Chapter Twenty

I must have remained silent for too long of a time as I saw Daryl tense and grip his crossbow tighter. I also didn't fail to notice that he raised it a little higher either. I swallowed down the hard lump in my throat as I tried to figure out what I was going to say next. How on earth was I going to explain this to him? Beside me, I vaguely noticed Toby's stationary figure and wondered if the dog would attack Daryl if he'd hurt me. Surely he would still remain loyal to me, despite his fondness for the hunter? I swallowed again, hoping with all my heart that it didn't come to that.

"Why are ya so interested in my brother?" Daryl demanded quietly. I noticed the friendly tone had long gone now and back was his hard exterior, much like our first meeting. I wouldn't have been surprised if he would threaten to shoot me in the head again.

"Because-" I stuttered, trying to find a way to make my confession logical. Why was this so hard? I could only hope that Daryl would see sense and the sincerity in my words. I hadn't meant to hide this from him. "Because I know him." Daryl's expression betrayed nothing and he merely remained staring me down. I held his gaze, inferior to his harsh stare. The dark anger behind them lingered.

"What?" He asked quietly - dangerously. I took a step back involuntarily, succumbing to the fear I felt behind his stare, though to Daryl it must have looked suspicious as he raised his crossbow in an instant and had it aimed at my head. There you go. The sounds of Toby growling caught my attention. Daryl glanced briefly down at the dog, though didn't lower his weapon. "Stay." He commanded. I swallowed hard but remained still. "Ya better start explainin', girl."

"He-" I stuttered, trying to form my words. "He was one of the people I escaped with from the other group." Daryl's eyes narrowed at this and I carried on quickly, hoping that Toby wouldn't attack the hunter as the man's trigger was dangerously close to the trigger. One jolt and I'd have an arrow in my skull. "Michonne, the other one, and I were planning to escape when the boss brought Merle into camp. They had him tied up and they- they tortured him." I paused to judge Daryl's reaction. Nothing was betrayed. "I was sent to tend to his wounds and I offered him the chance to come with us, I couldn't leave him behind. He accepted and joined Michonne and I in our escape."

"Where's he now?" Daryl asked - though it was more demanded.

"I don't know." I told him, honestly, hoping he'd believe me. "We stayed together for weeks, holding up in different houses and moving through towns. We knew they'd be after us so we had to keep moving. But one day," I grimaced at those bitter memories. "One day we planned on moving on and things got complicated."

"How?"

"Our plan fell to bits, though it was easy enough on paper. Michonne was the driver, while Merle and I packed our truck up with our supplies. But there was a miscommunication and Michonne ended up driving away before I could get into the truck." I swallowed again. "They left me behind." Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. "I found the truck wrapped around a tree, supplies and passengers gone. I don't know what happened to either of them but all I know is that they didn't come back for me." Daryl's eyes implored me, taking in every word I spoke. He didn't make any move to lower his weapon and I couldn't help but note Toby edged closer to the hunter. "I didn't know Merle was your brother, Daryl, I swear! I didn't even know he had a brother!"

After a long moment of silence, Daryl lowered his crossbow but not his gaze. Toby ceased his growling. I tried to remain defiant beneath it as I waited for his reply. Now I knew the truth, it was a punch in the gut. How these two men could be brothers was beyond me but somehow there was definitely something familiar between them. It had irked me for so long and now I knew the truth, I couldn't help the images of Merle creep up in my mind. His mocking words constantly echoed within me. I wondered how alike the pair truly were.

"C'mon, we better keep movin'." Daryl muttered, not even waiting for me to reply before walking away. After a moment of shock, I stumbled after him.

I took what I could from the wreckage of the truck before moving on quickly, no wanting to stick around for any of the dead to stumble by. With Toby at my heels, we took off towards the outskirts of town. My plan was to find somewhere to hold up for the night, somewhere where I could rest and rethink my next move, hopefully finding some more supplies in the process. It was a simple enough plan.

Toby obeyed me perfectly, following me without a noise. I was comforted by his presence and was thankful he stayed behind instead of following Merle and Michonne. I didn't know what would have happened if he hadn't. The idea of being completely alone in this world terrified me, the more I thought about it. I was immensely glad Toby was by my side now.

