AN #1: Thank you everyone for your kind words after the last chapter! I figured we're all on edge tonight, nervous for our babies, but let's try and stay calm and pray for no living deaths tonight! *fingers crossed*

Disclaimer: I do not write for or own The Walking Dead or AMC.

She kept her face neutral as the body approached.

She didn't know if it was alive or not, but if babysitting her made Daryl feel better, she could swallow her pride and wake him up.

He had scared her the night before. The raw hatred, fury, he had unleashed at the prison had terrified her. He had always been quiet, broody, reserved, but never had he lost his temper like she had seen the day before. It was like someone had flipped a switch.

And then, afterwards. To say he withdrew was the understatement of the century. He shut down. They had walked for hours, her leading wordlessly. Any attempts at conversation were ignored. He didn't talk. He didn't even acknowledge he heard her when she asked little things. She had been scared to death he would veer off without her noticing, or up and desert her. She had spent those hours watching him like a hawk, a crick in her neck from the amount of time spent checking over her shoulder.

That first night was the worst. But things had gotten better after he had cried a little.

Well. Maybe crying wasn't always a bad thing.

She tapped his arm with her boot.

"Time to wake up, Daryl," she said, a lilt to her voice.

He shot up wordlessly, his face gray, his eyes dark and scared. His hands flew to his weapons as he whipped his face around, looking for a target.

She forced herself not to move, to stand her ground.

He blinked slowly, blearily, at her, then grunted and stumbled to his feet. His eyes flicked over to her, resting when they landed on the gun she held in her small arms.

"Let's get going," he muttered, face ashen.

She made herself give him a half smile. "Not so fast, Leader."

She nodded towards the shambling figure that was slowly making its way from the east.

He whirled around at lightning speed, bringing his crossbow up to his eye at the same moment. One fluid motion.

She leapt over to put a hand on his bicep, pushing the bow down. "Don't. Don't do it. You don't have to."

He side-eyed her in annoyance, and pushed her away with a roll of his shoulders. He slung off the rifle and hung it on her shoulder, and jogged towards the figure, going quickly across the thick gravel.

She considered waiting. But the body was coming from the east. From the direction of the prison.

She had to know.

She bounded after him in a half-gallop, bouncing loudly in the gravel. She kept her eyes trained on Daryl's wings. If it was someone she knew…she didn't want to know until after it was over, when it had already been dealt with.

She wasn't sure what she would want if it was someone she loved.

He stopped a few feet away from the bloodstained pant legs. She stopped too, her eyes purposely unfocused, waiting.

A quick fwoosh, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Turned around. Took several deep breaths.

She never had really gotten used to it. Didn't know if she ever would, or if that was a bad thing or not.

She could hear his footsteps on the rocks. She waited until he passed her up, then fell into step beside him.

"Who-," she started, voice shaking with terror and anxiety. "Who was it?"

He shook his head, staring straight ahead. "No one. Want't nobody we know."

She brought her hands up to her face, swiping up and down, taking shaky half-breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

"When we were out, gettin the meds, we came across a herd over there." He rolled his head to indicate the tracks to the east. "Huge. Biggest one I've ever seen. 700 of them things, easy, all congregated by an overturned boxcar."

She felt the news cascade over her like a cold fall rain, chilling her to the bone, washing all blood from her face. She broke out in a cold sweat, feeling her heartbeat accelerating dangerously.

She had to get herself under control. She couldn't do this, not here. Not with Daryl barely hanging on.

"Did you tell anyone?" she spat, trying an air of anger to compensate for the rising panic in her gut.

He shook his head slowly. "Didn't… Didn't have time. Too much going on."

She squeezed her eyes shit again, trying to banish the bad thoughts from her mind. If someone had found their way to the tracks? Gone the wrong way?

There'd be no hope. None.

Her heart started pounding as she imagined Maggie or Glenn going the wrong way, being torn up and eaten alive. Like Jimmy. Patricia. Otis.

Zach.

She stopped it. She stopped the thoughts right there. She went to her little memory room, and she took each of those lovely people and boxed them up, locking them and stacking them like Christmas presents, and threw away the key.

And then she opened her eyes.

Beth breathed.

And she felt better.

"Let's get going," he said, louder than he'd spoken since they had escaped. "We gotta haul ass if we want to make it to one of the evac houses."

AN #2: Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated. I love you all so much!

Also, I'm sorry for any mistakes you may find. Let me know if you see something!