DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Secrets.

Daryl didn't remember too much of what happened once he returned with Sophia and Skyler. Everyone was beyond shocked to see the little girl still alive and Carol had given him the biggest hug of everyone, even going so far as kissing him on the cheek. He didn't like that everyone became so touchy-feely, passing out hugs and patting him on the back. He wasn't used to receiving any type of appraisal—or attention—let alone this. It was too much.

He recalled Rick and Glenn having returned with Hershel and some kid. He didn't see the so-called kid and he really didn't care too much to find out more about him at the time. As well as the situation that apparently occurred with Beth—something about her being suicidal and cutting her wrist. And there was some obvious tension between some of the women, specifically Lori, Andrea, and Maggie. But that was all he really got out of everything when he returned. He was too exhausted to pay any more attention to them than what he had already given them and he crashed pretty hard afterwards, having no strength or energy left to care.

When morning rolled around, that's when things began to piece together.

Carol stuck by Sophia's side as she did her best to provide her with some food and water. Sophia had been gone for so long and she didn't have access to much of anything to keep her going, so she didn't feel the greatest. Everyone definitely made sure that she was taken care of though, especially Carol. Carl and Leah stayed with them to keep Sophia company. They all got along pretty well. Between Carol, Lori, and the kids, they all stuck together in their own little group.

As for everyone else… Well, it seemed like they were falling apart. Rick seemed to be avoiding Shane. Lori provided Shane with glares anytime he tried to approach her or Carl. Then there was Olivia and Andrea. Daryl could only guess this had something to do with some sort of petty, jealousy act. He had no clue what could be going on between Andrea and Lori though. Glenn stayed inside the house or with Maggie most of the time, away from the group. Hell, there was even tension between Dale and Shane. The only people who seemed to be neutral were T-Dog, Amy, Lucas, and Alex. Andrew had yet to really say much to anyone.

"Daryl, can I have a word with you?"

Daryl turned to see Rick approaching him. It certainly wasn't something he was used to. Rick never came to him for anything. But Daryl didn't say anything in response. He just let Rick continue.

"I actually wanted to ask something of you. And I know you've already done so much for this group, I hate to ask…"

"Get to the point," Daryl crossed his arms in front of his chest. He hadn't done that much for the group. About the only thing he figured was finding Sophia, and anyone could have done that if they'd have kept trying.

"Some stuff went down yesterday and into last night. When Glenn and I went into town to get Hershel, we were attacked. We were shot at by a group of men. Now we were able to bring one of them back—he was injured and we couldn't just leave him there..." Rick paused, running a hand through his hair. "Shane thinks that we should just execute him with no questions asked."

"And you want to spare him?" Daryl asked.

"Not necessarily. I—I don't really know what to do yet. I don't feel safe with him here but I don't know that killing him is the best option. What I'm asking is… do you think you could get some answers out of him? Maybe about his group and where they're located? I'd send Shane but I think you know why I'm not on board with that."

Daryl nodded, "So you're asking me to interrogate this… kid?" It made sense that Rick wasn't asking Shane. Shane would just kill the kid, no questions asked. And Daryl couldn't see any of the other guys interrogating him. So Rick must have thought Daryl was intimidating.

"Yeah, that's what I'm asking. If you don't mind." Rick rested his hands on his hips, glancing down at the ground.

"Alright… It's done. Where's he at?"

"We have him tied up out in the barn for now. It's best if he stays as far away from us as possible." Rick paused, looking up at Daryl now. His eyes met his just as Daryl looked away. "Thank you."

"Yeah, don't mention it…" Daryl took a glance back at the camp and spotted Leah with Carl and Sophia still. As long as she stayed put with the others, there would be no problem.

Leah was happy that Daryl found Sophia. To her, it felt like everyone's moods lightened a little. Especially Carol. She seemed like a completely different woman now—smiling and happy, and she didn't seclude herself anymore. Sophia was the same age as her as well. It was weird how that worked out so perfectly, all of them being the same age. Carl had already become friends with her before she was lost so now Leah had some catching up to do. The only thing she dreaded was the fact that there were only three of them. Three always meant someone got left out. Even though it might have sounded selfish, Leah was hoping she wasn't that one. Though if that were the case she always had Daryl and Skyler.

