A/N: Wow! So happy with the reviews, you guys are awesome! I hope I can continue to please you all. I'm starting to catch up to where I am thus far (currently almost finished writing chapter ten) and I wanted to remind you that this chapter was written quite a while ago. I'm not too pleased with it, and I'll explain why in another authors note at the end of this chapter. Maybe I'm thinking too hard on it! But I just want you guys to be aware of my thoughts. Thank you everyone again for following my story so far! P.S: This one contains a few more lines from the actual show.

CHAPTER SEVEN

It was a startling surprise to see a living person come out of the dark shadows of the woods rather than a flesh eating biter. It didn't exactly mean that seeing someone new was a wonderful sight, if anything they learned from past incidences, it most likely meant trouble. However, the look in the young man's face was frightened and yet desperate. Right from the offset he didn't seem like someone who was dangerous. Daryl was close to an expert at distinguishing the difference between who was good and who was deceiving.

After a few mutters between Beth and Daryl about what they should do, they decided to take Noah to the cabin. They figured they'd wait until they brought him to the rest of the group before they started asking questions. Luckily he readily agreed to have the man with the crossbow check him for bites and weapons as he tried to prove that he had nothing to hide. He truly didn't. The kid was weaponless and shaking, with absolutely no signs of any walker bites.

"Come on," Daryl pushed Noah forward towards the cabin as he and Beth stayed right behind him.

When they reached the doors, both Abraham and Rosita were startled to see a stranger among them, and decided to follow them inside to see what was going on. What they worried about most of all was Eugene's safety. When they passed the foyer and entered the living room, conversations within the group went to a complete halt, and all eyes were on Beth, Daryl and the stranger with them. Rick stood up abruptly and a look of agitation shadowed his features.

"Who is this?" Rick pointed; his voice was unsettling and riddled with urgency.

"He says his name is Noah," Daryl replied in a much calmer tone, "I already checked him for bites and weapons. He has none."

Beth stood forward, figuring she should explain what happened. "Daryl and I were talkin' and he was eavesdropping behind some bushes."

Noah shook his head. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I—"

"Then what were you doin' out there? Are you one of the people from Terminus?" Rick quickly interrupted; his patience was wearing thin as he placed his hand on the revolver that was holstered to his side.

Noah gulped as he spotted the gun, beginning to think that maybe following them wasn't his best idea. "I came from Terminus yeah, but I wasn't from there. I was one of the people trapped in a train car."

Rick cocked his head as he squinted his eyes in contemplation. "How can we know that for sure?"

"Wait," Michonne said as she stood up off the floor to get a better look at Noah. "You do look vaguely familiar," she then turned to Rick with a look of optimistic reassurance. "I did see him in there after that crazy guy jumped on Glenn."

"Look," Noah continued, attempting to explain. "You guys opened the door to the train car I was in. I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I followed you all. I thought it was my best bet at surviving."

Michonne knitted her brow in puzzlement. "Well why didn't you ask us then if you could come with us?"

Noah shrugged. "Everything was chaotic, I just wasn't thinking clearly. When I got out, I spotted you guys again. I wanted to make sure I could trust you first. So far you seem like good people."

"Are there any others with you or are you by yourself?" Rick proceeded to ask more questions.

"It's just me," Noah explained as he shook his head. "I didn't know the other people who were in there with me. Most of them didn't even talk."

Rick clenched his jaw just as Carl walked up beside him. "Dad, he seems harmless. We should let him stay with us."

Rick looked down as he listened to his son, but he was much too hesitant to trust a person as easily as Carl did. "I don't know," he said as he looked up to stare Noah in the eyes. "Is that what you want to do?"

"Well…I've got a crossbow pointed at my back. It's not really putting me in a good position right now," Noah explained, feeling uncertain if he should say yes.

Despite having difficulties trusting people, Rick felt like the kid was telling the truth. The fact that Michonne recognized him certainly did help with the situation. "It's okay Daryl, you can put the crossbow down."

Daryl grumbled as he lowered his weapon. "Are you gonna ask him the three questions?"

Rick nodded as he faced Noah who seemed to be utterly confused, and gave him a firm stare. After a couple seconds of silence, he took a deep breath. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Uhh," Noah started, contemplating on the question. He wasn't quite sure why it mattered, and he was honestly hoping they weren't expecting a precise answer since he never really kept track. "A couple dozen…I guess."

"How many people have you killed?"

"Just two actually," Noah lifted his brow and spoke as though he didn't realize his answer until he said it.

Rick narrowed his eyes and his voice grew deeper. "Why?"