Before night fell upon us, we found a small shack on the outskirts and I decided it would do. The windows were half-heartedly boarded up and though the door wasn't so sturdy, it would have to hold for the night. After taking out the dead inhabitants silently, I dragged their bodies outside and prepared everything quickly before things got too dark to see what I was doing.

I found a limited amount of food in the tiny kitchen, but it was a blessing even so. I worked my way through the house, finding a rucksack in one of the bedrooms and packing all I had into it. I had little to work with, but despite this I felt better than expected, considering all that had happened. At least I had found something.

When night hit, I settled for sleeping in an upstairs room, Toby sleeping at the top of the stairs with full view of the front door. I was by far from happy with my new situation or the arrangement I had now found myself in, but I was exhausted and fell to sleep almost instantly. Though not without a few nightmares, of course.

We carried on for hours in silence. Not a word was spoken between us and I wondered if this new realisation had destroyed the friendship that was growing between Daryl and I. Toby had long not sought out the hunter's presence now after the incident beforehand and had chosen to remain right by my side now. I was very comforted by the dog's presence and loyalty, despite everything that had happened that day. I didn't attempt to make conversation with the hunter though I would cast the occasional glance his way. Daryl seemed to remain with the same stone hard expression, never even moving an inch between my subtle glances. I knew he was just processing what I had told him and I couldn't know how much this knowledge of his brother meant to him.

I thought of Merle Dixon as we made our way through the forest. How Merle and I had began our odd companionship with him throwing slurring insults my way to the point where I would trust the handless man with my life. While Michonne had taught me valuable lessons of this now new horrifying world, Merle had kept me grounded with his blunt statements of optimism. I hadn't thought about it much until now, but those statements had aided me a lot during my survival. My last image of the man remained etched in my mind; his look of horror as I lay on the ground amongst the hungry walkers. He looked surprisingly worried, even horrified, at my situation.

I wondered briefly if they had mourned over me, having probably assumed my demise. I then realised that I would have mourned if it had been either of them, I practically had done since then. I then wondered if they were still alive out there, wandering and fighting this world. It wouldn't surprise me as I couldn't imagine the pair of them falling ill at the hands of walkers. They sure wouldn't be easy to kill. If I had made it, then surely they had too?

Darkness began to fall on us and Daryl muttered that we should make camp for the night as he couldn't track in the dark. I half-heartedly suggested sleeping in a tree, an attempt to lighten the hunter's dark mood, though Daryl ignored my comment completely and nodded to something up ahead.

"There's higher ground over there, should provide enough cover for the night." He breathed. I nodded though Daryl didn't look at me for any confirmation, he just kept walking.

We made the climb in silence, unsurprisingly, and I glanced around when we reached the top. We were raised above the ground below though were thankfully hidden from any walkers, or people, that may pass by. It was a good find on Daryl's behalf but didn't find it in me to say anything, especially with the hunter's current mood. Instead I kept my comments to myself and sat down on the ground, glad for the rest. Hesitantly, I glanced over in Daryl's direction.

I hadn't noticed until now that Daryl carried a rucksack and was now rummaging through it on the floor. In the rush, I hadn't grabbed anything but the rifle in my hands and realised now how much of a mistake that was. Of course, I should have been smart enough to grab one of the discarded bags of supplies, but obviously my mind just hadn't been with it. Ruefully, I couldn't imagine Daryl would want to share any food he may have with me, after the conversation we had just had so I concluded quite quickly that I would be starving for the night. I was therefore surprised when Daryl raised his gaze to me.

"Hungry?" He muttered. There was no emotion behind his gaze, but I nodded despite myself. He grunted and pulled out a couple of cans and a can opener. I crept forward and seated myself down in front of him, at a steady distance. Toby was laid a few metres away from us, head rested on his paws and eyes closed, seemingly content. Lucky sod. I hadn't failed to notice the dog lay closer to me than he did to Daryl.

The situation was awkward between us and I watched as Daryl avoided all eye contact possible as he opened our dinner and handed one can to me. I thanked him quietly and we ate in equal silence. I couldn't help but glance occasionally his way, eyeing him thoughtfully as I did. I had a lot of questions for the hunter though and I couldn't contain myself from breaking the silence. The events of the day had exhausted and broken me. I needed some conversation.

