We found our way back to the train yard, each of us stumbling along. I had finally caught my breath, feeling mostly back to normal, other than the soreness of my neck. I grabbed at it as I ran, willing it to stop aching. We crossed under one of the trains, crouching to the other side.

We were met with cocked guns and I stared up, sighing. It was Rick and Maggie. The girl smiled at me, taking me into her arms. I hugged her tightly.

"Glenn?" I asked. She nodded, gesturing behind her. I followed her gaze, seeing him sitting on the ground by the car. Rick walked up to Michonne, mere inches from her face.

"Get what you came for?" He asked coldly. Michonne didn't answer.

"Where's the rest of your people?" I looked around, realizing that Daryl and Oscar were missing. I gasped, looking at Rick.

"They got Oscar." Rick said solemnly.

"Where is Daryl?" I asked, beginning to panic.

"You didn't see him?" I shook my head at Rick's question, everything seeming far away and surreal. Rick turned to Michonne, angry now. "If anything happens to him-"

"I brought you here to save them." Michonne said finally.

"Thanks for the help." Rick was sarcastic. I bit my lip, grabbing his arm.

"We have to find Daryl." I pleaded. Rick turned to the others.

"You will take Glenn back to the car and wait for us." Rick told Michonne. "Beau, Maggie and I will go get Daryl." Rick commanded. Glenn didn't like that idea, but he could barely stand, which left him little room to argue.

The town was empty as we trekked through it for yet another time. There was shouting coming from off in the distance, by an old warehouse, and that was where we were heading.

As we approached I could see a posse had formed, a circle, and in the middle two figures. One I instantly recognized as Daryl, but the other I didn't know. My heart sank as I watched the hopeless scene in front of me. Daryl and the other man were surrounded, fighting off several walkers held at the end of a stick. I gasped, Maggie and I ducking behind a dumpster for cover. Rick knelt below us and I nocked an arrow, Maggie glaring down the sights of her rifle.

"Fire!" he whispered. I did as I was told, letting my arrow fly. It zoomed past Daryl's head, sinking into the walker beside him. He turned, looking about wildly and we made eye contact as I nocked another arrow, letting it fly. Maggie opened fire, hitting walker and man alike as Daryl and the other man continued to fight them off.

Panic ensued, and just to make sure, Rick threw a smoke grenade to the middle of the crowd. I was useless now, so I shouldered my bow.

"Go! Go!" Rick pointed at the crowd. I took off, unsheathing my knife, staying low and fast to the ground. Rick and Maggie shot out the lights around us, it was dark and the smoke was blinding as I ran in.

"Daryl!" I yelled over the screaming and crying. Someone ran at me and I tripped them, knocking them onto his back. It wasn't one of us, so I socked him, knocking him out cold. "DARYL!?" I screamed again, this tiem more desperately.

"Beau?!" I heard coughing to my left and I turned, reaching out. My hand found solid muscle and I pulled him to me as he coughed again. He stared at me through the smoke and my heart pounded.

I fought the urge to throw my arms around him and instead I pulled him with me, running through the smoke and the crowd, back the way I came. He was moving slow and I glanced behind me. He had someone with him, the other guy from the fight circle.

I stopped abruptly, pushed to the ground, a man standing over me. He pointed Daryl's crossbow at me and I gasped, surprised. I'm not sure what happened, whether he was shot or someone hit him, but the man fell, and Daryl took his crossbow back.

"You ain't tradin' up today, bitch." He said angrily to the man, pulling me to my feet. I saw Rick's flashlight shining a few yards away and we quickly closed the gap, letting Rick lead us out.

"They're all at the arena, this way!" The second guy said. Rick glared at him.

"You're not going anywhere with us!" Rick growled, checking the streets for any sign of life. I raised an eyebrow at them, wondering why Daryl had saved him if Rick hated him. Actually, just wondering how Rick knew the man in general. There was a pounding behind us, the second man banging against the gates.

"A little help would be nice!" He said as he broke free, escaping outside. As I made it through the fence I noticed there were a few straggling walkers. I nocked my bow, taking one down, as Daryl did the same. "We aint got time for this!" the second man shouted running off. Daryl followed after him and I looked up at Rick. He nodded his head for us to follow, and we did.

We walked for what felt like forever, finally taking a break somewhere deep in the woods. I sighed, putting my hands on my head, trying to catch my breath. I looked over at Maggie, she hadn't left Rick's side all night and now they were talking feverishly between each other, looking over at the newcomer.

Daryl walked up to me, grabbing my forearm rather hard, and pulling me off to the side. The newcomer smirked, watching me being dragged away. I pulled my arm away, rubbing it lightly, glowering up at him. I knew what this was about and I knew I had no right to be angry.

