I do not own the Walking Dead.

Previously:

A scream of pure frustration and fear came pouring out as Faye realised she would probably die here, alone and in the dark. The walkers would break down the door and she would be torn apart, eaten alive.

As if her life would mean anything, anyway.

One little girl.

(She was as good as dead.)

Head spinning, Faye passed out.

To say drifting in and out of consciousness locked in a pitch black room with the dead pounding on the not-so-strong door was scary for a thirteen year old girl, was an understatement.

Faye's throat burned from dehydration and her stomach growled. The snarls of walkers had stopped a while ago, but the girl no longer had the energy to stand and push open the door, let alone find her way back through the dark winding hallways. The door was blocked by something, anyway, she couldn't pry it open if she tried.

She would die here, collapsed against the door, her thoughts were coherent enough to figure that much out. It was obvious that the endless silence was messing with her head, unable to see or hear anything.

Damn, she could be dead already! If she was, Faye concluded she was in hell, that this was suffering for whatever sins she committed. Was it because she called Carl a dumbass? She was totally sorry about that, she didn't want to go to hell for saying a bad word! The girl took it all back!

(That was a lie, she regretted nothing.)

She might not have even been awake now, it was hard to tell whether dreams were real or not, sleep coming fitfully.

She dreamt of being devoured by the walkers, only to wake to darkness all over again, body covered in sweat.

She dreamt of the group searching for her, Daryl and Carl leading the pack. T-Dog and one of the prisoners were there too, but the four had dismissed her as an almost dead walker, saying how they would return to it later. When they never did, Faye guessed that wasn't real either.

She dreamt that she was saved. That the walls would fall down and light would force her eyes open and she'd be back in Cell Block C, playing a game with Carl or bothering Daryl. These dreams were a sliver of hope, until she woke to the harsh reality of the cramped, silent room.

She dreamt of a figure throwing the door open, poised to kill something. Dream or not, Faye weakly raised her hand in a vain attempt to block whatever was trying to get her, light flooding onto her face. Then the arms dropped.

Oh, yay. It was a dream about getting out. She liked these ones.

A hand reached down and held her chin up, Faye flinching at the contact. Squinting, the girl's eyes tried to adjust to the new light.

"Faye?" Oh, how she missed the sound of words, of other people! "Faye? Ya with me?"

The girl lolled her head to the side in response, not having faith that her mouth could reply.

"Come on, ya better not be turnin' on me, girl."

No! She didn't want this dream to end with her turning! It was a really realistic one, she hoped it lasted a bit longer.

In an attempt to show she was still human, Faye looked the fuzzy figure in the eyes, hoping to show off the green irises instead of walker-white.

Without any more hesitation, strong arms reached down and picked up her limp body, Faye's head resting against the man's chest.

Faye moaned in confusion, this contact felt too real for the girl to be asleep. "Hey, ya gotta stay with me now, Faye."

Her head dropping down, eyes disagreeing with the lighting. The voice seemed annoyed as it carried away from the cell. "What I gotta do, huh? Don't make me call ya Birdy."

Daryl.

Daryl was carrying her away. Away from the hell she'd been stuck in.

As hard as she could, Faye slapped Daryl in the chest.

(If anything, it was more of a flop against his shirt.)

Faye mumbled out as many words as she could, hoping the hunter would get the message. "Shut up. Thirsty. Quiet, I don't like the quiet! Make it go away, Daryl."

"I know, gonna get ya back." Faye guessed he couldn't actually tell what she was saying.

Carrying her with ease, the girl lay in Daryl's arms as he took her home.

Lying on a real bed was heavenly, Faye's joints relaxing after being locked in a curled up position for so long.

But the water - oh, the water - it felt cool and thick as it poured down her throat. Daryl didn't let her finish the whole bottle, and the longing was still there, but it was enough for now.

The stinging in the girl's throat going away, and she spoke. "You found me!"

"Yeah, I did." Daryl said gruffly. "Wouldn't have happened if T-Dog didn't leave your ass behind."

Faye ignored the language. "He didn't mean to! A big group of them came and we got cut off."

"Still left ya, didn't go runnin' back. Not at first, at least." Daryl muttered the last part, so Faye barely registered it. "Nearly punched him in the face."