"What happens now then?" I asked him, quietly, finally bringing up enough courage to speak. Daryl physically flinched at the sound of my voice and raised his gaze awkwardly to mine.

"Continue headin' to the highway." He mumbled, looking away almost instantly.

"And if they're not there?" I questioned again. He shrugged.

"Keep looking." Was that irritation in his tone? I sighed and looked down, dropping the conversation entirely. I clearly wasn't a favourite in Mr Dixon's good books today. While I wanted to keep talking, I knew better than to make the hunter angry. The incident earlier spoke enough volumes and I didn't want another crossbow shoved in my face again, not for a third time.

After eating, I crawled away from the hunter, feeling increasingly uncomfortable in his presence, and towards Toby to lie down for the night ahead. Darkness had fallen quite suddenly upon us and the forest lit up with its nightlife, creating a little noise to focus on. From this higher ground, I could see over the tops of some of the trees. Essence of smoke, no doubt from Herschel's burning barn, could still just be visible in the direction we had come from and I was surprised to see we had walked so far within the day. Though I remembered that I had done a lot of running to begin with and no doubt covered a lot of ground.

I could make out Daryl's figure a few feet away, lying on his back and looking up at the sky. I lay on my side and merely watched the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. It was relaxing and it helped me sort through my thoughts so I focused on the steady rhythm.

Jimmy and Patricia were dead.

Dale was dead.

Carol was dead.

Beth was- Beth was gone. No doubt dead by now.

The farm, our home, was lost.

For all we knew, everyone else could be dead too.

Daryl and I could be the only ones who were left standing after it all.

The tears were falling before I even realised. I had cried too much that day, I thought bitterly, though there was nothing I could do to stop them. I couldn't control them and before I knew it, I was sobbing silently to myself - silently because I didn't want to anger Daryl anymore than I had done. My whole body shook, from exhaustion, the cold and from the tears. I bit my fist down, so hard I would have bet that I drew blood, just to keep myself from making a noise. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to drown everything out. I tried to focus on other things, on Sophia's happy face for example. Though immediately Sophia's sobbing face at the news of her mother's death came to mind and that only made things worse.

"So my brother really said nothin' about me?" Daryl's voice cut through me like a knife and I stopped between my tears. For a moment, I wondered if I'd imagined the voice, but I knew better than that. I remained silent for a while, taking in his question. I noted that his voice wasn't cold and hard any more and was instead tired and soft - he was exhausted, just like me, it seemed.

"He never really said a lot 'bout himself." I confessed quietly, wiping away the tears. I took the opening Daryl provided and gushed out all I could to fill the silence that had stretched before us over the long hours. "He preferred to talk in lengthily details about each zombie kill he made or moaning about every little problem he had. How bad my driving was or how Michonne was a terrible cook are some examples." I chuckled a little to myself, thinking back on some memories I had with the pair of them. "He did tell me about what happened to his hand though. How they handcuffed to a rooftop and left him there."

"T-Dog dropped the key." Daryl breathed, hanging on every word I spoke about his brother. "By accident." He added, softly. I smiled slightly, realising that Daryl may not have believed it was an accident when the situation first came about. It just showed how far these people had truly come together.

"I think he missed you." I cut in suddenly, without thinking. "I know he never said anything directly, but I knew there was always something he thought about. Whenever we would ask him about his family he would go real quiet for a while. I always thought it was to do with his hand but it didn't really add up to me. I asked him what he had to live for once. He couldn't answer me straight so I knew there was something. I guess that something was you." I paused, frowning as I thought about the subject of our discussion. "Your brother's an ass, Daryl." The statement was so blunt that Daryl breathed a harsh chuckle. It trembled slightly and I wondered if Daryl was trying to hold himself together. "But he always looked after us, despite how he was. Despite every insult he threw at us, I knew he couldn't find it in him to leave us. Your brother was strong, Daryl, and a survivor. I don't doubt for a minute that he's still out there, reeking havoc on the walker world." Another chuckle; a broken chuckle. Which was then followed by a loud sniff. Was he crying now?

