AN: Thanks for your patience with me. This is the longest and final chapter of this story. Although I initially wrote this story after watching only the promos for the episode, when the show aired, I went back and reworked some canonical elements into the story that I thought really fit. Thanks everyone for your reviews, follows, and faves, but mostly for your encouragement. You guys are the best!-jb


They pause on the bridge as the river of decaying undead flows beneath them. The nauseating stench of them permeates through the tiny cracks around the windows while the sounds of their wretched moaning is muffled by the glass.

"Hell, if that ain't shit creek," he mutters as they take in the enormity of the herd.

"We can hide out for a while," Carol reasons, "but sooner or later we're gonna have to fight our way through."

He rankles at the notion of putting her in the midst of that danger below. Letting out a low growl, he wonders how long it will take the festering crowd to move on. She's right, he thinks. Maybe they could wait it out some, but they have never seen a crowd this size disperse on its own without interference. He peers at her from behind a sweat-drenched fringe of hair trying to recall when it was that she last ate something, knowing for certain that neither of them had eaten anything for breakfast that morning. They will need to fuel up if they plan to get very far.

"Guess it's break time then," he quips, handing her an energy bar he pulled from his bag. "Here, lunch is on me."

She accepts the bar with a coy smile. His playful side amuses her.

"C'mon," he tugs on her elbow as he walks away. If they were stuck there, he didn't want to have to keep looking at dead things. "The view ain't exactly appetizin'. Let's go find another spot."

Opening the packages with their teeth as they roam through the abandoned office building, Carol follows Daryl as he navigates them through the twists and turns in the hallway searching for a stairwell. They find it tucked in the back corner. Both bars are devoured by the time they climb up a few flights. Finding an open office, they enter it to take a peek at the street below to see if it's clear on this side of the building. Stopping in front of its large window, they are both stupefied by the view of the stark urban landscape. Downtown Atlanta, once a thriving hub, now lay crumbled in desolate ruins.

Even through the low hanging clouds, they note how the remains of blown out office buildings lean precariously in their devastation. How these tumbling pillars of civilization sit idly in the skyline as bleak beacons of a lost hope for a forgotten world.

"I remember the night they bombed the city," she says nostalgically when she can finally speak. "We were stuck on the highway and heard the helicopters flying overhead. That was the night we met Lori and Shane. Carl played checkers with Sophia to pass the time." She smiles bittersweetly as she remembers their lost innocence. "God, it seems like ages ago."

Watching her carefully, Daryl grunts his agreement. An uneasiness percolates in his gut as he listens to her. The sadness in her voice haunts him, compelling him to wrestle with his own feelings of powerlessness. There are too many ghosts, he thinks to himself.

"I was so different then," she reflects with a darkness in her eyes. It is hard to imagine her former self without a tinge of disgust for her passivity. But it's someone else's slide show now. Another life.

"Hey, we all were," he reminds her. His eyes narrow as he studies her face. He worries about the gloom creeping back into her features.

She meets the simple truth in his eyes with a poignant smile. Daryl is right, she isn't alone. For better or worse, this new world has changed them all. Trying to unburden herself, she slips the backpack and gun from her shoulders and sets them on the desk beside them. She shrugs her shoulders trying to let the memories roll off her back.

"Fuck the way it was," he tells her remembering his own miserable existence. It wasn't all butterflies and rainbows before the Turn. He didn't want to go back to the way he was before life as they knew it had ceased to be. Some things were better now.

"Yeah," she agrees trying to convince herself. She's not sure she wouldn't trade in every ounce of strength she's uncovered in this new life to have Sophia alive and in her arms again. But she can't go back. She only knows she will do whatever it takes to keep the people she loves alive for however long she can. It's all she can do.

He's staring at her intently with those perceptive blue eyes of his. The ones that, despite being nearly hidden by the shaggy hair falling across them, notice everything. It makes her feel like he sees all her ugly flaws and still accepts her. The crease forming between his brow tells her he's concerned about her. Her heart swells with love for this caring man who reminds her that even though she's had to harden herself like a warrior, at the core she is still just a woman, and she has just as much value. She feels the love rising into her eyes where fresh tears begin to burn off the shadowy despair that seems to frequently envelop her these days like a thick mist.

"Some of us changed for the better," she says fondly to him wondering where she'd be without him. "You were like a kid when I first met you. And now look at you." She brushes away the straggle of hair covering his eyes. "You're a man. A good one. And I'm so proud of you." She lifts up on her toes to reward him with a tender kiss on the lips. Pulling back, her watery eyes look upon him with complete admiration.

Daryl feels the warmth on his cheeks as she compliments him. Embarrassed, he wants to avoid her eyes, but the way she regards him fills him up with a pleasant buzzing energy that keeps him transfixed. He has not really known much of happiness, but he realizes now, standing in front of her, that what little he has found rests somewhere there in her eyes.

Carol smiles at him again and he notices that some light has returned to her eyes making them sparkle like two brilliant crystals. A fluttering in his chest causes him to be suddenly breathless. His gaze wanders to her upturned lips as he recalls how soft and warm they felt pressing against him. The desire to unite them again grows increasingly unbearable. Like a swift current, the warmth from his cheeks rushes down his neck and into his core igniting the smoldering embers of last night's fiery embrace.