Even if she seemed distracted by Carl, Sophia, and their moms, Leah still noticed Rick talking to Daryl. They were a little ways away from everyone as though they needed privacy for whatever they were talking about. Leah couldn't even begin to read Daryl's face and it didn't look like he had much to say. But whenever Rick walked away, Leah watched as Daryl walked in the opposite direction. He was walking completely away from everyone and heading down to the barn. She thought she'd heard someone say something about that guy they brought back was being held down there. Whatever all of that meant. Apparently that guy was considered dangerous.

"I don't mean to push everyone away but I think Sophia needs to rest a while," Carol spoke up, smiling faintly. She looked to Lori and Lori nodded.

"I agree, Sophia's had some rough days. Carl, why don't you and Leah run along for a bit? But stay close. I don't want either of you running off into the woods by no means. Got it?" Lori instructed.

"Okay, mom. We'll stay close." Carl turned away from her and grinned at Leah.

They started to walk away as Leah caught his mischievous grin, "What's that for?"

"You wanna go see the guy my dad brought back here?" Carl looked much too eager.

Leah shrugged, "I don't think that's such a good idea. Besides, I think Daryl might be there."

"Chicken," Carl challenged. He grinned back at her again.

"I'm not a chicken!" Leah folded her arms. "I just don't think it's a good idea."

"You're a chicken," Carl repeated. "I dare you to come with me. We can go down there and see the guy and we'll do it without being caught. We can sneak up on him."

Normally, Leah wouldn't give into peer pressure. But what else was there to do? The only people she felt like she had any sort of connection to were Amy and Beth, besides Skyler and her group… And Amy was with Lucas and Beth wasn't feeling well. If they could do it without being seen, without being caught…

"I'll show you who's chicken," Leah challenged back. She began to walk towards the barn now, Carl just a couple steps behind her.

The only problem was they were almost there, and the door to the barn opened.

"What the hell are you two doing down here? Get your asses back to camp now," Daryl pointed his finger towards the group as he secured the door behind him. Leah noticed he had blood on his knuckles and she felt a sinking feeling in her gut.

"You're not my dad," Carl crossed his arms. "And you're not supposed to swear."

"Yeah? Well, I don't care. Get your ass back to camp before I personally drag ya there myself." Daryl paused, "I don't wanna see either of you two down here again. I make myself clear?" Daryl shot back at Carl and glanced over at Leah.

Leah made sure to take note of Carl's slowly reddening face and couldn't help but smile. She told him it was a bad idea but he was persistent.

"You think something's funny here?" Daryl turned his attention to Leah now as she shook her head. She figured it wouldn't do her any good to try explaining what they were doing. So, she waited for Carl to get a bit of a head start back to the camp as she walked side by side with Daryl.

"What'd you do?" Leah asked quietly.

"Don't worry about it," Daryl replied, not even casting a glance down at her in that moment.

Leah bit her lip, "You say that a lot you know."

Daryl didn't say anymore though. They just kept walking until the others noticed them approaching. Rick immediately walked over to get the verdict and Carol rose to her feet, now Sophia-less as she was sleeping in the RV.

"Kid's got 30 men and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here and our boys are dead. And our women… they're gonna wish they were," Daryl briefly explained. Leah didn't understand much of it. Thirty was a large number and if they were bad guys, it wouldn't be good if they found the farm.

"What'd you do?..." Carol's eyes were glued to his bloody knuckles.

"Had a little chat…" Daryl pulled the rag from his back pocket and began to wipe the blood off his knuckles the best he could. Carol partially rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disproval as she walked back to the RV. Leah was able to pick up on that one.

"Well, what do we do then? It's obviously not safe to keep him here," Andrea spoke up, looking to Rick for an answer.

"The way I see it, our only option is to kill him." Shane was leaning against a nearby tree, one eyebrow raised as he was staring down at the ground. Then he casually glanced up to meet Daryl's eyes before looking to Rick himself.

