to her. The familiar feeling of nausea tears into her as she remembers their discovery last night – the child walker. Throwing herself out of the bed, she searches for something to throw up in and notices a trash can, which she empties the contents of her stomach in. Kneeling on the floor, she leans over the container, inhaling with little gasps, waiting for round two of her morning sickness. But this time, it never comes. Carol thinks to herself that maybe this is a sign of the morning sickness wearing off. Looking up and out the window, she notices smoke rising close by. Getting up from the floor and peering out the window pane, she immediately spots the source of the smoke. A soft smile graces her lips. "Damn it Daryl. Why do you make it so hard to walk away?"

Even though the crackling from the pyre is loud in his ears, Daryl still hear her steps in the corridor and then as she steps outside. He places the smallest body in the fire and takes a step back, watching the woman and child burning. He feels Carol sidling up to him, feels her touch on the back of his hand. "Thank you", she says. Her voice is like a soothing balm to his wounded soul. Hearing her thanking him, he picks up on the gratitude there. He thinks he understands what this means to her. No, he knows what it means. If he can prevent her from ever seeing another child dying or having to take another life of someone dying, then he will. Not being able to reply, not trusting his own voice, he simple nods and holds her hand in his. They stand there together, watching the fire consuming the bodies of what once was a family.

Backtracking to their room, Daryl rummages through his pack and finds some jerky and some water. They eat their breakfast in silence, neither one seeming willing to break it. Daryl notices the smell in the room, but says nothing about it. Carol's fidgeting with the hem of her shirt and he can tell she's nervous. He supposes she's scared he's going to bring up the subject of why their entire room smells like vomit, but decides against it. She's not ready, not after what just happened. Instead, he opts on something "safer" to talk about.

"So, what is this place then?"

Carol takes a moment to reply, trying to not let her relief show on her face. She'd expected a different question. "It was a shelter, for abused women and children. I came here once. Stayed for a day and a half until I went crawling back to Ed". Her last words had a bitter tinge to them. "I was scared of being alone, scared of trying to make it on my own. And some part of me still wanted Sophia to have a father. So I went back. I wish… God I wish I could have been stronger for my daughter and for myself. If only…"

Daryl reached out a hand and rested it on her arm. "Ya can't think like that Carol. I'm sure ya tried. Ya were a good mother. I saw the way you were with her. I know ya tried. And…" he hesitated for a second, feeling a bit awkward for saying it, but it had to be said, "and I know what it's like ta be scared".

Carol looked at him then, her lips turned up in the smallest hint of a smile. What had it taken Daryl to say those words? To admit that to her, to himself? She placed her other hand on top of his hand on her arm. "I know I'm a different person now than I was then. But I'm still scared Daryl".

"Yeah, but ya've made a new start since then. Ya can do it again. I meant what I said Carol. We get to start over".

Casting down her eyes, Carol looked at their hands, her own drawing circles on the back of his hand. "I don't know if I can Daryl. Too much has happened."

Drawing his hand away, a flicker of hurt passing over Daryl's eyes, he sighed. That was it then. Their love wasn't enough. Then she spoke again. "But I want to try. With you".

Lifting his chin, he stared at her face and he believe her. He saw the fear lingering in her eyes. She might yet try to run. But he was going to be there with her every step of the way to show her that they still had a chance.

"Then we will. After we've found Beth and got her back to her sister, you and I will start over. We'll tell each other about everything that happened on the road and then our slates will be wiped clean. No more secrets, no more hurt and shame. Alright?"

Carol nodded, not trusting her voice right now. He might say that now, but would he be able to hold true to those words when he found out about the girls? Would he really be able to trust her after that? She supposed that would remain to be seen. But she was starting to realize that no matter how many times she tried to run from Daryl Dixon, she'd fail every time.

They were back on the streets of Atlanta again. After breakfast, Daryl had suggested they get to a high building, to scope out the city looking for signs of the cross car. They'd just spotted a sky bridge leading to a high building. But their way was blocked by walkers. Taking off his pack, Daryl opened it up and drew out something that looked like a notepad. Using his lighter to set it on fire, he throws it in the other direction of the walkers, hoping to distract them. Succeeding with his goal, he slips round the corner and up the stairs to the sky bridge, Carol picking up his pack and following him.