"Why did ya help my brother in the first place?" Daryl asked, quietly. "Merle ain't the kinda guy who greets people all friendly-like so I can't understand why you'd wanna help him." I laughed bitterly.

"He called me a bitch the first time I met him." I told the hunter. "But I couldn't leave him. Despite the fact your brother was an ass who is sexist, racist and generally vulgar with his words, he didn't deserve to die like that. I gave him the chance of freedom and he took it. He didn't have to stay with us once we were out, but he did. And it turned out that your brother wasn't that bad once you got to know him." Daryl was silent for a long while and I continued to watch him breathing in and out; it was soothing and had definitely calmed my sobs down.

"Sorry for threatin' ya before." I gathered he meant the crossbow he had quite defiantly held in my face earlier and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It doesn't matter." Silence followed again, though this time it was more content. I could tell Daryl longed to ask more questions about his brother, though I wasn't sure how much more I could provide for him. He would want to know where Merle was and that was something I certainly didn't know. It was something I wanted to know myself.

"We'll find him again." Daryl muttered suddenly. "The bastard will show his face sooner or later." I didn't reply to that, but I didn't think Daryl expected me to.

"Do you think the others are alright?" I asked, quietly. I heard shuffling as Daryl moved about a bit, no doubt to get comfier, before he sighed loudly.

"They can look after themselves. I'm sure they'll be just fine." He replied, softly. I smiled slightly, though a thought occurred to me suddenly and my smile faded.

"How will I tell Sophia about her mother?" I breathed, horrified at the thought. The question lingered in the air. The silence dragged and I remembered the final moments, the final smile Carol gave me, her final words. "She'll be safe with you, I know that. I trust you. Tell Sophia that I love her and that I'll watch over her." She had called me her miracle. The lady who had brought her daughter back to her. Thinking hard, I felt the tears dwelling again but I tried to push them back.

"I don't know." Daryl replied finally, his voice full of emotion. I knew her death had hit the hunter hard, but I also knew he wouldn't show it. Not if he could help it anyway. I thought of the conversation I had had with Carol that very morning about the man lying nearby to me. How he'd given her that flower, told her the Cherokee Rose story. How he'd done more for Sophia than her daddy ever did. Daryl Dixon was a good man.

"And what about what happened with Dale?" I asked, suddenly everything flowing back to me. "He wasn't bitten or scratched but he-" I swallowed, thinking about the horrible images of Dale on top of Carol - trying to eat her. "He turned." Another pause.

"I don't know." Daryl repeated. Another moment of silence. I thought of losing Jimmy and Patricia then, how they'd been torn apart by walkers. Their screams echoed in my memories. I thought of Beth, how she'd pleaded with those men. How terrified she'd looked. I then thought of Herschel, of Maggie. How on earth would we tell them that their little Beth was lost? That's if they'd even made it out of there.

"Today's been a pretty shitty day, hasn't it?" I muttered. Daryl laughed and I relaxed instantly at the sound.

"Yeah it has." He agreed. "On the bright side; tomorrow can't get any worse." I laughed at his words, agreeing with him, and we fell back into silence again. This time I gathered that was it for the night and it was time to rest. It was after a few moments when Daryl's words registered again in my head and a sudden thought occurred to me.

His optimism reminded me of Merle. And I smiled slightly at the thought.

I was breathless. Tired. Exhausted.

I was running for my life, in and out through the trees, the stumbling footsteps and snarls following me. Their stench lingered all around me. It lingered everywhere I went now, I could never escape that smell. Then a thought occurred to me; that was because that was what the world smelled like now. The world smelled dead.

Fear coursed throughout my body, though it was a numbing feeling now. Everyday now I had lived with that fear. Though again I realised that that was just what the world was like now. The world was something to be feared.

The dead were everywhere. You could never escape from them. Never truly run from them. No matter how quick you were or how well you hid. They were everywhere and they'd find you eventually.

It was wrong though. The dead shouldn't be walking. They should be in the ground, dead and buried. Not moving, standing, walking. No one could escape this disease, it seemed. Everyday, you were a risk of becoming one and it was frightening thought - terrifying actually. Something of nightmares.