"What?—You can't just kill the guy. He's only a kid!" Dale exclaimed.

"Kid or not, he's still a threat. And the longer he's here, the more we're putting ourselves at risk," Shane replied.

"He may have a point." Andrew stood back a little ways, his voice carrying over. He received some glances in his direction mostly due to the fact he hardly ever spoke. Especially when it involved the whole group.

"Now hang on—nobody's killing anybody. At least not yet, not until I figure this out. He can't do any harm being tied up in a barn," Rick stepped forward. "And this is Hershel's land. We still have to respect that."

"So, we'll talk with him. Get things settled. He was with you and Glenn when it all happened, surely he'll agree that killing him is the best plan of action here." Andrea sided with Shane. She even went as far as glancing over at him, giving him a tiny smirk.

"He's not one of us," Olivia added, shrugging.

"You weren't one of us until here recently. And you can thank Daryl for that," T-Dog reminded her.

"That's different—we weren't running around shooting at anyone and we certainly weren't going to kill anyone," Olivia argued. Alex put a hand on her shoulder to signal for her to stop. She pushed his hand off but she did remain quiet.

"…Even after what Daryl said, I mean… Can we really kill him that easily? He's human. I don't know that it feels right," Amy joined in now.

"Think about it though. I'm not saying I agree with… with Shane… but I don't necessarily feel safe with him here. What if he got out?" Lori questioned.

"He's not getting out," Rick confirmed.

"Then instead of killing him, why not just take him somewhere and drop him? It wouldn't be on your conscience then. You could simply let him go." Dale tried once more to argue his point.

"He knows Maggie," Daryl spoke up over top of everyone. At his words, everyone fell silent and turned to look at him. "Went to school with her. And he knows Hershel."

"…Then he knows exactly where he is," Rick rested his hands on his hips again, staring down at the ground. He cursed under his breath and turned abruptly to walk away from the group, heading straight for the house.

Leah wasn't too sure where she stood.

Night fell upon them in what seemed like a blink of an eye. The wide majority ruled that they wanted Randall to be killed, executioner style. But for the sake of those who were against it—mostly Dale, a few of the women, and T-Dog—Rick decided that he would go out first thing in the morning with Shane to drop Randall somewhere miles out. It still didn't mean that Randall couldn't eventually find his way back with the group of men he had but at least it was maybe a bit more humane.

Daryl didn't really care either way. If they killed Randall, great. If they let him live, great. It wasn't like he was ever going to let his guard down. Except for tonight… Because tonight seemed as good as any.

Leah had already gotten into the tent and was most likely asleep by now as well as the rest of the group. It didn't really matter though because since Daryl moved their stuff, they were situated far enough away from the others—for the most part out of sight and definitely out of hearing range.

Daryl raised the bottle of Yukon Jack to his lips and took a swig. It burned going all the way down but the warm, fuzzy feeling inside his head was a lot nicer than the harsh memories biting at the back of his mind. Maybe it made him a bit of an ass for ever thinking it, but he didn't want to think about Elena, he didn't want to think about Merle, he didn't want to think what tomorrow could bring—he just didn't want to think. He wanted to be able to just turn his mind off like it had a sort of power switch to it. Of course alcohol was the only thing that could even attempt that. And he mentally thanked Glenn for snagging the bottle when he was out on a supply run a couple weeks ago.

Daryl was seated in the grass in front of the small fire he managed to get started before he opened the bottle of whiskey. He kicked at the fire a bit to stir it up with his boot as a few embers caught the slightest breeze. Now that he looked at the bottle of liquor, he realized it was already about a third of the way gone, at least. He smiled at his accomplishment, surprised he hadn't really felt the effects of it yet.

"Please tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing."

Daryl looked over to see Skyler walking towards him. She had her arms folded in front of her chest as she hovered over him at first, almost glaring down at him on the ground before she sat next to him. Daryl just shrugged and took another swig.

"Did you forget where we are? What's happened?" Skyler watched him as he stared back at the fire.

"Don't fucking care no more. Why you think I'm drinking?"