Noah's face became as blank as a white canvas as he thought about the ordeal earlier that day. "They tried to stop me from escaping Terminus. Killing walkers is no problem to me, but I never had the need to kill another living person…well, perhaps once before Terminus, but that never happened. Guess I didn't really know what I was capable of until I was thrown into that kind of situation," Noah explained as the group—especially Rick—listened with interest. "I figure if one of us was going down, it's either gonna be me or them, and it was definitely not going to be me."

Rick smirked, impressed by the young man's answer. It was exactly what he needed to hear—exactly what kind of strength he wanted in his group, especially if he was able to get out of Terminus alive on his own. "Well, Noah, you must be hungry," Rick chuckled as he grabbed a can of tuna off the table next to him and tossed it to him. "You can stay with us if you want, but I want you to know that I am putting a lot of faith into what you just told us."

"Thank you," Noah smiled with sincere appreciation as he made no hesitation to pop open the lid. "I'll earn my keep, I promise."

Beth was pleased to see another new face in the group that Rick actually agreed to let stay with them. It felt just like it did when he allowed all of the people from Woodbury move into the prison. She was a little surprised by how quickly Rick let his guard down since after the events at Terminus, but she could only figure it was because of what Michonne had said. If it wasn't for her, Rick would have most likely done a search around the perimeter for anyone else by now, assuming that Noah was probably lying.

For the rest of the evening, Beth remained inside the cabin by Maggie and Glenn. She was only half tuned in to their conversation, as the second half of her attention was on Daryl who sat with Carol across the other side of the room. Keeping her chin rested on her knees, she waited patiently to see if Daryl would make a glance at her.

Unfortunately for her he kept his eyes away, and the next thing she knew, everyone was yawning and shutting their eyes for some sleep. The only people that remained awake were Daryl and Rick who were murmuring quietly between each other. Noah was completely passed out from exhaustion. She figured Rick remained awake in order to keep an eye on Noah.

Beth sighed as she lay on her blanket with her head resting on her hands, watching the fire die down into embers and wondering if perhaps Daryl regretted what happened earlier that evening. She wondered if that was the reason why he had been ignoring her for the past couple hours or so.

"Are you gonna get some sleep, Beth?" Maggie whispered after she had opened one eye to see that her sister was still awake.

"I will," Beth sighed again. "I just don't feel very tired."

"Is everythin' alright?" Maggie asked with concern, now looking at her sister with both eyes wide open.

"Mhm," Beth hummed a little higher pitched than she hoped, barely making out a smirk.

"Okay then. Just so you know, I'm holding on to that 'mhm'," Maggie yawned as she put her arm back around Glenn. "Goodnight, Beth."

"Goodnight," Beth replied as her voice drifted within yet another sigh; putting her head down on top of her folded arms. She decided it was better to just forget about the whole ordeal and get some sleep. Perhaps it was for the best that she and Daryl were interrupted. The notions in her head were too outrageous to think about. Her leaning over in plans to kiss him was just a momentary lapse in judgment. At least that was what Beth decided to believe.

. . .

Beth awoke early the next morning by the sounds of Judith crying loudly in Rick's arms. After sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she looked around to notice that most everyone had woken up by the same disturbance. Rick apologized quickly as he stood and bounced Judith up in down, grabbing one of the last few jars of baby food from his pack along with a clean diaper and left into the kitchen. Sitting herself up, Beth noticed that Noah was still sound asleep.

"I almost forgot what it was like to be woken up by a baby cryin'," Michonne pointed out as she stood up onto her feet and stretched.

"I'll take that over walkers any day," Tara added with a laugh.

Beth chuckled along with Michonne and a few others. As she got to her feet, she instinctively looked over at the chair where Daryl was sitting last night and quickly scanned the rest of the room, realizing that he was not around. Normally this was when she would panic, but this time she figured he had most likely gone hunting because he was itching to go since last night.

Beth proceeded to go outside to make sure, only because that was what she was used to doing when it was just the two of them, but she caught her eye on Noah who was now awake. He was sitting somewhat uncomfortably in the corner of the room by himself and she instantly stopped in her tracks. She regarded him carefully, imagining how he must feel being surrounded by complete strangers who haven't really made much of an effort to make him feel more welcome. Sighing, Beth made her way over to Noah who looked up at her curiously when he realized she was walking in his direction.

"Hey," Beth began once she reached him. "I'm Beth. I never had the chance to introduce myself properly."

A small smile curved in the corner of Noah's lips. "I wanted to apologize for last night. I didn't mean to startle you and your…boyfriend?"