The dead inhabitated the world now. What was once ours, is now theirs. Everything we once knew was gone, dead and lost. We were mere beings trying to exist in the new order. Our time in this world appeared to be borrowed now. Borrowed from them.

Another thought occurred to me as I ran for my life in that dismally dark forest; that perhaps it wasn't them who were the dead walking-

- but rather we were the walking dead. And it was only a matter of time before we were truly dead.

Daryl woke me up with a gentle nudge of his boot and he began to gather up our limited things into the single bag. I grumbled briefly, not having slept comfortably on the hard floor, which was not at all shocking, but got up nether the less when the hunter asked me to. Before leaving, we scoped the immediate area before Daryl climbed back down to ground level. He scanned the tree line before gesturing me to come down.

We carried on with our journey with quick haste, Daryl leading and me following. I wasn't sure whether Daryl knew exactly where he was going, but I trusted the hunter's judgement and said nothing as we carried on through the forest. His tracking seemed legit enough and I couldn't exactly say I could do better.

My mind buzzed with thoughts and memories from the day previous to this. I remembered all that happened, all that we had lost, and I mourned silently again for our fallen friends. Despite seeing so much death during my time in this new world, I still couldn't cope any better each time someone I cared about was lost. Numb was a good word to describe how I was feeling at the moment, but I didn't doubt that the moment I saw Sophia's little face I would break down again. I could only prepare all I could when the time came.

More hours followed, before Daryl stopped suddenly and I almost walked into him before I realised, my mind elsewhere at the moment. I thought that we had perhaps reached the highway at first, but Daryl turned around and pointed to thick bush nearby. I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Hide there for a moment." He breathed, quietly. "I see something ahead, but I wanna check it out first." I nodded and obliged to his commands, not bothering to argue.

I waited with baited breath, hoping that perhaps it was the highway that we had found. When I looked around though, nothing looked familiar. And after spending a long time in the forest around the highway with Sophia, it seemed evident that I would recognise some of the landscape if we had truly found the highway. This was a down-putting thought. Toby waited beside me, his ears perked and his stance reared ready to bound after the hunter. The forest was deadly silent for a moment before there was rustling and Daryl appeared back again. An odd look on his face.

"Come see." He said, holding back the leaves to help me out the bush. I frowned at his cryptic expression but followed him anyway.

"What is it?" I asked, curious but afraid at the same time. He glanced over his shoulder and pointed at something he could see that I couldn't. I stepped around him to have a better look at what he pointing at. What I saw though startled me.

A prison. An actual prison. Large and grand, looking almost out of place in this dismal forest. I stared in awe at it, not truly believing it was there but after blinking a few times I realised it was. High fenced gates separated its grounds from the outside world though from our position, I could make out wondering figures in the grounds - walkers no doubt. There were four guard towers, all raised high and probably had an excellent view of the world around. The main prison building was powerful looking, centred within the middle courtyard and seemed to hold the majority of the stumbling figures. It looked huge, yet fortified. The walls of the building all seemed to be holding strong though the amount of walkers in its grounds were an uncomfortable thought.

Thoughts then hit me. This place was stable, safe. The high fences looked impenetrable and I realised then how perfect this place would be to hold up in. This was exactly what we needed. I turned to Daryl with a grin. Apparently Daryl was thinking the same thing and was smirking at the sight before us.

"It's perfect." He stated, turning to me. I nodded and we went back to staring at the prison. It was just what we needed. "Just think, we can clear out the walkers inside 'nd it would sure make a secure hold up for us to live in."

"It'll have beds, food and medicine." I breathed, still not quite believing what I was seeing.

"'Nd weapons." Daryl added. He pointed at a tower. "Those guard towers will work pretty handy too, higher position to scout. 'Nd those fences," He nodded at the two rows of fences surrounding the perimeter of the prison. "They'll keep the walkers out for sure."

"It's perfect." Repeating Daryl's earlier phrase. Though a frown fell on my face instantly. "There'll be a lot of prisoners kept in that prison though, judging by the size of it. If we're assuming they've all turned, then that's a lot of walkers to deal with." I turned to Daryl with a raised eyebrow. He merely shrugged in response.

