I sighed as we became surrounded by wilderness and leaned my head against Daryl's back. I stared out to my left and watched as the sun began to set. I felt Daryl shift in front of me so I sat upright and looked around.

Off to the far right was a small brown cottage. We pulled up in front of it, stopping near the door. Daryl shuffled around before reaching his hand into my lap. I looked down, seeing his gun and took it from him. He grabbed his cross-bow then we both got up and started walking the perimeter. I held the gun up, glancing around as I slid myself against the cottage. I heard a rustling and waited, watching as a walker emerged from the trees. I put the gun in the back of my pants and took my knife out, charging at the walker. I slammed the knife into the top of its head then pulled it out, shaking the blood off as the walker fell.

My attention was brought back to the cottage as I heard something behind me. Daryl was leaning against the side of the cottage, arms crossed with a smirk.

"What are you lookin' at?" I smiled, walking to stand in front of him.

"Ain't sure yet." He said.

"Very funny." I rolled my eyes. "What's for dinner?"

"Some canned fruit that I got in my bag." He shrugged.

Better than nothing. I said. "Guess we should go clear out the house?"

"Already did." Daryl grinned.

"Of course you did." I laughed. "Come on then." I grabbed his arm and pushed him in front of me. We walked around to the door and I stopped. I looked as Daryl walked into the cottage, but I had a strange sense of déjà vu. I slowly walked in the door and realized how I knew the cottage.

"Daryl." I said, loud enough to make him stop.

"What?" He grunted.

I shook my head. "This is the same cottage from that day-dream I had. The one where you died." My words all blurred together as I walked up to Daryl and started pulling him towards the door.

"Woah. Hey. There ain't no walkers in here Sam." He grabbed my arms, forcing me to stay still.

"You checked everywhere?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Yes." He rolled his eyes. I pulled my knife out again and stepped around him, making my way to the bedroom at the end of the hall. I slowly entered the room, making my way to the closet. I grabbed the door knob and threw it open. The same walker I had seem in my dream stumbled out, looking around the room until it fixated on me. I lunged forward, planting the knife firmly in the side of its head and watched as it crumpled to the ground. I pulled the knife out and continued looking through the rest of the room until I found that it was safe enough to stay.

I walked back out of the hall, finding Daryl still standing where I left him.

"So?"He crossed his arms.

"So? Take a look." I said, leaning against the wall beside him. He moved around me and walked into the room. I let myself slide down the wall until I was sitting on the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, placing my head against them. I closed my eyes and listened, hearing Daryl mumble to himself before exiting the room again. I raised my head and looked at him as he looked around.

"Get out of the way." He said, walking back into the bedroom. I stood up and walked into another room, discovering the kitchen. I could hear Daryl dragging the corpse from the room.

Want some help? I asked, poking my head into the hall. I received a grunt and a wave of Daryl's hand telling me to go. I sighed and turned around to face the dated kitchen. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust, but it all looked brand new otherwise. I started opening the cupboards, looking for any food. I found a lot of plates and glasses, but no food. I heard a thump and then a door shutting. I looked into the hallway, finding Daryl wiping his hands on his pants then locking the door. I watched as he reached in his bag, pulling out two cans of fruit and brought them into the kitchen. He set them on the counter and started opening them with his knife. He tossed the tops of the cans into the sink and handed me a can.

"Thanks." I mumbled, rummaging through the drawers until I found the forks. I pulled two out and passed one to Daryl. We sat at the island in the middle of the room and ate in silence.

"Why'd you take off when ya were supposed to teach Beth to shoot?" Daryl asked suddenly, stuffing his mouth full of pear slices.

"Uh..." I didn't know what to say, so I stood there with my mouth agape, staring at him.

"Well? Spit it out." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It.. brought back some memories. Bad ones." I said quietly, looking down at my fruit.

Daryl nodded his head. "What were they?"

"I was um.. raped." I started. "And my mom's boyfriend, he took his anger out on me.." I trailed off.

"Sorry." He said quietly. "But what's that got t' do with the gun?"

. . .

"SAM!" Mike yelled. My eyes widened in pain from the beating last night. I looked in the mirror and saw my black eye, the cut across my cheek bone and felt my aching bones throughout my body.

"No. Not this time." I whispered as I crawled under my bed. I looked at the door to my room which was locked and had my dresser in front of it. I pushed myself until I hit the wall and looked up. There was a medium sized hole in my box spring, that I had cut this morning when I was supposed to be at school.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you." He growled. I heard the door handle jiggle before there were large thuds against the door. "Open the door Sam." He warned. I slid my hand in the hole and wrapped my fingers around the hard metal, pulling a small black gun out. I had taken the gun from my mom's room just hours earlier in anticipation of this fight. I turned the cold metal in my hands until it was in the proper position.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" Mike yelled. With another slam the door popped open and my dresser fell over. I covered my mouth with my free hand and watched as he walked around my room. Mike soon dropped to his knees and looked under the bed.

"Get your fat ass out from under there." He growled.

"Fuck you." I glared at him. He hopped back to his feet and reached under the bed, flipping the thing over. I put the gun behind my back and watched as he walked up to me. I looked into his eyes as he towered over me.

"You're as good as dead to the world." He spat in my face, punching me in the ribs. I sucked at the air in pain and pulled the gun from behind my back, placing it against his forehead, making him freeze.

"You're as good as dead. You don't deserve to live." With that I pulled the trigger. His blood splattered across my room and myself. I dropped the gun at my side as Mike fell to the ground. "Never. Again." I spat at his body before going upstairs and calling the police.

...

"I.. uh.. shot him. I took my mom's gun and practised my aim for weeks and then I shot her boyfriend so he wouldn't kill me." I said quietly, pushing my can of fruit towards Daryl. "That's why I don't use a gun unless I have to."

"My dad beat me too." Daryl said, rubbing the back of his neck before pushing the can back to me. "Basically left me t' fend for myself after my ma died."

"That why you have all those scars on your chest and back?" I asked, pulling the can back and picking at some of the fruit. Daryl nodded and chugged the rest of the juice from the can then shot it into the sink.

"Here." I said, giving him the rest of my fruit again.

"Nah. You need t' eat." He said.

"Ain't hungry anymore." I said, standing up. He grunted and finished off the rest of the fruit, drinking the juice and repeating his action of throwing the can into the sink.

I stared out the small window above the sink, seeing the sky slowly darken and the trees drift in silence.

"I hate how quiet it is now." I said randomly.

"Don't really care. Don't matter to me." Daryl shrugged.

"I miss music, and just the sounds that you'd hear every day." I sighed. "Must be getting late now." I nodded towards the window.

Daryl nodded in acknowledgement and said, "Best get some sleep." before turning back to the window.

"Wake me up so you can sleep too." I said, moving towards the hall. I picked up my bag and walked into the bedroom, not bothering to change into new clothes. I tossed the bag towards the wall and crawled into bed, falling sleep instantly.