Daryl growled and rolled over, he had no idea what time it was; but the moonlight shone through the small window in his cell, his sheets were tangled up around his limbs and stuck to his skin with a fine layer of sweat. He'd been dreaming again, the third time this week he'd woken up from an erotic dream about Beth; panting, hot and with a more than uncomfortable erection. Daryl had been furious with himself, he'd never had a problem in the past with his self-control, but after the last few weeks of being involved with the younger blonde, it had almost been like he was a teenager again; discovering a woman for the first time with... Daryl winced as the memory flooded back to him, it was a distant and disdainful as most of his older memories were. He defiantly didn't want to think about her any more; cheap, nasty broad. She was long dead and gone, just like the rest of 'em.

Daryl had found himself watching Beth as she went about her business around the prison, his eyes wandered to her lithe frame whenever she was in the room, he'd felt his pulse quicken as her gaze lingered on him; little secretive smiles that were shared between them made his cheeks flush and his palms sweaty. He felt like a god-damn teenager and it made him feel a mixture of repulse and excitement, it wasn't like him and Beth were waiting to take their relationship up to another level, it was just apparent lack of experience from both parties that caused them to still walk in circles around one another.

"Hey," her voice whispered in the darkness, the door creaked open as she slid through into his cell.

Daryl squinted and reached out a hand to her, he pulled her down to him as he wrapped his arms around her; Beth hummed with contentment as he pressed a kiss into her hair, "You alright?"

"Can't sleep," She mumbled, "What about you?"

"Somethin' like that," Daryl grunted, kissing Beth's hair once more.

She pulled away from him and slipped under the scratchy sheets, pressing herself against Daryl and tucking her head under his chin. He panicked at her close contact, Beth froze as she felt the evidence of why Daryl was really awake pressed against her stomach, the seconds felt like minutes as the silence grew between them.

"Somethin' like that?" Daryl felt Beth smile against his neck as she pressed a kiss against the cooling flesh.

"S'not my fault," He grunted, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

"Who's is it then?" She giggled, pulling back and looking into his eyes. Through the light of the moon, Beth could see the blush that had started to form on the man's face. He stared back at her, his eyes reading a mixture of confusion and arousal.

Beth bit her lip and winked at him, "Havin' dreams 'bout me are you?" Daryl said something incoherently under his breath and looked away from her; his blush darkening, "S'okay," Beth smiled and reached up to kiss him.

The kiss started slow and delicate; like they always had been – Daryl reached a hand up tentatively to her cheek, he was gentle; as if he feared a heavy touch would break her. Their lips moved against each other as Beth slid her little hand into his dark hair; pressing herself tighter against his broad chest. She felt Daryl shake slightly as he bit back a moan, the embrace began to heat up as their lips moved fervently. Beth whimpered as Daryl pushed his leg between hers and held the back of her neck firmly, she bit down softly on his lip; dragging a moan from between them.

"W-we can't," Daryl stammered; blinking hard as he forced his lips away from hers.

"Why not?" Beth's eyes were gentle as he fiddled with the ends of his hair.

"Dunno," He mumbled, looking away from her; fingertips tilted his chin back up to meet her eyes again, "Been a long time, dunno how to do this. Don't wanna disappoint 'ya,"

"I ain't done this before either," Beth whispered, pulling herself close to Daryl's body again.

"Didn't know that," He murmured, sliding his hand into her hair to rest their foreheads together, "I only done it couple'a times,"

"Who with?"

Daryl sighed and rolled over onto his back, pulling Beth so her head rested on his chest; her fingertips grazing against his skin. "There was some girl who was friends w' Merle, used t' see 'em together when I was a kid but then she moved t' Jacksonville so we didn't see her for a few years. Anyways, she came back hooked on crystal meth. No job, a kid and just the dirty trailer her momma left her when she died. Merle pimped her out to a few of his friends, then when I was nineteen he paid her fifty dollars and a gram of ice to fuck me , happened a couple'a times until she OD'd on the shit. She had her kid taken off'a her and ran off to Ohio with her junkie boyfriend. Never saw her again and ain't been laid since,"

Beth was silent for a few moments, "What was her name?"

Daryl cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Aava,"

"It ain't like that with us," She whispered, pulling herself up so she was leaning on her elbow; looking down at Daryl as her blonde hair framed her face like a halo.

"I know," He reached up and brushed a few strands away from her eyes, "Just dunno if m'ready for that yet,"

"We got all the time in the world," Beth lulled, kissing Daryl softly before dropping back down to curl up in his arms.

