There was pre-dawn light just appearing on the horizon when they finally stopped to rest. They had left the road a while back. Moving through the forest was slower but there were fewer walkers and less chance they'd run into others who might cause them trouble. When Daryl finally stopped moving they were in a grassy grove sheltered by tall trees. There was morning dew forming on the ground and a light mist rolled its way lazily through the tree trunks.

Beth was exhausted and the pain in her ankle had turned from a dull ache to a steady throb. She came to a breathless stop underneath a tall tree. Leaning against it, she slid to the round with a grimace. Pulling her boot off gingerly, she started to unwrap Daryl's makeshift bandages, which had shifted and loosened as they were running.

"Still sore huh?" Daryl asked, handing her their shared water bottle as he crouched in front of her to get a closer look. Her ankle was swollen, but not as red and angry as it had been a few days earlier. It was healing at least, Beth thought, just slowly.

"Its alright," she lied, but she couldn't hold back a grimace as Daryl reached out to touch the tender tissue.

"Shouldn' have made you run so far," he said, slightly guiltily, "We'll have to find somewhere to hold up awhile."

Beth nodded, thankful for the idea of another days rest. Her ankle injury was frustrating; it made her feel like a burden again after she had been trying all this time to be useful.

Realizing that Beth wasn't going to be moving again in a hurry, Daryl decided to hunt nearby. Though not before checking that Beth had her knife out and ready.

"I'll be fine Daryl. Just go," She said, half exasperated at his treating her like a child that needs protection again.

"Yeah alright," he growled, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder, "Just don't come callin' for me when all you can manage is to stab 'em in the knee caps."

She snorted quietly and ignored the quip about her inability to stand. She settled back against the tree to rest as he disappeared into the trees

Alone, the forest felt suddenly eerie. The light mist obscured much of her view and it was silent, still early enough that the normal hum of daytime insect activity hadn't started yet. She wished she could sleep, but knew it wouldn't be safe while she was alone. Her stomach gave a quite pang of hunger, which she ignored. It had been months since she had felt full. Not since the prison…

Beth berated herself quickly for thinking about the prison, knowing it would only make her unhappy to think of her father and her sister. And Judith. Carl. Glenn. Rick. Michonne. Carol. Too many names to recite… Beth didn't let herself think about them during the day. She waited until it was dark and she was alone, then she would think of them and cry for them. She would silently pray that somewhere some of them might still be alive, though she wasn't sure if she still believed that there was someone around to listen to prayers.

She gave herself a small shake to clear the thoughts of her prison family away, running her fingers through the damp grass as a distraction. The morning dew was cool and refreshing so she wiped her now moist hands across her face, trying to clean off some of the grime and push away her exhaustion.

She started to re-do the bandages around her foot, trying to remember how Daryl had done it so that they supported her ankle and took some of her weight off the sore ligaments. She was just tucking the end of the makeshift bandage into place when she heard the dry rattling breath of an approaching walker. Her heart rate picked up instantly. She slid her boot on quickly and pulled herself to a standing position against the tree, knife gripped tightly in her hand.

Beth could hear it moving clumsily through the forest, groaning and gurgling as it went. She glanced around, disorientated by the mist and the half-light that obscured the creature from view. It seemed to be coming from both behind her and in front of her all at once. She moved away from the tree and turned slowly, knife out in front of her, her breathing coming quickly now as her heart pounded in her chest. She wanted to shout out at the walker to come and get her, wanted to feel brave and strong, not like the small teenage girl hiding alone in the dark that she was.

Suddenly the walker was in front of her. It was a middle-aged man, or at least it had been, now dressed incongruously in a tattered business suit. There was fresh blood dripping from its chin and smeared across its shirtfront. This close the smell hit her like a wall and its swollen bloodshot eyes seemed to bulge out towards her. It lunged, crying out in its raspy voice, jaws snapping at her face. But Beth was ready with the knife and she sent it straight into its eye socket with as much force as she could. It sunk through the eye into the skull with a sickening crunch, and immediately warm blood and other fluids she tried not to think about were covering her sleeve and spreading up her arm. She shoved the body backwards to the ground, yanking the knife from its skull as it fell. She felt a surge of triumph that it was dead and she wasn't. Not so useless after all, she thought. She was still caught up in her victory when the second walker collided with her side on.