Drawn to her by a force greater than himself, he compresses the lingering space between them, and with great care, takes hold of her face with both hands. His thumbs caress the delicate skin of her cheeks as his fingers sweep across her temple and ears and then glide down along the sides of her willowy neck. Leaning in, he catches her soft lips with his own, lightly tugging her in towards him. Kissing her slowly, his steady lips trickle over hers like a light spring rain. A warm energy begins to tingle on their skin and pool between them.

As the kiss builds, it sends an electric pulse down to her knees, making them tremble. Sensing this, he slides his tentative hands down her shoulders and along the slender edges of her body until they find a more certain grip on her hips. His fingers root into her flesh to ground her as his lips engulf hers. Even as he holds her more firmly in place, her limbs continue to quiver beneath his increasingly confident touch. He feels the way her body stirs in response to his kiss. It incites him and makes him feel stronger. Winding his arms around her waist, he pulls her more securely against him.

With the heat of her against him, his heart picks up to a rapid thumping. The blood is sizzling in his veins as he deepens the kiss. She latches her hands around his neck and soon her fingers are tangled in his shaggy hair as she tows him ardently towards her. He groans at the zinging sensations emitted by the gentle grazing of her fingernails against his scalp. The sound of it pushes her up into him, towards the source. She nips at his mouth. As she returns his sultry kiss, his head begins to swirl from the swarm of heated pleasure building inside him. Buckling at the knees, he sways underneath the sweltering intensity of his feelings, and they stumble together against the window. Pinning her there for support, he sinks further into her luscious lips, delving his tongue into her mouth like an intrepid explorer. With every burrowing kiss, he seeks to discover more of her.

They lose themselves in the taste of each other, feeding the rampant hunger arising from their cores. The two of them are so rapt in their consumption of each other that they almost don't hear the faint noise that alerts them to the fact that they are not alone. Recoiling from each other in heavy-lidded alarm, they strain to hear over their heavy breathing. Coming from down the hall is the sound of someone whimpering.

Grabbing her gun and backpack, Carol takes off running down the hall. Daryl quickly follows behind readying his crossbow. Hunting for the source, they maneuver through a cubicle farm with rows of desks holding darkened computer screens. On a chair in one of the cubicles, they find a fresh-faced teen sitting alone, crying. He's dressed in blue hospital scrubs. Except for the bruise on his left eye, he looks well taken care of. His hair is neatly trimmed and he looks clean for the most part, except for some scarlet blood stains drying on his pants. They sense he probably hasn't been there long.

"Please, don't shoot me," he says putting his empty hands up. Wet trails glisten on the dark skin of his cheeks.

"You alone, kid?" Daryl asks lowering his crossbow, not sensing any threat.

"I am now. And I don't know if I can do what I have to." He buries his face in his hands embarrassed by his breakdown. He thought the building was empty. "Maybe they were right. Maybe I am weak."

Daryl and Carol looked inquisitively at each other.

"Hey, you ain't alone no more. You got a name?"

"Noah," he says lifting his head up. He quickly wipes his face with the back of his hand trying to compose himself. He couldn't let the fear get the best of him.

"Hi, Noah. I'm Carol. This is Daryl."

Distracting them from his tears, Noah grins. "Your names rhyme."

"Uh, yeah. I guess they do." Carol smiles sweetly in return.

His tears clearing, he examines them, taking in their arsenal of weapons. "What are you some kind of dynamic duo?"

Carol stifles a laugh as she winks at Daryl. "Um, yeah. Something like that."

He tries hard not to smile at the way she purses her lips. Hiding his amusement, he turns his attention to the kid. "Noah, you got any weapons on you?"

"Just this," he holds out the butter knife he stole from the kitchen. "It's pretty useless."

"That's it?"

"It's lame, I know. But it was all I could take without them noticing," he explains. "My friend had a gun. She used it to save me. But she didn't make it out. She saved my life! How exactly am I suppose to help her with this stupid thing?" Upset again, he throws the knife to the ground where it bounces underneath the desk. The kid's face was full of remorse.

"Where's your friend?"

"She's still there. They grabbed her before she could escape. In the hospital. Her name's Beth."

Daryl and Carol stand up more attentively.

"Wait, she a blond girl?" Daryl asks.

Startled by his realization, Noah stands up. "You know her?"

"She's with us," Carol confirmed.

"I know where she is! Can you help me?"

Daryl and Carol share a look of unexpected fortune.

"Here," Carol said handing him a looted machete from her backpack. "Take this. You know how to kill these things?"

"It's been a while, but I remember. Kind of hard to forget."

"Good. Any chance you know a way around that herd of walkers downstairs?"

Noah guides them through the building's back corridors as he tells them about the group at the hospital.

"I was with my dad when they took me. They only take one. Less of a threat that way. They do help, I guess. Save lives and that shit, but then you owe them for everything you take and they make you work it off. Thing is, no one ever has. They put you down to keep you in line. Won't let anyone leave willingly."