Up there they find the bridge littered with tents, walkers trapped inside. They step carefully and swiftly round the tents, reaching the other side. Trying different doors, they soon find one that's unlocked and they step into a lavishly decorated office room with wide windows. The view is of downtown Atlanta. Stepping towards the window, neither of them are able to do anything but stare at the scene in front of them. A giant urban graveyard. Burnt out buildings, abandoned cars, not a life in sight except the odd walker they can spot from here. This is what the world is like now. Endless graveyards in between acres and acres of forests and fields. All dead, all lost. How are they supposed to find hope when this is what life is like now? What's the point of going on? Glancing at Daryl, the dull aching of dread in the pit of her stomach eases some. At least she still has him. There's still good people willing to fight for the ones they care about, the ones that they love. It's damn hard and it's risky, but it's worth it, she thinks. She's just not sure if she's worth it. Deciding to take a leap, she turns her head towards him.

"Why haven't you asked about what happened to the girls?"

Not looking at her, but still out the window, he replies, "I know what happened. They ain't here". Picking up a rifle scope (she hadn't even noticed he had it in his hand) he looks out at something, then gives her the scope. "Look there" he says and points. She aims the scope to where he's pointing and sees what he's after. A white van with crosses painted on the back windows.

"Looks like it's been there a while".

"Yeah, but it's our best chance at finding anything that could lead us to where Beth is".

Carol nods and hands the scope back to Daryl. "You know" she says, not daring to meet his eye, "it was much worse than that, with the girls".

"How can it be worse than them dying?"

"It just was". Carol turns away and leaves the room. Daryl takes one last look out the window and then he follows her.

Up until now, they'd been pretty lucky. They hadn't run into anyone and they hadn't really had any trouble with walkers. Therefore, what happens next comes as a surprise. Carol has squeeze her way back onto the sky bridge, pushing her rifle out first. When Daryl's squeezed through, he notices Carol standing quite still, like she's unable to move. Tilting his head upwards, he sees why. A kid, in his late teens by the look of it, is standing in front of them, pointing Carol's rifle at them. Holding up his hands, Daryl glances at Carol and sees that she's doing the same. The kid looks scared and he thinks that if he only treads carefully, he can get them out of this.

"Come on now, don't do nothin' stupid" Daryl says to the kid. "We don't want any trouble but we need that rifle".

"Yeah, well so do I. There's two of you and you look like you'll do alright anyway, you look tough. Now hand over that crossbow and no one has to get hurt".

The kid doesn't look like he knows how to shoot the rifle, but he does look scared, and scared people could easily do stupid things.

"Sorry, we can't do that" Daryl says. "We need it".

"I need it more. I need to protect myself from them. Now hand over the crossbow!"

Daryl's mind is spinning like a clockwork, trying to find a way out of their situation. He doesn't know who them is that the kid's talking about, but he assumes he means walkers. Sending Carol another glance, he can see that she's lowered her hands somewhat, no doubt at the ready to reach for her gun. But she'd never make it and the last thing they need is for her to get hurt. There's not much of a choice, he realizes. They have to hand over the crossbow, or… there's one more thing he could try, but Carol won't like it, not at all. But it's the best chance they have of getting out of there alive and with their weapons in tow. Taking a deep breath, Daryl looks back to their attacker.

"Listen kid, I'm sure you need weapons and I'm willing to give you the rifle. But you can't have the crossbow. We need more weapons than knives and a gun".

"I'm sure you'd get by just fine with just that. Like I said, you look tough".

"Yeah, we are tough. But we need more than that. We need everything we can get our hands on for protection. You see, my woman here… she's pregnant".

Oh no, cliff hanger! I'll update as soon as possible people. And by the way, I know I might be a bit off on Daryl's accent. I'm trying, but I'm not very familiar with American accents, least of all southern accents. I normally write in British English, so this is all new to me. Hope I'm doing alright though. Don't forget to review.