"Where the hell did you go?" He asked me angrily. I sighed, shifting under his intense gaze.

"Michonne ran off, so I followed her."

"The fuck you following her for?" Daryl was angry with me and he wasted no time in letting me know. "She ain't one of us!" He whispered heatedly. I ran my hand through my hair, glancing over at Rick. He was watching us now as well.

"Rick sent me after her! There wasn't any time to-" I tried to defend myself, but Daryl cut me off.

"My terms. You told me my terms'n my terms were for ya not ta leave my sight." Daryl was seething and he began to pace back and forth.

"Daryl, I'm not a child!" I yelled at him. I glanced back at the camp, lowering my voice. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, perfectly fine. So fine you came back with a busted lip!" Daryl scoffed and I growled, grabbing his elbow, turning him to look at me.

"I'm Alive!" I corrected myself. "I may have a fat lip, but I took his eye! I am a capable human being!" Daryl's eyes softened. "I'm not a child."

"I know you're capable. I know you're tough, but ya don't have ta prove that ta me anymore." Daryl sighed, looking back at Rick. "You don't have ta prove it ta anyone." Daryl cupped my cheek. "I jus want ya ta take care of yourself." Daryl glanced over my shoulder back at the camp. I followed his gaze, looking at the people around the fire. Slowly they all looked away, going back to what they were doing before, instead of watching us. "You mean everythin ta me, Darlin."

We ran into the daylight, making our way back to the car slowly but surely. We remained quiet the entire time, so as not to alert any walkers or patrols to our presence. After Daryl and I's fight, he seemed to cool off, something I was thankful for. We finally came back to the road just when I felt we were never gonna get there.

"Glenn!" Rick hissed as we saw our car. Two heads appeared from the side of the car and my heart fluttered in my chest. Glenn and Michonne both ran up to us, meeting us in the woods.

"Rick!" Glenn said happily. "Oh thank god." He had been cleaned up since the last time I saw him, his face wasn't a bloody mess, anymore, but his black eye was quite impressive.

"Now we got a problem here, I need you to back up-" Rick started. Glenn glanced over Rick's shoulder, immediately becoming enraged.

"What the hell is he doing here?!" Glenn screamed, drawing his side arm. Michonne, too, drew her Katana and I stopped in my tracks. Daryl brushed past me, going to calm our young friend and I glanced back at the newcomer. He held his hands up in surrender.

"He tried to kill me!" Michonne yelled, as did Glenn. Again I looked back at him, stepping away from the newcomer. Daryl hesitated; he also looked back at the man. He seemed torn, confused. Rick pulled out his gun holding it up to Michonne's face.

"Drop it!" Rick demanded. Michonne and Glenn watched the Sheriff, wide eyed, in disbelief

"He helped us get out of there!" Daryl yelled. The others began to yell again louder, Maggie joining Glenn and Michonne. Michonne again held her sword up, inching her way over to the second man. I stood in the middle of them, throwing my hands up.

"ENOUGH!" I growled angrily. They all quieted, their eyes darting from me to the man behind me. I turned slowly, looking at Daryl and then to the newcomer. "Who the fuck even are you?" I asked, pointing at him haphazardly. The man smirked at me, taking a step forward.

"I'm Merle. Daryl here's my baby brother." The man smirked at me and my eyes widened. Merle turned back to Daryl. "Looks like you gone native brother." Merle joked with him, leaning up against the tree.

"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there!" Daryl was livid and he stepped up to his brother, getting in his face.

"Oh yeah man, he is a charmer, I gotta tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea." Merle said cockily.

"What? Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn questioned. I nodded, looking at him.

"She held me and Michonne at gunpoint last night." I said sadly.

"You know Andrea?" Rick asked Michonne. I hadn't realized it, but Merle was talking to Michonne when he mentioned Andrea, not any of us. Michonne stood silently, not answering him.

"Yep, her an blondie were huddled up all winter in the forest. My Nubian Queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws. Kept them in chains." Merle paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Kind of ironic now that I think about it." I shook my head at his racial slur.

"Shut up, bro!" Daryl demanded his brother, clearly not finding it funny.

"We snagged em out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying." Merle didn't heed his brothers words and he continued to talk. "Her and The Governor snug as two little bugs now. So whatchu gonna do sheriff? Surrounded by a bunch of liars thugs and cowards."

"Shut up!" Rick demanded him.

"Man look at this, pathetic. All these guns with no bullets in em. Only one here with balls is Goldilocks over there." Merle looked up at me, his eyes lustful. "Damn, if I could get me a piece of that." Merle's eye flickered to his brother briefly, he was trying to get a rise out of him.

"MERLE!" Daryl yelled again, slamming brother into a tree. Merle looked at his brother a coy smile on his face, his plan had worked.

