Beth huffed, breathing deeply in her anger, as she slapped some low-hanging branches away from her face. She stared around at the scenery, taking in the browns and greens that seemed so vibrant in her rage. She needed to calm down. She needed to get a grip, but right now, she just couldn't. Right now, she wanted to march back up to the farmhouse and punch Shane in his ugly face until it was smeared with bright red blood. Right now she wanted to hurt him until his skin turned blue and purple with bruises. Right now she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry until the aching pain in her chest went away. But right now she couldn't do any of that she, so she'd marched herself out to the forest intent on doing something to relieve her anger and making the pain go away.

If she'd been thinking (which she admittedly hadn't been when she'd walked out here) she'd have grabbed some sort of a knife to practice taking out walkers and getting stronger. But, alas, like much of her life, she'd found a perfect opportunity had passed her by. A sudden surge of anger welled up inside Beth and it made her lash out. She balled up her fist and punch, reveling in the feeling of her knuckles connecting with scratchy tree bark. She punched the tree-trunk again with her other hand, and then a third. The bark bit into her knuckles, causing pain to ricochet up her arms, but she punched the solid rough wood until she spotted red blood staining the brown before her. She paused, breathing hard, and looked down at her balled fists. The skin of her knuckles was torn and cracked, red blood pooling in the open fissures and tears. She blinked as she studied the damage to her hands before she realized her eyes were blurry with tears. She wiped at her cheeks, smearing tears and blood along her cheeks, before her legs gave out and she landed on her knees.

The anger died away and Beth was left with a gaping empty hole in her heart that ached for her brother. It ached for her father; it ached for her sister. It ached at the loss of her kin and the fear he must have felt. It ached at how alone she felt. It ached at the beautiful colors, and the knowledge that her soulmate was within her sights, but she was unable to reach out to them for anything. Her heart ached and she had no idea how to keep it from continuing, and so she wept. She pulled her knees up to her face, her hands wrapping around her legs as she let her tears slip down her cheeks.

Daryl stood, arms crossed, leaned against the wall. After Beth's outburst, it had taken quite a while to get her to calm down, and even then it wasn't enough to listen. She'd run off in tears towards the barn. Maggie and Daryl had both moved to go after her, but Hershel had stayed them a saddened look and simply uttered that 'she needed some time to herself.'

The rest of the group had piled into the living room to listen to Glenn and Shane tell their side of the story, although there wasn't really much that was shared. Glenn had run ahead to make sure the car was ready. A large swarm had blocked him, so he hadn't seen or heard much over the groaning ambling bodies. He'd continued on and grabbed the car to make a clean getaway for the other two in their party.

Shane? Well, listening to Shane tell the story, Shawn had been so overcome by a need to make things right, when the swarm set in he'd volunteered to stay back, allowing Shane to get away with the much needed supplies for Carl. Daryl wanted to believe him, as did everyone else in the group, but there was a persistent gnawing in the pit of his stomach that had to side with Beth. Shane had done something and sacrificed that boy in an attempt to get away. Shane was a loose cannon, but was he heartless enough to outright kill a kid for making a mistake?

From the look of weary disbelief on Rick's face, and the concerned look Lori had pinned on him, Daryl knew the answer was yes. But with no proof, there wasn't much they could do, except keep an eye on him. It was all just suspicion right now. A dark suspicion that filled the room with unease. Daryl's eyes drifted over to Maggie and he could tell she was battling with a myriad of emotions. He realized as he watched her face subtly morph with each passing emotion, that he didn't feel as concerned about her feelings as he probably should be since she was, after all, his soulmate. The thought made him want to frown. Shouldn't he care if she was upset or angry? Wasn't that something that should affect him?

Before he could think too hard on it his eyes flitted to Hershel to watch his face. The old man was staring at Shane with a mix of disbelief and a sadness so deep Daryl could almost feel it himself. He could tell the man's pain of losing his son had struck him down to the soul. Daryl briefly wondered what it might be like to have a family that cared that much about each other but he shrugged away the thought. It was no use thinking about such things. Not when it was never going to happen.

"So, you're sayin' he just gave you all the medicine and stayed behind?" Maggie growled. She scowled at Shane who just shrugged a shoulder. "That doesn't sound like Shawn."

"Maggie, don't." Hershel started.

"No. You were the best at pickin' up lies when us kids were growin' up, and you're tellin' me you believe this crap?" Maggie seethed, her voice rising.

"You can believe it's crap all you want." Shane growled out. "It's crap that actually happened. Why wouldn't you want to believe your brother died for a noble cause?" His face morphed into a dark sneer which had Maggie narrowing her eyes at him.

"Because Shawn didn't want to die." She retorted. "No matter how much he messed up, he was doing his best to fix it, and he wasn't goin' to just throw it all away, no matter how much you want to peddle that crap, I know better."

"So, what are you saying?" Shane's face twisted into a dark, ugly scowl. "You callin' me a liar?" He took a threatening step towards her.

"Well, if it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck...chances are…" She quipped.