Beth felt her cheeks blush suddenly, "He's actually not my boyfriend, but that's no problem. It must have been pretty scary bein' out there by yourself," she said, trying to change the topic about Daryl as quickly as she could.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It looked like you two were together, so…" Noah scratched the back of his head as his voice drifted off in awkwardness, feeling rather grateful with the subject change. "Yeah it was scary, but I always stayed pretty close to your group. I felt safer that way."

"That was a good idea," Beth said as she crouched down beside him, becoming more comfortable in his company. "I probably woulda done the same."

Noah gave a quick nod before his attention caught on to Rick exiting the kitchen with Judith who was now content and gurgling in his arms. For a brief moment, their eyes met each other's. "Is your leader usually straight and to the point?"

"Always," Beth replied without hesitation. "Lucky for you that Michonne remembered you, otherwise he'd probably be keepin' watch on you twenty four seven. Rick's not the most friendly to strangers."

"He spoke to me privately last night. He's very protective of you all," Noah continued after looking back at Beth.

The blonde shrugged. "We're practically family."

Noah smiled as he regarded everyone in the room. "It's nice. Maybe one day I can feel like a part of this family too."

Beth chuckled softly and punched him lightly in the arm. "Whether you like it or not, you already are. It's nice to finally have someone in this group the same age as me."

Noah's face beamed happily, feeling much better than he did a few minutes ago. "Thanks, Beth."

The blonde grinned just as her attention had suddenly turned to Abraham and Rosita who walked into the living room, and right behind them was Daryl with a few squirrels tied to a rope which hung over his shoulder. He instantly noticed Beth and Noah. The site of seeing them sitting side by side and laughing made him agitated. Then his eyes caught Beth's and she gave him a small, yet uncertain smile. Daryl could barely force a smile back. This new kid was already getting on his nerves, and the strangest part of it was he didn't quite understand why.

"Listen up everyone," Abraham called out, silencing Rick and everyone else as they all laid their consideration onto him. "Rosita and I took a walk down the road a ways, and we came across a short bus not too far from here. It don't run, but I bet we could fix it in less than a day or two."

Rick smirked as he stroked Judith's hair. "You found us some transport?"

Abraham nodded. "That we did, but that's not all I wanted to talk about."

Each member of the group stared at the large, red-headed man with curiosity. Just by the ambitious look on his face, it was easy to notice that he had a plan up his sleeve. To Rick and most of the others, any idea on what to do next gave them relief because until this point they always had a destination; somewhere they were headed. It helped keep them going.

"I look at each and every one of you around this room, and I see survivors. You have all deserved that title, "Abraham said, taking the silence as his doorway to continue, "Is that all you want to be? Wake up in the mornin', fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? Cause you can do that. I mean you got the strength, you got the skill."

Carol looked around the room, feeling extremely uncomfortable as everyone else remained intrigued on what Abraham had to say. Since the group got back together, she felt like she didn't belong. She was kicked out of the prison by Rick for killing two sick people, and with what happened to the two girls, she didn't think she had a place with them anymore. Looking at the front door, she had been debating since last night if she should be walking out of it. It's what she wished she could do, but the thought of being alone again scared her more than anything.

"Thing is," Abraham continued, "For you people, for what you can do…well that's just surrender. We could get Eugene to Washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again, and that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip," he now had his eyes on Rick, hoping that he would agree with everything he had said, knowing full well that he was the person that everyone looked up to. As silence carried on, Abraham faced his companion. "Eugene, what's in DC?"

Eugene looked around, feeling a little uncomfortable as everyone set their eyes on him. He sighed. "Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even at this full bar magnitude. That means food, fuel, refuge…restart."

Abraham smiled as he nodded at Eugene. "However this works out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started," he turned back to Rick. "Come with us. Save the world for that little one. Save it for yourselves, save it for the people out there who don't got nothin' left to do except to survive."

Silence withheld everyone's mouths as they all looked around at each other in contemplation. It seemed that no one was disagreeing, and Rick figured it would be crazy not to go. He laughed suddenly, shocking most everyone as it had been a long time since they had seen him genuinely happy. It wasn't until Judith gurgled did he look down at her and begin to speak.

"What was that?" Rick softly asked Judith as Maggie, Michonne, Sasha and Beth chuckled. "I think she knows what I'm about to say," he said as he looked at Tyreese who was sitting beside him, grinning from ear to ear. Rick then regarded Abraham with a smile of acceptance. "She's in, and if she's in, I'm in. We're in."

