The rest of the evening was spent sharing stories from the past year. There were ten survivors in Daryl's group, including a newborn. Daryl told Rachel and Sarah about their time spent at the quarry and the loss of Merle. A few of the others offered stories from the time spent at the Greene's farm, their travels during the winter, and taking the prison. They also shared the events of their most recent losses: T-Dog, Lori, and Carol. Rachel told them about how she met Jesse and Sarah; how they fortified themselves inside a church over the winter with other survivors, moving on when thing there turned south, and then the traveling and scavenging that eventually led them to the prison.

As the night wore on and the younger ones started to filter off to bed, Rachel and Sarah were directed to an empty cell on the upper half of the block. Blankets were provided until they could retrieve their own supplies from the car. After the top bunk was made up, Sarah crawled in and curled up with a thick wool blanket, trying not to think about the fact that they were in a prison. Rachel was making up the bottom bunk for herself when Daryl stepped inside with a rifle slung over his shoulder.

"I'm on watch tonight. I gotta relieve Glenn in the guard tower," he explained, looking between the two women. "Just wanted to make sure you were all set. This place is secure and these are good people. You'll be safe."

Rachel frowned. They had not yet had a moment to themselves to talk. There were things not shared with the larger group that had to be discussed. She had hoped that time would come after most had gone to bed.

"Can I come with you?" Rachel asked lightly. Daryl nodded.

"Don't leave me, Rachel." Sarah's voice floated down from the top bunk. She peered at them over the top of the bed. "I don't want to be in here alone."

Rachel looked from Daryl to Sarah. It was a difficult position to be in. She did not want to leave Sarah alone after everything that had happened with Jesse, but she also wanted so badly to have some time alone with her husband, to finally hear what happened to him when the walkers invaded. Her anguish must have been obvious because Daryl spoke up.

"It's okay," he said with a slight nod. "Stay with her."

"I'll come out after she falls asleep," she assured him quietly. He dipped his head again and then left.

"I'm sorry," Sarah whispered a few moments later, her head resting on the edge of the worn mattress.

Rachel watched Daryl all the way out of the cell block and then rolled her eyes up to her young companion. "For what?"

"Asking you to stay."

Stepping closer to the bunk, Rachel reached up and took Sarah's hand. "It's okay, I understand. Try to get some rest now. It's been a long day. And you heard Daryl; this place is safe. I'll stay with you 'til you fall asleep."

"Thank you, Rachel," Sarah replied, her eyes already glazed with sleepiness.

Rachel sat down on the floor, leaning against the cinderblock wall. If she lied down in the bed, there was a good chance she would fall asleep. It had been an exhausting day, both mentally and physically, and she had not slept in a proper bed for months. Even a questionable old prison mattress felt like a luxury compared to the hard, lumpy ground. The only sound came from the low murmur of voices from below; not everyone had retired for the night. As much as Rachel wanted to be with Daryl, she needed this time to herself. It was an opportunity to process the events from the last few hours. It had been such a whirlwind of emotions – from a deep sense of grief and sadness to the pure elation of joy – in such a short span of time. For moment, Rachel made the conscious decision to focus on the joy of finding her husband. There would be time to mourn Jesse tomorrow.

It wasn't long before Sarah dropped off into what Rachel hoped was a peaceful sleep. Quietly, Rachel stood and left the cell. She found Hershel, Glenn, Oscar, and Maggie huddled around one of the tables in the outer room, talking in low voices. When Rachel neared the table, Maggie stood and then handed her a flashlight.

"Thank you," Rachel said, grateful that she would not have wander across the prison yard in the dark. "Would you mind showing me exactly where to go?

Maggie agreed and the two women left the cell block. It was a cool night, but the breeze was enjoyable after being inside the dank prison. Unfamiliar and empty, the prison yard had an eerie quality that gave Rachel a chill.

"How long have you and Daryl been married?" Maggie asked, trying to be friendly as they walked across the blacktop.

"Ten years."

Maggie's eyebrows rose."Really?"

"Yeah" Rachel replied with a grin. "We've been together since high school, actually."

"How'd you two get separated?"

"That's what I am hoping to find out," Rachel admitted. "Daryl had been gone for the weekend, off camping with his brother – or whatever it was they did when Merle showed up."

"That's awful. Well, I hope you get some answers," Maggie replied. She pointed at the tower door. "You can get in there."

Rachel thanked Maggie and the two parted ways. The flashlight was a blessing as Rachel walked up the pitch black stairwell to the observation deck. As she ascended, she felt the nerves stirring up in her stomach one again.

Daryl was leaning against the rail, watching out over the yard and into the woods, when she stepped onto the platform. He turned his head at the sound of her approach, looking over his shoulder. Rachel paused in the doorway. It was like she had traveled back in time to when they first started seeing one another. Daryl had always been the first to arrive at their chosen meeting place, waiting on her because she had a more difficult time sneaking away. The way he looked at her now with his steady eyes was no different than he had all those years ago in high school.

"Come here," he said, beckoning her forward when she hesitated. He set down the rifle as she crossed into his arms.