"I'm sure he tried." She shrugged. Pushing her bangs behind her ear, the girl quietly said her thanks. "Thank you for saving me. It was really scary."

The man's hard demeanour lessened slightly, but the change was unnoticeable. "S' okay. What happened?"

Faye leant back against the wall. "Well, I just ran away at first. But then more and more kept coming and I had no idea where I was going, so, I took a stand, you know? It wasn't my best idea, I shot one and killed one with my knife. I tried to get another one but I didn't get deep enough in the brain so I had to leave it. It was too much, so I ran for a little longer until I found that room. I just hid inside."

"So it was you."

Faye furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Found a walker with a knife stuck in it's head. Took it out, Carl said it was ya knife. He's still got it."

The girl blinked. "You came looking for me? I thought I went really far out."

"'Course we did. T-Dog n' one of the prisoners came."

So, that dream, one of them, was actually, they really did- Faye was confused. "Oh. I thought I imagined that."

"Ya heard us?" Daryl raised an eyebrow.

"It was kinda hard to tell if it was really you guys or not." The girl didn't feel like continuing the conversation, she wanted to forget what happened. The usual routine, cease to think of the memory until it was practically gone. Twiddling her thumbs, she changed the topic. "Is there any food?"

The man nodded and got up. He waved his hand at the bottle. "Have some more drink. Don't have it all, you'll make yourself sick."

"I won't!"

She was taking a gulp from the bottle when Daryl turned his head to see her again. "You should know something 'bout Carl. Some stuff happened while you were gone."

Faye took the bottle away from her lips. This didn't sound good. Staying silent, she waited for him to continue.

"Lori had the baby, but she didn't make it."

Oh, god. Please don't-

"Carl had to shoot her."

Faye had no idea what to say. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen to Carl. Carl was the person who was supposed to stay innocent!

Okay, so he had gotten shot, and he killed just as many walkers as she had, but that wasn't the point. She-

The girl had no more time to think as there were noises from the other rooms.

"Must be them. I'll tell Carl to come through."

Not giving her a chance to say anything, Faye watched as the man walked away, listening as he spoke to whoever was there.

"Rick," He said. "Who the hell's this?"

A new person? Faye wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Probably bad, if the prisoners were anything to go by. Wait, didn't Daryl say one of the prisoners had helped search for her? What was that about?

She couldn't hear the leader's reply, or the mysterious new guy, but Daryl must not have thought much of it, getting straight to his point.

"Now, come on in here," He paused. "Carl, 'specially you."

"Everything alright?" It was Rick, then, must have been worried about his son.

"You're gonna wanna see this."

Rick apparently approved. "Go ahead, Carl, get the bag on your way."

There were then footsteps growing louder and, the girl assumed, coming towards her. Taking one last sip of water, Faye watched as people came into view.

"Would ya look at that." T-Dog said at the cell door, grinning. Hershel stood behind him, a smile gracing his features. A small 'thunk' sounded as Faye realised it must have been Carl dropping the bags, quiet steps moving closer.

She was going to see Carl again.

But, no, it wouldn't be the same Carl. Not quite. They'd be so similar, almost perfect copies. But this Carl, the real Carl, would be broken inside. After you kill someone you love- no- loved, you would never be as whole as you were before.

However, as the boy walked into her line of sight and she shuffled to the edge of the bed to stand up, she forgot all about it.

His blue eyes stared at her for a moment, gaze meeting hers, before striding forward and pulling her the rest of the way to her feet, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him back, ignoring the quiet chuckles of the adults.

"You're alive." The boy said, almost to reassure himself.

Faye tried to make light of the situation. "Sure feels like it."

"Quit joking," He murmured, still keeping her up in the hug. "Hypocrite."

"Dumbass!"

Apparently happy-ish with her alive condition, Carl let go of the girl who moved to hug T-Dog.

"Hey, girl," He said, a grin still adorning his face. "Ya made it, I knew ya would!" The man's big arms wrapped around her and Faye giggled a little as he picked her up.

When she was put down, Faye noticed the smug look on Daryl's face. "I found her locked up in a cell, fought her way in there. Passed out, dehydrated."