Michonne dropped her head back in astonishing relief as Beth and many others applauded and cheered happily with Rick's decision. Abraham smiled widely, feeling much better that he had gotten that off his shoulders. A large group would be far better than just him, Rosita and Eugene. Beth was excited as she knew how desperate they were at needing a break from the harsh conditions of the world outside.

"I'll get started on fixing that bus," Glenn exclaimed as he kissed Maggie on the cheek.

"Alright, thank you Glenn," Rick replied, pleased by Glenn's determination and offer to help.

"Don't mind if I join you?" Bob asked as he brushed his hands across his thighs.

"Sure thing," Glenn nodded with a smile, but then his attention was quickly turned onto the new kid sitting beside Beth. "Uhh Noah , is it?"

Noah shot himself up on his feet suddenly and nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

Glenn smirked slightly as he placed his right hand on his shoulder. "You're gonna come with us. Sound good?"

Noah grinned, thrilled that someone decided to ask for his help. He figured this was a good time to earn their trust within the group. "I'll do all I can to help."

"Come on then," Abraham said as he waved them over toward him and Rosita. "I'll show you where the bus is."

Beth watched the five of them walk through the door and out of the cabin. Right after they left, she turned her head and accidentally caught herself looking over at Daryl. She could see him chewing the inner side of his bottom lip as he so normally did when he was thinking about something. Beth couldn't look at him now without thinking about last night. She hated leaving things unresolved, and she wanted nothing more than to ask him about what it all meant, but she figured it was something that needed to play out on its own.

"We should start lookin' for some supplies before we hit the road," Rick explained to the rest of the group as he passed Judith to Carl, "Hopefully there's a town near here."

"Good idea. I'll join you," Michonne agreed as she grabbed her katana that was sitting on the loveseat beside her.

"I'm comin' too," Daryl said matter-of-factly, straightening himself up off the wall.

"And me," Tara added with a smile.

Rick nodded, pleased with his team and their readiness to get going. "I figure we probably need one more person," he said as he looked at Carl, Maggie, Tyreese, Sasha, Carol and Beth. "Any takers?"

"I'll go," Beth spoke out rather abruptly, beating Carl to the punch; her straight forwardness seemed not one to be messed with. Daryl's ears perked up when he heard her voice, but remained quiet.

Rick cocked his head as he was taken aback by Beth's willingness to go. She didn't normally join any of them on supply runs; in fact he believed that this would be the first time. "Are you sure?"

Daryl took a few steps forward beside Rick as he heard the uncertainty in his tone. He decided to speak for Beth. "You don' have to worry. She's a good fighter."

Rick nodded; satisfied with Daryl's answer as he knew he could trust his judgment. As they prepared to get going, Maggie practically pleaded with Beth to stay with her at the cabin. However, nothing she could say would change her mind. Beth was going, and she certainly did not want to be afraid anymore, or be the girl that always stayed back and looked after Judith. She wanted to show what she was capable of, more now than ever. However, that wasn't the only reason. Beth didn't want to be separated from Daryl as she was so used to doing everything with him and only him. She didn't want to change that now, and the fact that he never argued with her about joining them on the supply run proved that he felt the same way.

"Here, I'll take those," Carol told Daryl as she reached her arms out for the squirrels that laid over his shoulder, "I'll make some lunch with them while you're gone."

Daryl nodded as he passed them to her. "Thanks."

. . .

When they departed the cabin and made their journey down the dirt path, it didn't take long before they reached the others already hard at work fixing the bus that sat idly on the side of the road. Noah and Rosita kept watch as Abraham, Glenn and Bob were keeping busy.

"We're goin' on a supply run," Rick explained as he met Abraham on the side of the road. "Should be back in a few hours at the most. Think it'll give you all enough time to fix that bus?"

Abraham smirked and nodded assertively as he placed his grease soaked hands on his hips. "More than enough time."

"Good, cause we'll be headin' out tomorrow at first light," Rick replied as he fixated his eyes on everyone else. "Stay safe."

When Beth and the others carried onward, words amongst the group were kept at a minimal. Silently searching for any signs of food; could be a town, another cabin or even an old deserted car, anything was viable. It was no surprise when they bumped into a couple of walkers on the way, though they were diligently killed with ease by Michonne's katana and Daryl's crossbow. However, it wasn't long before they bumped into a site that was quite disturbing.

It was a man's body that hung lifelessly from a sturdy tree branch by his wrists tied tightly together, jerking from the handling of a bloody, half decomposed walker that had already eaten most of the man's feet. It snarled as it reached its slow-moving arms up at the soft meat of his calves. Daryl knitted his brow as he studied the scene in front of him. It instantly reminded him of the last man he saw hung up in a tree. Andrea was quite disgusted by it then, but this time he wasn't worried about wasting an arrow.