"Oh, but little brother already is-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Daryl warned again, his eyes wild with rage.

"Shut up yourself! Ya bunch of pussies! You roll over-" Rick had had it and he stood, hitting Merle in eth back of his head with his knife. He hit the ground with a loud thud and I stared up at him, my eyes darting from Daryl to Rick.

"Asshole." Daryl said after a long pause, turning to me. His eyes said he was sorry, but he had nothing to apologize for.

Rick and Daryl drug Merle to the car where he woke a few minutes later pissing and cussing. We all grouped off to the side, away from him, while he stood watching us. I studied him over my shoulder, his arms crossed, picking his teeth.

"We gotta bring him back with us." Daryl pleaded quietly. Rick shook his head, swaying awkwardly.

"It won't work." Rick reasoned with him. Daryl didn't agree with him, but from the stories I'd heard about Merle, I knew bringing him back would be hard on the group.

"It's gotta. Look the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle." Daryl rationalized. He had a sound argument, it would be good to have The Governors right hand man in our corner… if he was truly in our corner. I looked at the man again, catching eyes with him.

"I'm not having him at the prison." Maggie said finally.

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol and Beth? As Beau even?" Glenn asked. Daryl's stance hardened and I felt his eyes fall on me. I cleared my throat.

"I can take care of myself." I said plainly, not for or against either argument. I was determined to be neutral, since I'd never met the guy until now.

"He aint a rapist." Daryl argued, defending his brother.

"Well his buddy is." Glenn spat, talking about The Governor.

"They aint buddies no more, not after last night."

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each others throats." Rick seemed sad to say it, but he believed it was true and from what I witnessed in the woods I was inclined to agree.

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?!" Daryl was angry and he gestured to Michonne who stood on the other side of the street as Merle, glaring at him.

"She's not coming." Rick replied quickly.

"She's not in a state to be on her own." I peered over Maggie's shoulder, watching her quietly. "She's injured and she needs medical attention."

"She's too unpredictable." Rick said quietly. The group looked over at her and she shifted uncomfortably.

"We don't know who she is, but Merle, Merle's blood."

"No, Merle is your blood." Glenn said angrily. Daryl narrowed his eyes at the boy. "My blood, my family, is standing right here, and waiting for us back at the prison."

"You're part of that family." Rick said quietly to Daryl. My heart fell, knowing where this conversation was going. Daryl was going to leave, I knew his type, blood was thicker than water to him, no matter what kind of history he had with us. I swallowed, hard, watching him. "But he's not."

"Man, ya'll don't know." Daryl said defiantly. Daryl looked down at me quietly, his eyes searching my face. He frowned at me, before looking back up at Rick. "Fine. We'll fend for ourselves." I gasped, my mouth dropped wide, my eyes even wider.

"Daryl-"

"No him, no me." Daryl interrupted, looking at each of us in turn. "It was always Merle and I before this."

"Don't…" Maggie pleaded.

"You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn asked. Daryl looked at him coolly.

"You'd do the same thing." He replied. He looked at each of us, his eyes resting on my last. They were begging me to go with him, to strike out on our own, something I wasn't sure I could do. Daryl frowned at me, kissing my forehead, his lips lingering a second longer than normal. "Tell everyone I said goodbye." He said, brushing past us all.

"Daryl! Wait!" I called after him, striding to keep up with him. The others followed, Rick stepping in stride with him.

"There's gotta be another way!" The sheriff pleaded with him. Daryl paused, looking at him. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I waited for his answer.

"Don't ask me to leave him." He said briskly, walking off to join his brother. I watched him go, feeling a war raging within me. I was heart broken and hurt, but I knew what I was going to do.

I took a few steps after him, stopping suddenly to look back. Rick stared at me, almost at a loss for words. Maggie began to cry and she shook her head at me, begging me to stay. I felt tears burning at the corners of my eyes, but I hiked my bow higher on my shoulder, walking backwards away from them before hesitantly turning around to follow after the brothers.

I didn't look back, I didn't say goodbye, I couldn't. We had been through so much together, they were my family, but I couldn't be without Daryl. I didn't cry, I didn't say a word, I simply followed him, like a lost puppy dog to the trunk of the car. He opened it silently, grabbing out his duffle.

"You should stay." He said quietly, not looking at me. "I know you wanna." I said nothing, grabbing my pack as well. I shrugged it on, adjusting my hair.

"Of course I wanna stay, but I'm not going back without you."

Alright guys, I'm having a dilema. I don't know what to do with the sick. I'd like to run a few idea across some people so if you're interested in being a beta tester for the two ways I'm planing on taking this story, please let me know either in my reviews or you can PM me.

It would really help a playa out.

Reviews are so awesome! They really keep me going!

Stay Beautiful!