Beth fell, landing hard on her flank, her knife flying from her hand. The walker staggered to the ground on top of her, its weight coming down on her sore ankle causing her to cry out in pain. It reached its hands towards her blindly, jaws wide. Beth struggled under it, knocking its clawing hands away from her. It lunged down at her and its putrid breath hit her in the face. She pressed her hand into its forehead, pushing it away as it snapped its jaws at her. She struggled with it desperately; trying the keep the teeth from making contact while reaching around with her other hand, feeling for a rock or something else sharp or heavy.

Suddenly her hand on its forehead slipped and the walker was out of her grasp. It lunged in closer, now inches from her face. Beth barely registered a flash of movement in her peripheries as the walker opened its mouth on her neck. It was moments from sinking its teeth into her neck when suddenly it collapsed. It took her a couple of seconds to register the green fletched arrow imbedded in the side of its skull.

Beth let out the breath she had been holding as the walker's dead weight pressed down on her. She allowed herself a moment to catch her breath and gave a small laugh of relief that she had escaped again. Cheating death was a specialty in the apocalypse and, once again, she was still here. She was pushing at the walker's shoulders in an effort to move the body off of her when Daryl came into view. He grabbed its shirt and shoved it to the side so she could scramble out.

"Thanks," she breathed, as she took his offered hand and was hoisted to her feet.

"There's more comin'," he replied, "We need to move."

"How many?" Beth asked while scrambling to gather her belongings and retrieve her knife.

"Enough."

"Beth looked at Daryl properly now; he looked flighty and nervous, eyes constantly darting around the forest, crossbow already reloaded in his hands. Beth knew that look and it meant they were in real danger. This was more that just a small group of walkers, there was a big herd heading their way.

"Where are we gonna go?" She asked, trying not to let her own anxiety slip into her voice. He glanced at her but didn't answer.

"C'mon."

He took off through the trees at a jog and Beth struggled to keep up, limping noticeably. They had barely gone fifty yards before Beth called out to stop him. She'd never be able to outrun a herd on her bad leg.

"C'mon, Beth," He said exasperatedly, "We gotta go."

"I cant, Daryl. I'm sorry."

He looked at her for a moment, and then shifted his crossbow around his body so it hung across his front and turned around.

"Get up."

Realizing what he was suggesting she placed her hands on his shoulders and jumped as best she could with one leg. His hands gripped her thighs and hoisted her higher onto his back, then he took off again.

They moved slowly like this, her body weighing Daryl down significantly. The other disadvantage, Beth realized, was that if they came across a walker Daryl wouldn't be able to use his crossbow. Then suddenly Beth could hear them, the deep hum of hundreds of walkers groaning and rasping together. They were close. Beth wrapped her arms tighter around Daryl's neck and felt him pick up the pace. But the truth was, they had nowhere to go. They were in the middle of a forest and hadn't seen signs of humans in hours. There was nowhere to hide out here.

As Daryl moved around a large tree with thick low hanging branches, Beth had a sudden idea brought on by flashes of a childhood spent climbing trees on the farm.

"Daryl," She said excitedly, squeezing his shoulder, "The trees! We can climb the trees."

Daryl glanced up at some of the nearby trees; they were all large and leafy enough to obscure them from sight. Many had low branches that would be easy enough to climb. He came to stop at the base of one of them and stopped to look up into its canopy. Beth slid from his back to the ground. She stood next to him and swallowed nervously as she looked up into the tree. It seemed much taller now up close and with limited escape routes if they got caught.

But the hum of the approaching herd was increasing and they had no other options so Daryl crouched down and interlocked his fingers to make a foot hold for her.

"Ladies first."

She stepped onto his hands with her good leg, using his shoulders for balance as he lifted her up so she could pull herself onto the lowest branch. Once she was secure she shifted to make space and watched as Daryl jumped up to grab the branch himself, lifting his body up next to hers. Beth stood up carefully, using the trunk for balance before reaching over for the next closest branch.

They clambered their way up the tree steadily. Beth was slow and hesitant on her sore leg, occasionally needing Daryl's help to hoist herself up to higher branches. It was precarious, with one slight slip meaning a long fall to the ground.

They were halfway up the tree and well into the dense foliage when the first of the walkers came into view. Beth pressed in close to the tree trunk, balancing on a branch that was thinner than she would have liked. Daryl stood on a larger one just to her left and she met his eyes silently, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. They were stuck here now, for as long as the herd took to pass.