Thank you again to all of you who reviewed! Makes my day!
Of course, I don't own The Walking Dead.

Rick threw himself through the window, landing hard on the cold store floor. His shook his head and wiped the shattered glass off of himself, and looked around furiously in an attempt to spot Beth. She was well across the destroyed grocery store floor, bending over something. As Rick began to jog through the store towards her, his heart dropped when he saw what Beth was sobbing over.

Beth was forehead to forehead with him. She was sobbing, and he was whispering platitudes to her; trying to calm and reassure her as he gently raked her blonde ponytail with his fingers. Rick's knees gave beneath him. He fell to the ground several feet behind the pair with a terrible thud. Rick let out a guttural scream, and the world around him went black. His brother, Daryl Dixon, was sitting there slouched down against a wall; pale, with a bite in his neck.

When Rick looked back up, it was because Daryl was calling to him.

"Brother."

Rick crawled across the floor towards Daryl. Beth had sprawled herself across Daryl's lap, and was sobbing into his shoulder. Daryl's arms were wrapped around her, but his eyes were on Rick.

"They were here. I was tracking them." Daryl wheezed quietly, "They left a note for you against that wall." Daryl gestured with a nod towards the far wall across the store. "They were gone before I got here. I'm sorry."

Rick nodded. The words entered his brain, but they didn't process. He could barely take in what he was seeing. Daryl was covered in blood and dirt. He was losing all color in his face, which juxtaposed against the big red bite in the crook of his neck.

"What happened, Daryl?" Rick finally asked him, when he had found words and been able to form words.

Daryl shrugged slightly. "I had been trackin' Michonne and Carl after I left the prison. They were probably about a day ahead of me. I had waited overnight outside the prison, I wanted to go back the next mornin' to find this one," he gestured to Beth who was still buried in his good shoulder, "but she was gone." Daryl gazed intently at Rick, "I can't thank you enough for gettin' her out."

Rick nodded, and Daryl continued. "I got to the store, and it was on fire. We were just here last week, but it looked completely different." Daryl began shaking his head furiously, and he gripped Beth tighter. "Somethin' happened here. I don't know what. But they left you a note." The words finally processed for Rick, and he felt panic and hope swirl through him.

"Are they…?" Rick implored, but unable to vocalize his fears.

"When they wrote it I guess they were okay. You can go read it for yourself." Rick nodded and exhaled the breath he had been holding. Daryl glanced down at Beth, who was gasping for air between sobs. "Anyway, one of them snuck up on me I guess. I swear to God somebody threw him at me. But I got him and a few of his buddies. But he took a chunk of me with him." Daryl chuckled sadly.

Rick's eyes were drawn again to the hole nestled in the crook of Daryl's neck. It wasn't in a place that could be amputated. Rick couldn't believe that this was happening to Daryl Dixon of all people. Rick had lost people before in this nightmare. He had come to accept that this was part of life now; people dying too young, and being ripped to shreds. But before it had been Lori, she was weak and pregnant; and Hershel, who was old and kidnapped. But Daryl Dixon was supposed to live forever. He used walkers as shields, and feared nothing. This wasn't supposed to happen to him. Rick was supposed to have his best friend by his side for the rest of his life. It didn't make sense, and it wasn't fair.

"Rick." Daryl pulled Rick out of his reverie. He looked up at his friend who was glaring intently at him. "Go read your son's note, and get some supplies. I need a minute here." Daryl glanced at Beth, who was clutching at his shirt. Rick stood up without much fanfare, and moved to the back of the store.

He reached the far wall, beside what had once been a dairy cooler. Smeared into the wall with soot and ash was a note from Michonne and Carl:

We waited as long as we could.
We had to go. The dead and the living surrounded us.
We will try to come back here and find you.
-M&C

Rick moved his hands over the letters signed at the bottom. The soot smeared on the wall, and he rubbed the substance between his fingers. They were going to come back. Quickly, Rick bent down and gathered more of the ash that gathered on the floor, and wrote a response directly under their note, and signed it R&B.