Reaching the stairwell, he leads them to the ground floor. Opening the door, he peers around it to see if the street is clear. When he sees that it is, he waves for them to follow as he heads out the door.

They run down the street following the kid who seems to know exactly where to go. But when they turn around the corner, they see the route is cut off by the walkers at the end of the block.

"Gonna have to take a detour," Noah says breathlessly as he changes directions.

It happens a few more times before Daryl starts to get an eerie prickle in his stomach. It seems like they are being corralled. The memory of the trap set for them at Terminus suddenly flashes in his mind.

"Hold up," he calls out as Carol and Noah stop.

The three of them pant heavily, resting their hands on their knees. Looking up about to continue, he sees a man in uniform with a gun, patrolling the street. He doesn't see them. Daryl figures there are more where he came from. Quickly, he ushers them both into the lobby of an office building. They hide behind a row of elevators.

"S'a damn trap," he bleats. "Saw one of 'em out there lookin' around."

"They're well organized," Noah informs them. "They have guns. Vehicles. They communicate by radio."

Searching the lobby, they realize there is no exit but the way they came in. They are surrounded with no other way to escape but the way they came in. It doesn't bode well for their plans.

"Hell of a day for a standoff," Daryl gripes.

As always, Daryl stubbornly refuses to give up. But Carol knows the gruesome reality. They don't have enough ammo left to fight through the army of walkers and the malevolent others chasing them. More than anything, she doesn't want Daryl to die. She knows she has to say something. She has to reason with him. It isn't going to be easy to tell him what she must do because she knows it will hurt him.

"You have to go," she says to him. "Take Noah with you. Bring the others back here. I'll lead them away."

"What? No!" The refusal comes out as a desperate whimper as his voice cracks. "I ain't leavin' you!"

"You know I have to do this, Daryl. You know! It's has to be me. You heard what he said. They look for the weak ones."

"But you ain't weak."

She shakes her head. "People underestimate me. They will, too." Her eyes plead with him. "It's the only way."

"It ain't!" He begins pacing frantically. "There's gotta be another way!"

Underneath the anger, she hears the desperation in his voice. He is unwilling to admit defeat. It is one of the reasons she loves him. So she lets him think about it, to give him time to accept it. But after a while, she sees his pacing is only making it worse. Increasingly realizing the hopeless lack of another solution, he spirals out of control, like a raging cyclone. Not fearing the rage is directed at her, she steps calmly in front of him. He ceases his reeling abruptly, but his eyes continue to storm as they bore into her.

"I'm sorry," she says, placing a hand on his chest over his heart where she knows he is hurting most, "but there isn't. Please, I need to do this." She reaches up to caress his cheek to soften the anger she sees there. The tears form in her eyes, because she knows how much this hurts him. "I know you'll come back for me. Whatever happens...You'll find me! You always do."

He knows her mind is made up and he can't stop her. And he knows she's giving him the best shot they have. He doesn't like it, but he can see this is painful for her, too. And he can't fix it for her this time. They are out of options. She believes in him, and he needs to show the same faith in her. Yielding, he looks into her bold blue eyes, his heart convulsing with pride and fear all at once. Without caring that the kid is watching, he seizes her face and pulls her to him. "No matter how long it takes, I will find you," he promises before kissing her angrily.

"In the meantime, you stay safe," he tells her sadly after he pulls away. His eyes are damp, but full of appreciation for her bravery, knowing she will do whatever it takes to survive.

"Nine lives, remember?"

She kisses him again to comfort them both for what she's about to do. And then like a dream, she slips from his grasp and hurries away. He continues to be gripped with that strange mixture of adoration and terror as he watches her depart. Like a lioness, she exits swiftly out the glass doors and into the fog to sacrifice herself in order to save them. To save Beth. Even in his agony, Daryl knows that he has never loved her more.

And then it gets worse.

The car comes out of nowhere. Before he has a chance to blink, he sees her crumpled body flying up onto the hood, her head smashing into the windshield, and then roll to stillness in front of the car.

"No!" he screams as his heart is violently torn from his chest.

Noah holds him back as he lunges forward towards the door. Daryl struggles trying to break free, but the pain from what he just witnessed is crippling and makes him too weak.

"Lemme go!" Daryl roars as he flails about like a caged animal watching helplessly as the uniformed men load Carol onto a stretcher. "I gotta-"

"Wait!" the kid interrupts as he grapples with him, pulling him behind the cover of a large fake tree. "Think about it! Think about it! They can help her. They'll take her there. It's a hospital! They have a doctor. And Beth is still there. It's her best chance to survive! You want her to have that, right?"

Noah's solid logic starts to sink in as the panicked throbbing in his veins begins to slow. Reluctantly, Daryl ceases his resistance, but the fear still twitches his body as he struggles for control, his breath coming out in short, ragged gasps.

From their hiding spot, Daryl sees them load Carol into the back of the vehicle. He watches until she is out of his sight and the car pulls away.

"How many of these assholes are there?" he finally grunts.

"A lot. We're gonna need more weapons."

Narrowing his eyes in determination, he knows what he needs to do.

"Whatever it takes. I got a promise to keep."