Daryl could hear her sigh but he didn't expect for her to start reaching across him. He slightly jumped, almost falling back before he realized she had a grip on the bottle, yanking it from his hand. He turned his attention to her and watched as she raised the bottle to her lips, taking a rather large swig. She almost choked as she stuck her tongue out and made a disgusted face, handing the bottle back to him.

"Holy shit—that's strong. How are you drinking that?" Skyler questioned.

Daryl couldn't help but laugh, "Big baby."

"I'm not a big drinker. If you couldn't tell," Skyler confessed.

"Never crossed my mind…" Daryl mumbled, grinning, as he took another swig.

"So, I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say you're not going to be up for much talking?"

Daryl glanced back over at Skyler and noticed she was eyeing the whiskey. He looked down at the bottle himself as if mesmerized by it. He was guessing he still had a little ways to go before he got completely trashed. But that was just a guess. He probably hadn't given the liquor much time to settle yet. It probably didn't help that he didn't eat much earlier either. Oops…

Skyler grabbed the bottle back and took another couple swigs, her face not as bad this time around. She was obviously hiding it.

"Thought ya said ya weren't a big drinker?" Daryl eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm not, but I don't see why I can't enjoy myself like you are," Skyler took a couple more swigs before she passed it back to Daryl.

Daryl scoffed, "Yeah, livin' the high life."

"I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?" Daryl raised an eyebrow.

"…This. Everything. I don't know… Aren't you still in pain from…?" Skyler pointed awkwardly down at her own side. Daryl just lifted the bottle up and gave it a little swish in the air for emphasis. "Yeah, okay… Alcohol can't solve everything," Skyler smiled.

"You'd be surprised."

They sat in silence for a few minutes just staring at the flames and passing the bottle back and forth. It didn't take long for half of the liquor to disappear, if not more. And it didn't take long for Skyler to reach the giggly stage. She was definitely drunk and it didn't take much. Though she's a female and she's a lot smaller than Daryl. Add that to 'not a big drinker' and bingo—you've got yourself a tipsy woman on just a few shots.

"I think you've had plenty," Daryl snatched the bottle from her hands and kept it on his right side, away from her immediate grasp. His head was swimming and he felt a bit lightheaded. Overall, he was still pretty aware of everything though.

"Hey!—" Skyler complained. "You—you're not the boss of me, Mr. Daryl… Dixon!"

Daryl bit his lip to hold back a laugh, his face suddenly feeling warm. But Skyler quickly lunged at him, taking him by surprise once again as she practically sprawled out across his lap and he extended his right arm out at his side to keep the bottle from her.

"Right now, I am yer boss an' I say yer not drinkin' no more—" Daryl fought with her, now raising the bottle over his head as she had almost reached it when he had it down low. But he caught the look on her face, a grin slowly spreading. He didn't have time to brace himself before she tackled him to the ground, landing with a slight thump onto his back. Luckily, he managed to still keep the open bottle above his head as he didn't drop or spill it.

Skyler's head rested on his chest now as she placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on her own head. She was silent at first, completely still, before she let out a small laugh.

"Here the world's gone ta shit and I'm here with you," she slurred. "You make a comfy pillow…"

Once Daryl realized she was finished trying to snag the liquor, he carefully set it down in the grass above his head and sighed. After she had knocked him over, it sent his head spinning, realizing just how much he did drink. He probably wouldn't feel too great in the morning but he figured Skyler would be a lot worse off.

He looked down at her the best he could as she was still laying across his chest completely still. He couldn't see her face but if he could guess, he bet she had her eyes closed and was probably close to la-la land. Daryl rubbed his face before he cautiously placed a hand on her back. She still didn't stir, even when he rubbed his hand up and down her back. She was completely out.

Just don't throw up on me. Please don't throw up on me…

I always feel like I'm forgetting something… I apologize that I didn't cover Sophia too much in this chapter. But I figured she'd probably need to rest and Daryl was pretty worn out to really pay much attention earlier on (since it's being told from his POV).

I would still love to hear from all you silent readers out there.