When his lips pressed against hers, tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. When they parted, Rachel rested her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat and soaking in every inch of him that touched her. It was something she never thought she would get to do again. They stood wrapped in each others' arms for a long time. Rachel could have stayed like that for hours, but soon her mind began to itch with all the questions that had plagued her since leaving their home in Jasper.

"You gonna tell me what happened at the start of all this?"

She felt Daryl's chest expand as he drew in a deep breath. He pulled away from her and looked away, shaking his head. Leaning against the iron rail that wrapped the around the tower, Daryl worked very hard to control the emotions that erupted by the memories of that day. It had been a struggle to move passed the events of that particular day, but each month that went by it got a little easier to put some of the anger and guilt behind him. The pain of his wife's death had been very real and difficult, but dwelling too much on the past was a distraction that he couldn't afford in this new world. Instead, he put all of that energy into the task at hand, whether it was hunting to feed the group, putting his tracking skills to good use, or killing walkers. It wasn't always easy, but it was necessary for his survival – for the survival of the others in his company.

He turned his gaze to look at his wife. Rachel was not the same woman he knew a year ago. She had been changed – hardened – as they all had by the adversities faced in this difficult time, but her eyes met his with a patient curiosity that felt so familiar to him.

"We went back for you – Merle and me," he started. His eyebrows furrowed as the details he tried to forget easily flooded his mind. "We'd gone into Blue Ridge for some supplies and seen the reports on a television. By the time we packed up camp and rode back through, that town was in a panic. It was a damn mess."

"It escalated quickly back home too," Rachel told him.

"The neighborhood was overrun by the time we reached the house. Merle found you," Daryl paused, pursing his lips as the haunting imagine flashed in his mind, "lying on the bathroom floor, covered in blood. That son of a bitch told me you were dead."

Rachel closed her eyes, imagining what it looked like from their perspective. Her heart ached for him in that moment.

"I only saw you for a second, because I just lost it. Merle dragged me from the house, threw my in the truck, and never looked back. We headed for Atlanta, and you know the rest of the story."

A tiny part of Rachel wondered if Merle had even checked for a pulse before declaring her dead. Under such extreme circumstances, she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it was hard. There was a very good chance that he had been inebriated at the time, either by alcohol or drugs, most likely both. Rachel had always tolerated Merle Dixon as best she could because he was Daryl's brother, but Merle, on the other hand, very openly shared his feelings toward her, and they were rarely in her favor. He was a difficult man for most people to get along with, but Rachel did her best for Daryl's sake.

"I was in town when the first few walkers were spotted. It turned to chaos real quick. People started to steal things from the stores and beat on each other to get what they wanted – people we knew. I left my shopping basket in the middle of aisle and got out of there as quick as I could. All the way home, I prayed that you'd be home soon."

"Rae, I'm sorry…"

"When I got to the house, I went into the shed for the shotgun, just in case. While I was in there, Mr. Burnett must've heard me banging around – only he wasn't the nice old man from next door anymore."

"Shit."

"I imagine he turned on Mrs. Burnett, because there was blood all over his hands and face. It was all down the front of his shirt too. He came at me, making all sorts of awful noises. My hands were shaking so bad, I couldn't get the shells into the gun. I fought him off best I could with the butt of the gun, but he kept at me. I finally grabbed a crowbar from the tool bench and jammed it through his eye socket. He fell forward against me and we both went down. After I pushed him off, I ran him through a few more times, just to be sure. It's why I was covered in blood.

"That's my girl," Daryl interjected with a faint smile.

Rachel brushed away the tears that slipped down her cheeks. The memory of her first kill had haunted her throughout the year. "I sat with him for a few minutes, crying over his body. But then suddenly I felt sick to my stomach; I had just put a crowbar into our neighbor's head. I don't know why, but I ran for the bathroom where I got sick and then passed out – don't know for how long."

"Damn it," Daryl spat. His gripped the railing so hard that his knuckles had turned white. "So you're sayin' a few minutes either way and we'd have been just fine? I should've checked you myself. If I would've just touched you…"

"I waited around a couple days, but when you didn't come home, I left. I couldn't stay there alone any longer. I wanted to see if my dad and Charlene were still alive. I thought I'd stay with them, and look in on your dad."

"And?"

"Never made it. I met Jesse on the way to their house. He said the whole west end of town was swamped with walkers. There was no point in going any further across town after that."

"What about my old man?"

Rachel frowned. "Can't say for sure. I heard from some folks in the area that he had been shooting at anything that came close to the house. It sounded like he hit a few live people before they wised up and left him alone. Wasn't worth the risk to find out more. I'm sorry..."

"Don't be," he muttered, shaking his head. "It ain't your fault. You know he was drunk off his ass. I bet he didn't even know what was happening. Wouldn't be the first time he unloaded on people he felt were trespassing. I can't imagine he survived for long."

"I hate not really knowing what's happened to them," she added. "It must have been hard, believing that I was dead, but at least it was final. For me, there was so much uncertainty. Would I ever find you, and if I did, would it be alive, dead, or as a walker? I hated that uncertainty – truly."

Daryl nodded. "I know that feeling too – with Merle. Anything could have happened to him by now."

"Well, the fact that I found you after all this time tells me all hope is not completely lost – yet."