If 'earning my stripes' includes me almost killing the new guy, letting Merle get left behind, and being on Merle's side when he voted himself team captain, then I must be a fucking zebra by now.

Daryl was going to stomp my ass when he comes back.

So I hid in the Winnebago until I heard, "Rick Grimes? You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick said, calm as hell. Maybe he really was a police guy. "So, I handcuffed him to a roof."

"Let me process this," Daryl started, walking away from the new guy, Rick, or as Morales called him, helicopter boy, in a rush. I stepped out of the Winnebago to see an angry scene in front of me. "You handcuffed my brother to a roof... And you left 'em there!"

"Daryl," I called, only getting pleaded glances, "we'll go get him."

"Get him? You knew about this?" Daryl asked, and I shut my mouth before I said the wrong thing.

"Yeah, she went with us," Andrea added, confused that he didn't know. Daryl liked to keep track of where I went with what people, and I thought it was more of an endearing act than how Ed kept track of Carol. Daryl and I were basically attached to the hip, anyway.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Daryl asked softly, obviously hurt. Instead of replying back with words, I cautiously came up beside him and put my forehead on his arm.

"I thought you left before we did," I replied, closing my eyelids to keep the loose tears inside.

"I went to go get you, but you was gone!" he yelled fiercely, most of the anger directed to Rick.

"Daryl, don't," I quietly said as he lifted up the string of squirrels and threw them at Rick. He attempted to go after him but was quickly stopped by Shane.

"Chokehold's illegal," Daryl coughed after Shane tightly put him in one.

"I want to have a calm discussion about this," Rick calmly said, "d'ya think we can do that?"

Daryl looked to me for assistance, and I shook my head, tears readily streaming down my face. Usually, I didn't cry like that. It made me think about how Carol cried every hour. Lately, though, I was tear city.

Shane let Daryl go and like an obedient friend/girlfriend/whatever the hell we were, I ran toward him and helped him up.

"Merle's still chained to the roof," T-Dog explained, "I chained the door so no Walkers could get through."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Daryl growled, attempting to wipe away the fact that he was getting worked up. He was close to tears, which usually was my job if I was mad. "'Cuz it don't."

"That should count as something," Lori softly amended, throwing Rick the nastiest looks I've ever seen her give.

"Dad, please don't go," Carl begged for the second time. Rick got down on his knees and rested his hands on Carl's shoulders.

"I made a promise. I have to do this," Rick seriously said, patting Carl on the back before hugging him tightly.

Carl started crying, which made me feel even worse.

"Rick, you don't have to go. Me and Daryl can-"

"No, I have to go."

"So do I," T-Dog said, setting the logs of wood that he was carrying on the ground. Daryl gave him a look that registered beyond hate.

Daryl huffed angrily, still making circles in the dirt. "Well let's go, then!"

Everybody stood around until Rick moved, walking toward the van until Shane stood in his way. I noticed he had a habit of doing that.

"I say what we need here is more people," Shane whispered, wiping the corners of his mouth and looking at Rick ferociously.

"Those guns are what we need," Rick replied just as serious, "I dropped a bag of guns on the way into the city. They're close enough."

"What if close isn't enough, Rick?"

"Nothing is going to happen."

Heavy silence.

I felt bad eavesdropping, yet I still did, until Daryl pulled me away. He pulled me close and at first I thought he was leaning in for a kiss, but he went higher, to my ear.

"Why did you let him do that?" he growled, his warm breath tickling my ear. I inwardly flinched; at first I didn't know what to say. But I had an alibi.

"I wasn't even on the roof, I stayed below with Andrea!" I whispered back, leaning back to look in his eyes. They read hurt and violence.

"You coulda done something." He was holding back tears again.

"I didn't even know Merle wasn't with us until we were in the van heading back. Until it was too late," I growled through my teeth, the look of Daryl's watery eyes making mine react the same.

Daryl ruffled his hair and turned around to see the progress of filling the van. Rick was just about to honk the horn.

"I don't want to go if you're gonna be mad at me the whole time," I yelled at Daryl who was walking towards the van. Everything seemed to take on a monotonous display when Daryl and I fought. It didn't seem natural; although a bicker once and a while was natural in a relationship. It hurt me more than he could ever know.

Daryl stopped in his tracks, pausing for a few seconds before swiveling around to face me.

"I'm not mad!" he yelled back, sounding pretty mad for not being mad. I raised my hands and let them fall to my sides again.

"You sound pretty mad," I laughed, crossing my arms as he shook his head and strode to my side. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, nuzzling into my neck and sighing. Rick honked the horn.

"I'm not mad," he forcefully said, lying, of course.

"Oh yeah," I chuckled, "you sound so sure of it."

Daryl removed his forehead from my neck and placed it on my forehead.

"Come on, lovebirds!" T-Dog called, sticking his head out of the passenger side window. Glenn still stood by the Red Challenger with his arms crossed. Jim and Dale already tore it to pieces for the Winnebago.

"So… not fair," he whined, turning around to face me giggling.

"Oh, Glenn," Rick called, sticking his head out of the passenger's window, "you have to come. You're the only one who knows the city."

"Sweet," he mourned, "better than staring at my stripped car."

I slipped away from Daryl's grasp and moved my hand lower, grasping his hand before dragging him to the van.

"I thought you said you wouldn't come," he said, walking up to my side and swinging my arm.

"I thought you said you were mad," I retorted, smiling up at him as he shrugged his shoulders.

We both got into the back of the van, sitting exactly in back of the passenger seat and directly across from T-Dog. Daryl still had that fire in his eyes, but it was tamer when I reached around for his other hand and laced it between mine.

"We walk from here," Glenn said, stopping the van on the right side of the train tracks. We all climbed out of the van and started walking towards the building that Merle was in. Or, we hoped was still in.

"So, guns first, Merle later?" Rick asked Glenn. He shook his head.

"We don't want to double back. Merle first," Glenn replied, looking back at Daryl. He didn't show any signs of glee.

The rest of the walk was silent.