"Dammit, Maggie. Enough." Hershel boomed from his place in the room. All eyes turned to the old man. He stood, almost as if in physical pain, silently trying to bear the weight and pain of losing his only son. "That's enough now." He said, his voice softer. Maggie grit her teeth and gave a short curt nod before moving swiftly up the stairs towards her room.

Daryl's eyes darted to Rick who moved to Shane, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Leave off, Shane. She just lost her brother, and they're hurting. It's best if we make ourselves scarce for now. Focus on finding Sophia." Shane's jaw flexed as he grit his teeth before giving a nod.

The screen door squealed on it's hinges and all eyes turned to focus on Beth as she entered, her face sad and smeared with blood. "Jesus, Bethy." Hershel breathed before taking a step towards her. She trudged forward and Daryl watched, his eyes glued to her as he took in her appearance. Her face was smeared with dirt and blood, her knuckles were rough and raw and bleeding, her hair was disheveled and her jeans were stained with green and brown smears like she'd been rolling around in the forest. She stopped in the entrance to the living room, and looked around, her blue eyes landing on Shane and Rick just to her right. Daryl could see the fire still crackling behind the blue but knew that she was holding it in.

"What happened to you, Princess?" Shane sneered as he took a step towards her and quirked a brow. "Cut your delicate little hands doing some gardening?" He taunted as he grabbed her hand to look at her knuckles. With a fierce cry, Daryl watched as she reared her hand back and smacked Shane in the face, smearing her bright red blood on his cheek.

Beth saw red the second Shane's hand had touched her. She'd made it back to the farmhouse, barely containing her anger as she heard her sister yelling words she couldn't quite make out. She entered and the rage had been simmering inside her. She'd just wanted to ask her father to bandage up her hands, but the second Shane had laid his hand on her skin she'd been unable to hold in the fury inside her. She'd reared her hand back, out of his grip, and slammed it against his cheek, loving the sight of her bright red blood smearing against his cheek. Her palm had stung as it connected with his skin, but watching his face snap to the side under her strength had been enough vindication to make any future repercussions worth it.

There had been a collective gasp from the group as Beth's hand fell back to her side, her face frozen in a dark glare, daring Shane to retaliate. She was breathing hard like she'd just run a mile, but she seethed at him. "Keep your damn dirty hands off me." She whispered vehemently before she turned to Hershel and mumbled something about going upstairs to find Maggie. Daryl watched as Shane's cold eyes followed her form as she walked out of the room, and he felt a wealth of protection fill him. Shane was unhinged, whether Rick wanted to see it or not, and Beth had just turned all his ire straight onto her. He couldn't stop the rock that formed in the pit of his stomach at the knowledge that Beth's time was limited if Shane had anything to say about it. Daryl couldn't explain why, but silently he promised no one in particular, that he was going to make sure nothing happened to her. This family had lost enough in the short time they'd been on the farm. He'd be damned if they lost another member.

"Bethy, can I come in?" Hershel called through the door to Beth's bedroom. She sniffled and wiped her nose on her hand as she tried to catch her breath. She mumbled out a response from her spot on her bed, and watched as her daddy opened her door and made his way inside. He closed the door behind him and just stared at her, taking in her defeated demeanor.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She started, almost a whisper. "I shouldn't have, but I lost my temper." She watched as Hershel nodded and felt her shoulders droop even more. Her hands landed on her comforter, and she looked down at them, grimacing at the thought that she was most likely getting blood on her favorite bedspread. She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry some more, but knew if she did that there would be no hope for anyone under this roof to see her as anything other than weak.

"Bethy...you gotta talk to me." Hershel moved to sit next to her on her bed. He watched as she started to sniffle and cry again, trying desperately to hold it in. "I know Bethy," he pulled her into a hug, "it hurts me too. And it's going to hurt a while more. But we gotta be there for each other."

"I know, Daddy. I just…" She buried her face into his shoulder. He held her while she cried, shedding a few tears of his own. When she'd calmed enough to suffer only small hiccups he teached up, tilting her face up to his with his finger under her chin. His thumb brushed away some of the blood and her tears on her cheeks.

"Come on Sunshine. Let's get those hands bandaged up, what do ya say?" She offered him a watery smile and watched as he pulled some gauze out of his pocket. He worked in silence for a few minutes, Beth watching as he cleaned her scraped knuckles and then gently tucked the cotton fabric around her hands.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Doodlebug?" He asked, not looking up from his work.

"I gotta talk to you 'bout somethin'," she hedged nervously. "But I don't want you to get upset." He looked her in the eyes, gently reaching up to cup her cheek.

"You can talk to me 'bout anything."

"I…" she looked down at her bandaged knuckles. "I'm scared."

"Bethy, losing people is always scary. This world is a scary place. That's why I do my best to make sure you are safe. You and your sister." She smiled up at him, her hand coming up to rest on his against her cheek.

"No Daddy." She shook her head. "I'm not scared because of that." She took a deep breath. "Daddy, I'm seein' colors." She watched as he went pale. "I'm seein' colors but I don't know who triggered it."