This started out as a role play between myself (nolongeraxburden) and happyblueink (gunslingerdixon), and it was mutually decided upon to share with the rest of as a fanfiction. So here it is! Enjoy!

If y'all are interested in following us just go to: nolongeraxburden. tumblr .com or gunslingerdixon. tumblr .com

Also: we own nothing in regards to The Walking Dead. All rights belong to the copyright holder.

Through bleary eyes Daryl continued riding along the cracked highway; lack of maintenance the road had decayed in a manner of speaking— potholes, crevices, and weedy underbrush growing through the asphalt. He shifted down a gear as he rode a little more slow taking care not to run into a pothole that would send him over the handlebars of the chopper. He'd seen it numerous times and it never ended well. Weren't like a hospital would be able to stitch him back up neither if it did. He'd just be shit out of luck and he was already out of luck from what it seemed.

Every once in a while his eyes would linger on the gas gauge. The needle steadily moving towards the large bold 'E', but just hovering outside the range of concern.

It angered him slightly the more he thought about it. Carol could be out stranded somewhere and he would never know. How would he know? Hell, how did he already know she wasn't already dead? Didn't take much to get overrun and overwhelmed, especially on one's own. He shook his head trying to rid his head of the thought as the chopper growl echoed loud into the night.

He'd been riding since a few hours before the sun had set and several more thereafter. Daryl really needed to find somewhere to settle in the night. His legs hurt and his body ached all over. He hadn't had time to relax and make sure that the medicine got into their people. As soon as Rick had come up to him, Daryl had taken off. Didn't give it more than a second's thought before he knew he had to get Carol back.

It wasn't even the fact that she had killed that bothered him so much. There were other things that had sent him off the edge that it was an obligation for him to find her. Bring her back maybe if she even wanted to come back. It was more why she couldn't have trusted him with such information. After everything they'd gone through? And she didn't think he would accept her train of thought on the matter?

It bothered him more than he would ever let on to any other, but from Carol it meant everything.

So lost in his thought, he hadn't noticed the walker ambling about in the middle of the highway and immediately he swerved around it with ease narrowly missing an old station wagon parked alongside the road. He hadn't seen any walkers for miles and a few of them had been precariously lingering about. Not thinking much of it Daryl came to a crawl on his bike before swinging around and headed back. He'd check out the area.

He killed the chopper not too far away, but enough to get an edge on the walkers milling about. He slung his crossbow to his shoulders, creeping up to the first with his knife in his hand. He made quick work of the two in the road dragging the bodies out of the way of any other cars possibly traveling then stalking quietly up to the car. He drew a deep breath not sure what to expect if anything at all.

He shouldn't expect anything. Nothin' at all.

Carol's claustrophobia had been eased a bit from the 'potty break' but now she was back to analyzing every single sound she heard outside of the car. She hunkered down, eyes going in every direction, and almost even forgetting to even breathe. She heard the sound of something hitting the ground, and she told herself, almost scolding, "It was nothing." Her voice was but a whisper, but it made her heartbeat quicken none the less. A person would go crazy only having their own self to talk to, and it had only been hours since her banishment as she liked to put it.

She heard another sounds and what sounded like something being dragged through the dead leaves and brush in the yard and her throat tightened. She wanted to scream. This was not the way she wanted to go out. She didn't want to be killed by someone that was just trying to survive just like she was. She wanted to cover her face with her hands, but she instead squared her shoulders and just as she was about to open the door and climb out to face whatever was out there in the dark, his face came into view.

"Daryl?" she breathed, eyes blinking. She was almost certain that she was imagining things, and she couldn't at this point or she'd just have to end it herself right here and now. She couldn't try and survive this world on her own living with the ghost of him to haunt her at every turn. She forced herself to swallow, throat raw.

When the vision of him didn't go away, she knew he was real. He was there. He'd come looking for her. She hadn't let herself hope that he would, and now he was there. She pushed the door open, nearly tripping over her own feet as they were refusing to work. "Daryl…" Her voice was that of happiness and fear. She moved toward him, eyes watering and blinking them back as they began to blur her vision. "You fool. What are you doing out here? You're going to get yourself killed!"

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