A/N: DARYL'S SAFE!...kind of. For now. PM me if you want to talk about last night's finale!

At this point in the story, the plot will no longer surround Beth's need to remember those song lyrics. From here on out, it will take a turn. I still find the title and the lyrics very relevant to TWD, so instead of writing a sequel, I'm going to continue right here.

P.S. I started writing this before "The Grove" aired. You may have noticed that I glossed over Lizzie's absence in chapter one. That was because I had a feeling something was going to happen to her, though I wasn't sure what. I never thought Mika would be gone too (at least not so soon), so she's still in the story.

Beth and Daryl shot out of bed, both instantly alert. "Do you think it's walkers, or..?" Beth asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Walkers were simple. Walkers they could handle. Other people were what you had to worry about the most. The sound split the air again; neither could identify the screamer.

"Whatever it is, it ain't good," Daryl said under his breath, readying his crossbow.

"Here." Beth helped him to steady it while he drew the bow back and secured it. She met his eyes briefly and saw fear there. They'd been too content. In the old days, everyone needed only a split second to react to an attack. Now they were slower, clumsier – more vulnerable. "Let's go," she whispered, squeezing his hand, partially to reassure him, partially to reassure herself. But no sooner had they opened the bedroom door than they heard someone blundering into the house.

Daryl pushed Beth behind him and peered out, crossbow first. "It's Rick."

"Rick, what happened?" Beth asked, feeling her pulse quicken as she saw the panic on the older man's face. Rick never panicked.

"I don't know," he rasped, breathing heavily. "I heard screaming – I didn't see anything – I'm goin' house to house."

"We'll help," Beth volunteered. Daryl gave her a warning look.

"You should go to Maggie's, in case there's danger," he murmured. Beth being Beth, however, she insisted on helping them.

"I'm not the same innocent, helpless little girl I was when this all started," she whispered to him as they patrolled the perimeter.

"I know that," Daryl muttered back. "I just want you to be safe." They exchanged a glance, each feeling prickles of anxiety at the idea of losing the other. "Stay close," he advised. "Please." Beth nodded.

"Michonne's missin'," Rick panted, catching up to them.

"Missing? Are you sure?"

"She's not in her house, she's not in anybody else's, I didn't see her anywhere outside. And – " He glanced quickly at Daryl, hesitating.

"What?"

"Carol's gone too."

Carl came running up behind his father just then, distracting Rick, but Beth's eyes were trained on Daryl's face. He looked stricken. She knew, of course, that Daryl and Carol shared a special bond, something that was intangible but still visible to anyone with eyes. The woman had never criticized Beth and Daryl's choice to be with each other, however, for which Beth was grateful. A veto from her would have almost definitely held enough weight to stop their relationship before it ever got a chance to start.

"Well, let's get lookin', then," Daryl said, already scanning the area for clues. "No time to waste!" he barked at Beth, who flinched, then trailed after him, attempting to track like he would track. She could hear her own heavy breathing in her ears, could feel her heart pounding in her chest. It beat out a rhythm that seemed to say dan-ger dan-ger dan-ger. Distracted, Beth nearly plowed into Daryl, who was stopped short ahead of her. She followed his gaze and felt the downy hair on the nape of her neck stand on end. Michonne's trademark headscarf and her katana were strewn across the grass.

"No blood." Daryl paced in a circle around the discarded items. And no sign of Carol, Beth added silently. Was that good or bad? Daryl crouched down and investigated more closely, running his fingers along the grass. "There was a struggle here," he noted, a grim look on his face. "No traces of walkers, so I think it had to be a human." Beth's heart sank. "Rick! Carl! Are you sure everyone else is accounted for?"

Rick nodded, glancing at his son for confirmation. "Everyone is here. Scared, but here. Judith's fine, Mika's fine. They didn't see anything, even though they were with Carol last night." He raked an anxious hand through his curls.

"Musta been an outsider, then," Daryl muttered.

"Look over there," said Beth, frowning into the distance and pointing. Fresh drips of oil splattered in one place on the crumbling pavement, heading away from the cul-de-sac.

"Good eye." Daryl nodded, touching the spots. Grease came away on his fingertips. "Very recent. We got company."

"Let's talk to Glenn and Maggie," Beth suggested. "Maybe they saw something on a run through the area, but didn't realize it meant anything at the time."

"You go," Daryl said, clapping her on the shoulder. "I'm going to follow this road for a piece, see if I find anythin' else."

Beth bit her lip, but knew he was going to go, no matter what she said. "Be careful."

"I always am."

"Be extra careful," Beth emphasized, looking him in the eye. He nodded and kissed her lightly on the cheek. He turned, slinging his crossbow on his back. "Daryl." He looked back. "I love you."

The flash of a smile lit his face for an instant. "I know." Beth trotted in the opposite direction with Rick and Carl, throwing one last glance over her shoulder. She had a bad feeling, but tried to squash her worries for the sake of keeping everyone else as calm as possible. Chaos and panic were the last things they needed.

For the first time, it occurred to Beth the significance of the particular song that had haunted her over the past weeks. The earth as they all knew it had died screaming – literally, in many cases – with the onset of the walker virus, or disease, or whatever it was. A light tremor snaked its way up her spine. Other songs were comforting, but this one chilled her to the bone, when she bothered to think about it more carefully. A sick feeling lurched in her stomach and she had to pause, leaning against a fence, before she made it to Maggie and Glenn's.

"Y'all right?" Rick asked, noticing when she fell behind. Beth just nodded, trying to slow her breathing down. It seemed like a bad omen now, the song. Maggie and Glenn ushered the trio inside. Beth accepted Maggie's hug without really returning it, her mind elsewhere.

"We haven't seen anything suspicious," Maggie said, chewing on her lip. "I'm tryin' to think, but I really don't…" She left off and shrugged, almost on the verge of tears. Judith, sitting at the table, looked wide-eyed from face to face. She looked close to tears herself and Beth crouched beside her and stroked her hair to settle her down.

"Actually…" Glenn rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Maggie, remember that weird mark we saw on a tree, a few weeks back?" He turned to Rick, Carl, and Beth. "We figured it could have just been from a walker brushing up against it, but maybe it was a symbol of some kind."

"Did you see any others?" asked Rick.

Glenn shook his head, looking to Maggie for confirmation. "Don't think so. Michonne might've noticed another, but if she did, she didn't say anything…I think I remember where we saw it, though. I could probably lead us to it."

"Let's go. Beth, you coming?" She hesitated, but then thought of Daryl, out there trying to put some of the pieces together. She had to help.

"Let's go," she repeated.