"Don't have to take it all at once." He muttered, before pointing to something else. "See those main set of gates? If we shut them, then we can deal with all these geeks in the grounds. That'll be easy enough when we find the rest of 'em. You 'nd me could take out all the walkers between the fences right now if we wanted." There was a long pause. "Infact-"

"No." I cut in, shaking my head. I knew where that thought was going. "Let's find the others first before-"

"We clear out between the fences then we can go find 'em." Daryl stated, firmly. "It'll be safer, then we got a place to park the vehicles 'nd a place to plan how we'll clear out the main grounds, without havin' some geek sneak up on us from the outside. We'll be protected from both sides." I saw his logic, but didn't like his idea. I knew he would be stubborn though regardless of whatever argument I'd try.

"We better check the fence for gaps then because look," I pointed to a walker within the grounds of the prison who stood out quite distinctively. This was because they weren't wearing a prison jumpsuit or a guard uniform, instead they were wearing civilian clothes. "It must have gotten in somehow and we'll be at risk of more if we don't patch up any holes. Do we have anything to use to secure it?"

"Hold up," Daryl muttered, taking off the rucksack on his back and rummaging through it. I frowned, waiting to see what he was looking for. Finally, he pulled out a handful of thin looking rope. "Can use tent strings to tie up the holes. It'll be only temporary, cos I think they'll be somethin' in Dale's RV that'll be more substantial." I winced at Dale's name but passed over it without a remark toward the man.

"You have a tent in there too?" I asked with a frown when the thought occurred to me. Daryl raised his head and nodded slowly. "Then how come we didn't we put it up last night?" I demanded, realising I may not have had to sleep on the cold, hard ground after all. Daryl smirked at this.

"Ya didn't enjoy campin' under the stars?" He sniggered in response. I sent him a glare before turning back to the prison then glancing at the rifle in my hands. I checked how many rounds I had left.

"I have my knife and just under fifteen rounds." I told him. Daryl hoisted the bag back onto his shoulders and held up his crossbow.

"Got just under a dozen bolts, a knife and this," He pulled out a handgun from his pocket and checked how many bullets he had left in it. "Got 'bout half left of this magazine and another full one in my pocket." He pocketed it again glanced down at Toby who stood between us. "Plus we got the mutt. I'll finally get to see how he fights since I never did get to take him out huntin' with me. This can be a substitute." Daryl met my gaze. "Should be more than enough." He shrugged carelessly and I sighed. His attitude was very much like his brother's, I noted. "C'mon." Without even waiting for a reply, he sauntered off towards the prison.

I watched the man go for a moment, stunned at his readiness but then stared at the prison. It was perfect. And it would be a lot safer than the farm and was a lot more fortifiable against the walkers. When we found the others, we would be able to give them some good news after all the events of the day before this.

Gripping my rifle tightly, I followed after Daryl.

(Author's Note): Did everyone see the last episode of Walking Dead?! It was a killer! I shed a tear, despite myself! It has definitely been my favourite episode so far and I actually congratulate the writers for making me like Lori in those brief moments before she died. Her last talk with Carl was beautiful and so sad, it set me off sobbing! And Rick's reaction at the end? Heart-breaking! I felt really sad for T-Dog though! I know a lot just thought of him as a waste of space but I really think he provided a lot for the group, if only the muscle power! At least he went heroically. Very good episode, don't you all agree?

Back to the story; yes, Ruby and Daryl have found the prison! It took them surprisingly less time than I expected, but I didn't really want to drag it out for too long. And did all those comic book fans notice the little add in from the comics? The whole ''We are the Walking Dead'' was a line from the comics, Rick says it to the group at one point during their time at the prison. Hopefully you liked that little add it :) Now that the prison has come into play, I wonder how much you guys will want me to stick to the show? Of course, I won't be following it exactly but some ideas may be added. Like the prisoners perhaps?

Thank you so much for all your reviews, they really mean a lot! And obviously we have yet to meet up with the rest of the group, so I'm trying to decide whether to kill any more of them off or not before Daryl and Ruby find them (if they do of course). I have some ideas, but I'd love to hear any from you guys! After last week's episode, I'm sure you all agree - NO ONE IS SAFE ;) Thanks again and I'll have an update up soon.