A/N Alright guys, here's my second update for the week. This is going to be a lot of dialogue to get the action moving along, so bear with me!

Daryl POV

"Get up. Hands on your head. Over to that wall. Do it now." The gruff old man holding the shotgun to Daryl's head said. Daryl did what he was told. No sense in getting shot. Beth was counting on him.

"Didn't realize this place was taken," Daryl said. "I didn't take nothin'. Check your cupboards, everythin's there. I'll be on my way, if you'll let me go." He needed to talk fast and get out of there even faster.

"We'll consider that," the old man replied, "but you've got some questions to answer first, son. Have a seat." He gestured to a wooden table in the far corner of the room. Daryl obeyed, and the man followed. The other three people - a middle-aged woman, a young boy and a girl who looked to be in her early teens - stayed near the door. It wasn't hard to tell that the old man was in charge.

"What's your name?"

"Daryl."

"Nice to meet you, Daryl. I'm Earl." So the old man had a name.

"Pleasure," Daryl snorted.

"What brings you out this way, Daryl?"

"'M lookin' for someone."

"A friend of yours? Family, maybe?"

"Friend."

"And how exactly did you manage to lose your friend, Daryl?"

"We got split up from the rest of our group, after our camp was attacked. It was just me an' her. We were campin' out in a new place a few towns back. She got up in the middle of the night and when i woke up in the mornin' she was gone. I tracked the car they took her in this way . Ain't got nothin' for miles."

"How do you know it was a car?"

"Tire marks speedin' out the driveway. Folks were in a rush to get out a there."

"So, you got this far and stumbled upon this place. Why'd you stop?"

"Tired, needed somewhere to hole up for a bit."

"You didn't think to check if it was inhabited?"

"Didn't think there'd be anyone to check for," Daryl muttered.

"Alright-" Earl began to ask another question.

"What is this, a damn interview? I've answered all your questions, now i'm goin'" Daryl began to get up.

"Earl-" the middle aged woman began.

"Not now, Emily," Earl said to her. Daryl had begun collecting his stuff and moved to the door.

"Wait!" The younger girl called out.

"You got somethin' to tell me?" Daryl asked the women, who were standing by the door now.

"Yes," Emily began, and took a breath. "The people who took your friend - i think i know who they are."

"Why is that?"

"Because they took our oldest grandchild, Anna, too."

"Nonsense! That insolent child ran away and you know it!" Earl protested.

"No, Earl. It's time to face the truth." Emily turned to Daryl and gestured to the couch. "You may want to sit down. It's going to be a long story."

And so she began telling Daryl about the family at the beginning of the apocalypse. Emily and Earl lived in Atlanta, close to their children and grandchildren (Anna, and the two other kids , Josie and Max.) Shortly after the outbreak, their parents were killed. The kids were saved by Earl, who rescued them from the basement of their overrun house.

Not long after, they found shelter with a large group of other survivors. There were ugly rumors sprouting up everywhere - supposedly a former Atlanta gang was still going strong, and had begun to take young girls and women to trade for supplies. Just like the sex trade market of the pre-apocalyptic days. They would also give out supplies in exchange for more girls. The rumors had not been proven - or disproven - by the time the family left the city.

Anna had dissapeared a few days before the city became overrun and the family took off. She had refused to believe that her parents were dead, and Emily and Earl had thought she'd run back into the city to look for them. After reports of similar dissappearances, Emily began to doubt that her granddaughter left them willingly.

"And now i can see that this gang is still at it," Emily said. "We'll help you get your friend back. It's what Anna would have wanted."

They began making plans to get back to the city. It would take three days to get there, and when they did they needed to find out where Beth had been taken. And then the rescue could begin.

A/N Quick note: If i get a good response to this part of the story, i'll post another chapter tonight. Happy reading :)