"This one's mine," Daryl said at last, lifting his crossbow within the silence of his group and shot a bolt right through the walker's skull. As it fell with a thump to the ground, Daryl had readied another bolt for round two, preparing his shot for the man in the tree before he had a chance to turn.

Then suddenly, the man slowly lifted his head and began to speak. Incredibly, he was still alive, attempting the best he could to say a few weak, shuttering last words. Not being able to hold direct eye contact, Daryl figured the man was practically blind and close to death.

"Shoot. Me."

The man's words were wet, pushed out through a throat filled with blood. Beth could hardly imagine the suffering he went through, but by now he probably felt barely any pain.

"I'm sorry," Daryl said after a moment of silence, squeezing his grip on the crossbow before nodding, trying his hardest to revert his eyes from the red, boney feet. After readying his aim, he took no hesitation in pulling down the trigger and the bolt flew, piercing the man's forehead and killing him instantly.

"We should keep movin'. Whoever did this might still be close by," Rick said afterward, his brow furrowed as he scanned the area around them.

Daryl retrieved the one bolt from the walker lying on the ground as the group regained their composure and continued on their way. Beth was walking beside Tara most of the time while Daryl kept a close watch behind them. When Tara finally left her side to talk to Rick and Michonne who were leading the group, he took it as his moment to casually catch up beside the blonde. Though he was excellent at hiding what he was truly feeling, Beth had been constantly on his mind since last night. However, his thoughts were not entirely giddy and positive like most normal people would feel after the event that happened the evening before.

He found himself unable to sleep as the ideas in his mind chewed away deep inside him. Daryl was unsure on how to grasp this complicated situation. He cared about Beth, almost too much in fact. He never experienced this before. He's had women in his life in the past, but it was never serious. This thing he had with Beth however was different and difficult, and he didn't know what to do with it. He couldn't quite grasp why she had an interest in him. She could do so much better than him—she deserved better.

Beth caught Daryl in the corner of her eye and she lost her breath. His sudden presence startled her, but she tried her hardest to play it cool. "Hey Daryl," she started, trying to keep her stare at the road ahead of her.

Daryl gritted his teeth. He hated it when she sounded nonchalant and careless. He figured she must not have been pleased that he had been avoiding her since last night. Looking up, he squinted his eyes from the glare of the sun as he continued to walk casually, thinking of words to say. "You seem t' be gettin' friendly with Noah," he blurted out, a little surprised that that was what he decided to say but figured he should probably just roll with it. "But I guess it makes sense."

"What does THAT mean?" Beth snapped a look at him then, confused and somewhat annoyed by his comment.

Daryl shrugged. "You're both around the same age."

Beth shook her head as she knitted her brow in puzzlement. She knew he was trying to get some kind of answer out of her, but whatever he was investigating for did not exist. "Age has nothin' to do with it. He seemed lonely so I thought I'd talk to him to make him feel more comfortable. Why does it matter anyhow?"

Daryl gave her a side look through his bangs as he grabbed the strap of his crossbow, instantly feeling silly about the way he was acting over something so trivial. "It doesn't. Forget I brought it up."

"What are you two bickering about back there?" Michonne asked as she looked behind her shoulder. A small smirk creased the corner of her lips as she regarded the two of them.

Beth scoffed as she looked ahead at her. Her tone was smothered with irritation. "Nothin' important." She was frustrated that after the closeness they shared between them last night, all Daryl had to talk about was the occurrence of her being nice to Noah.

"It sure doesn't sound like nothing," the cheekiness in Michonne's voice was all but discreet.

"Hey, hold up," Rick interrupted the conversation as he lifted his arm and pointed in a direction through the trees. "I see somethin' over there."

Following Rick's finger, Daryl, Michonne, Beth and Tara peered through the trees simultaneously to see a building painted in white. The place seemed quiet. Beth walked a few steps forward as she took a closer look, and her eyes widened.

"It's a church," she said with surprise as she glanced behind her shoulder at the rest of the group.

Rick made his way over beside Beth and nodded as he placed his hands on his hips. "So it is."

Okay, so...I apologize for the angst between Beth and Daryl this chapter, and I thought that Daryl was a little bit out of character by how childish he was acting when it came to Noah. But at the same time I wonder if the story needs the angst and self doubt every now and again? I just loved the review from Juliana Grays in particular, and she definitely had me thinking! Tell me your thoughts if you like. Next chapter will be much better, (and a little crazy) I promise!