Five hours later.

Len was back. No blood on her, no ripped clothing, a completely clean blade. She said she didn't cross a single walker even though she went pretty close to the city limits.

Soon the sun began to set and they were all enjoying a wonderful fish dinner. Everyone was happy and getting along, laughing at stories they all told. Len and Daryl sat amongst them as well, not talking as much but laughing with them all the same.

Morales asked a question about Dale's constant winding of his watch to which Dale replied with a Faulkner quote leaving everyone in a stunned silence when Len, feeling obligated as she sat next to him, said gently, "My mentor always used to tell me that one must always govern time lest time would end up governing you."

"Exactly!" Dale said, smiling happily down at Len who sat on the ground.

"You two are so weird." Amy said as everyone laughed and Len looked down. Amy left to go to the bathroom as gentle talk floated around the group. Len looked at Daryl who eyed her but showed no other expression. She hadn't gotten a single work out of him all night.

Suddenly there were horrific screams over by the RV and then without another second to pass the entire group seemed like it was overrun with walkers. Len was the first to take action, without thinking she grabbed up the baseball bat by her feet and ran up to the oncoming walkers in front of everyone. She knocked two but her main concern was to get to the zombie biting Amy.

Len clocked it just as it bit Amy's neck. She smashed it's head in and quickly rolled Amy onto her back.

"Amy—Amy? Can you hear me?" Len pleaded quietly as gunshots rang out but she just mumbled quietly staring at her. Len was pushed out of the way by Andrea who screamed and cried Amy's name.

Len clinched her jaw and went back to killing walkers. Using her knife she was able to kill them quicker.

After five minutes almost every walker was dead save for a few, including one that took Len by surprise. It grabbed a chunk of her hair making her cry out, catching Daryl's attention. It gargled in her face and suddenly there was an arrow shot through it's skull, stopping just barely an inch from her eye. Len sighed out and pushed it to the ground when Daryl rushed over to her.

"You bit?!" Daryl yelped at her, brushing her hair behind her shoulders to check her neck, running his hands over her back and arms, feeling everywhere appropriate just to make sure.

"I'm fine. Daryl, I'm fine." She said as she pushed his hands down, assuring him. He nodded and turned his attention to Andrea who was bawling over Amy, who was dying in her arms.

"Saw what you did for her." Daryl said to Len.

"Wasn't enough to save her though. Nor anyone else." She sighed as she looked around at all their fallen members. She didn't have to choke back tears but she did have to force herself to look at Daryl when she said, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Don' gotta worry 'bout me. It's your ass you should be worried about; acting like a fool, jumpin' 'round with that knife o' yours—nearly got yourself killed not watchin' your own back."

"Guess I was lucky you were watching it for me." Len smirked at her coy statement but also retaliated, "Thank you." Daryl nodded, his jaw clinched, hiding his shaking hands behind his back. Len noticed it but didn't say anything, definitely something for another time.

When Len was young she once thought that if you stood in the evening light long enough you'd become transparent. And now, standing in his gaze that summer eve she was reminded of that childish dogma but suddenly it felt all the more real. Love alone was not enough for her, nor for him. Daryl didn't know what love was and seemingly neither did she.

It was morning and Len sat in the tent, meditating with her back to the door. She'd been meditating so deeply for past two hours that when Daryl walked in she didn't even hear him. He sat on his side of the tent, being as quiet as possible, watching her before he had to start clean up again.

He thought it extremely peculiar that she could focus so earnestly and for so long. He'd be lying if he said it didn't intimidate him either, the way she spoke sometimes to him as well—he knew there was something great about her. And she couldn't see it either. But maybe he was just caught up on her, blinded by her grace. And when she killed walkers...Daryl could hardly contain himself, even though he'd never experienced such a strong emotional attraction to a woman he knew what he felt, he knew exactly what it was. But he wasn't about to go global with it either.

No, Daryl was the type to let something like this simmer and wait until everything evaporates. In the meantime, it didn't exactly help that Len slept not three feet from him every night. He just hoped she was content with it as well.

Please review and let me know how you like it?