~.~

The screams echoed through the desolate hallways; blood-curdling yells and the eruption of unceasing gunfire bounced off of the walls like ricocheting bullets. The rooms were dark and stretched through the building like a labyrinth, Sasha panicked as she yanked at a door handle. Locked.

"Sasha come on!" Tyreese yelled, grabbing at his younger sister's hand, "They're coming!"

The team hurled themselves through the winding corridors in the darkness to escape the oncoming death. Their eyes were unadjusted to the murky black that hung in the halls like the smell of decay and rot, the smell had made them gag in disgust; the heinous odour had invaded their senses like the fear had overpowered them. They ran, feet pounding against the stained concrete; echoing through the halls, alerting the undead to their location. The growls rang out like a warning siren for the incoming death that awaited them.

They'd met a survivor on the way out hunting that day, he was distressed and frantic as he told of how his friends were staying in an abandoned factory a few miles back; three adults, a child and a baby, they couldn't leave because the baby was ill and it was too much risk out in the open. The team followed the man – promising them sanctuary upon their survival, they'd located the refugees within, but it all went wrong. The Atlanta survivors felt a sickening sense of deja vu as the ceiling in the desolate building caved in, and with it was a herd of walkers; snarling and baying for the fresh flesh that was harboured within the stone walls.

The group ran for their lives, not looking back; not daring to look back, as the screams filled the building as the lives of those sheltered within the damp factory were torn away from them. Maggie had grabbed the child; female, around five, and kept up pace easily with the rest of the group. One hand unloading rounds of bullets into the decaying flesh that followed them. Every turn felt as familiar as the next, the exits seemingly closing and trapping the survivors inside the walls. They ran, ran until their lungs burned from lack of oxygen and their muscles cramped from the strain of the pursuit. The walkers grew in numbers, the noise of the fight alerting more of them from the roof; they began to run out of bullets as the labyrinth corridors began to narrow and the dread set in. Rick swung around at the scream of his comrade.

"Run, just get out of here now!" Andrea yelled, she slammed herself against the metal door that separated the survivors from the growing herd of walkers, "I'll buy 'ya some time!"

"Andrea no!" Rick screamed, the growls were coming closer and they both knew that they couldn't waste precious time. His heart broke as he met the eyes of his friend, they pleaded with him to run.

They continued blindly into the darkness, the emotion overspilling in the group as Andrea's screams rang out in the distance; her sacrifice giving the team the much-needed time to get their bearings and escape the clutches of the dead.

A glint of light in the made them flee, the entrance of the building getting closer with each pound of their feet; the growls and thudded footsteps growing closer in the distance. They ran as the fear spread though them. They ran until their survival was grasped by their fingertips; the wrought iron door slammed shut, Daryl yanked the metal bar downwards – locking the door and the death behind them.

They stood still, gulping in deep breaths of fresh air into their lungs as the overwhelming depth of the situation sank in. Rick leant against the truck as he caught his breath, his eyes overspilled with tears as he gasped against his cries,

"She's gone..."

The child still clung to Maggie as they both cried with shock and exhaustion, the girl had lost her family within those walls, if it wasn't for Maggie snatching at the child's shirt and pulling her out of the way as her mother was devoured, then the girl would have followed suit. Her tiny little blonde body shook with her sobs. Sasha dropped to the floor, her knees scuffing against the gravel; Tyreese joined her, putting an arm around her shoulders as she sobbed gently into his shirt.

"We need to get back now," Rick said hoarsely, he turned to the man that had initially led them into the factory; he stood with his hands braced against a wall as he struggled to settle his unsteady breath, "Who are 'ya?"

The man looked across at Rick, his brown eyes were sombre, "My name's Bob Stookey,"

"How many walkers 'ya killed?" Daryl growled, eyeing the man up uneasily. His fingers tensed around his crossbow.

"Not enough," Bob said, his voice unwavering.

"How many people have 'ya killed?" Rick said sternly, taking a step towards the man.

"One,"

"Why?"

"Because she asked me to,"

After a few seconds of silence, Rick nodded at Bob; the group turned and got into their vehicles, the sickening atmosphere stunned them and took any words away as they headed back towards the prison. The winter was starting to close in and the previously sweltering Georgia sun that had basked down upon the landscape was replaced by thick, black clouds and the growl of thunder. As they drove back, Rick glanced in the interior mirror at Maggie in the back-seat, the little blonde girl had fallen asleep in her arms – the older woman clutching her protectively, sleep threatening to overwhelm her too. The skies opened and the peals of rain poured down against the ground, Rick gulped and re-focused his eyes on the road. This winter was going to be the hardest struggle yet.