Rick then quickly moved between the shelves of the store, gathering what he could. The store had been picked over pretty well, and he knew that. It had been looted when the world went to hell, then picked over for the prison, and then presumably again by Michonne and Carl. He found 2 old cracker boxes, and a few cans of ravioli that had rolled under the shelf. He smiled to himself when he found a family size box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch that he thought might be nice. He moved to the small pharmacy the store housed, and it was predictably picked over. There were no antibiotics, but he did find some aspirin, which he decided was a victory in itself.

Rick jumped over the small counter, and found what was presumably the dead pharmacist. Rick sighed, as he removed the dead man's coat. He found some cash in the pocket, which was wildly and humorously useless, but there was also a lighter and some cigarettes. The pharmacist at least had the courtesy to blow his brains out, so at least he wasn't dealing with a walker. But Rick didn't think he'd ever get used to the smell. He took the small pistol from the man, and was beginning to walk away, when he noticed the bottle behind the man's body. He quickly tossed it into the bag as well, and began heading back to Daryl and Beth.

As he converged on the two of him, he stopped and waited next to a nearby shelf. Rick couldn't help but feel like he was encroaching on an intimate moment as he watched and listened to the pair. Daryl was whispering in her ear while he stroked her hair and held her close. Beth had Daryl's famous leather vest wrapped around her, and she was trying desperately to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"You can do this. I know you can." Daryl told Beth, who was shaking her head furiously.

"You're my best friend." She cried in anger.

Daryl smirked at her. "You're mine. Best friend I've ever known." Beth returned his smile, but her tears didn't stop. "You take this." Daryl said, holding out the crossbow to her.

Beth's eyes grew large, and she pushed the crossbow away. "I couldn't! That's yours Daryl, I can't!"

He pushed it gently back into her chest. "Ain't no one else fit to carry it girl." She clutched the crossbow close to her and began sobbing anew.

Rick finally approached them carefully, and sat against the wall next to Daryl. Rick dug in the bag and pulled out a cigarette and the lighter, and handed them to Daryl.

Daryl smiled weakly at Rick. "You are a fuckin' saint." Daryl lit the cigarette and pulled on it slowly. The three of them sat there in silence for several minutes. A small hand reached out across Daryl and grabbed Rick's hand. Rick smiled wanly at Beth, and took her cold hand in his. After a while, Daryl's breathing began to slow. The three of them all became alert. Daryl clutched Beth close to him, and pulled her head gently to his lips. He looked meaningfully at Rick, and sputtered. "It has to be you." Rick nodded, and Daryl slowly closed his eyes.

Beth let out a wearied cry, and clutched frantically at Daryl's shirt. Rick gently pulled her away from what was once Daryl Dixon and she pulled desperately at Rick's arms. Rick turned her firmly into his arms, and she sobbed roughly into his chest. He wanted to console her, but found himself without words. Rick's own tears fell into Beth's hair, and they held each other up.

After a few moments, Rick coaxed Beth into the corner. He told her to cover her eyes, and he made his way back to Daryl. He knelt down next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. Rick pulled out his knife and rolled it gently in his palm. He whispered softly, "I'm sorry brother," And plunged the blade adeptly into his temple.

Rick finally let the sadness overtake him, and he covered his eyes and sobbed lightly. After a few moments he felt Beth's hand on his back, and her arms wrapped lightly around his waist. Her tears felt hot on his back.

Sorry for the gut-punch... Or at least I hope it felt like one! I'm actually a pretty big Bethyler, so I wanted to do something special with their relationship. Its not going to be a traditional relationship, but we'll do some further exposition into why Beth is so sad he's gone. I'm excited with that aspect of this story too. You guys will see!

Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter... I normally split up the POV, but I wanted it all from Rick's POV for this one. Which kind of relegated Beth to boo-hooing in the corner for the entire chapter. But she'll have plenty to do later, don't worry!