Carol was next, but the woman bent down to hug her. "I'm so glad you're okay, we were so worried when you got cut off!"

"You made it out okay?" She asked, flicking her bangs behind her ear as she did.

T-Dog replied. "It was tough, but we got out."

A hand was put on her shoulder lightly, and Faye looked up to see Rick giving her a small smile. "Good to have you back."

She returned it with one of her own. Then, a hand pulled her away and Faye saw Carl leading towards Beth, who had a bundle in her arms.

"Look." Carl said simply.

Faye did so, and stared at the quiet baby in the girl's arms.

This was Carl's little sister. This was what killed Lori. This was what broke Carl.

Despite this, Faye found herself unable to be mad at the young infant. If she had been, then she really would be a hypocrite. Her own birth had caused the death of her mother, and her father and brother had treated her well. For the first few years, Andy hadn't shown much love, but they worked through it and became undeniably close.

The girl turned to look at Carl's face. It was sad, happy, all sorts in between, but showed no trace of anger towards the baby.

So, she smiled at the sleeping child. "What's her name?"

"Hasn't got one yet." He said, before murmuring something extra. "Daryl's calling her Ass-Kicker though."

She smirked. "Ass-Kicker?"

"You were on the list, you know."

Faye looked up from her seat on the floor. She'd put a cushion down to sit on while Carl took the bed, sister in his arms. "The list for what?"

"Names." The boy replied. "There was you, Sophia, Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Patricia, or-" He paused, and for that moment, Faye saw the broken Carl. "Or Lori. I don't know."

Faye thought it over. They really had thought she was dead, she was on the list of dead people, she even had her own grave. That was hard to wrap her head around.

"No." Faye said.

Carl frowned. "No, what?"

Realising that had been quite random, Faye elaborated. "You shouldn't name her after somebody who's gone. She should be someone new! Or, at least, that's what I think."

The boy nodded. "I get it."

As the baby in his arms began to cry, Carl changed her with apparent ease, the cries lessening. When he was done, Faye asked what she had been dying to do. "Can I hold her? For a little bit?"

Silently agreeing, Carl lifted the bundle into the girl's arms, guiding her. "Keep her head up." He said, shifting her elbow.

"She's cute." Faye smiled down, unsure quite how to react. Looking sideways, Carl was looking down at his sister.

Had she let it be, this might have been an okay moment. Not good, there was still too much trouble for that. But it would have been okay, borderline nice even, if you were to push it.

But Faye just had to speak, just had to dampen the mood.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly. "That you had to do what you did."

"Was it like this for you?" Carl replied, sounding surprisingly calm, as if he expected her words.

Faye looked down, focusing on holding the infant. This was a hard topic; she'd spent so long repressing the memories. "You're stronger than I was, I had no direction. You have everybody around you, that makes you lucky."

"I know that." He paused. "I know I'm supposed to be sad, but it's like I used it all up. I have to keep reminding myself that she's dead. I think- I think I get why you have nightmares all the time."

Nope, the nightmares were her limit. She did not speak of the nightmares, they included too much far too quickly.

"Daryl said to me once that they were in a better place. I just find that hard to believe, his heart wasn't in it." Faye stopped herself talking. That definitely wouldn't help. But, the two children had to stay honest with each other - the adults weren't always. "I... I don't want to think they're just gone, though. At peace maybe."

"How can my Mom be at peace? I mean, she left this baby. And my Dad's lost it. I shot her." He sighed, as if defeated. "I couldn't save her."

"It's not your fault." She said, firmly, but quietly. "Think whatever you want, but Lori dying isn't your fault."

He looked back over to her. "That means your family isn't your fault either."

"I... I don't know." The girl shook her head. "I guess not."

"I wish I still believe in Heaven."

"Me too."

Unsure whether she was crossing a line or not, Faye lightly rested her head against Carl's shoulder. When she felt him lean back against her, she relaxed.

This was a good moment.

"Got the flash bangs, got the tear gas. Never know what ya gonna need."

Faye leant against the car as Daryl and Oscar loaded up the car, rolling a pebble under her foot. The girl wasn't sure what either of those weapons were, but if you asked her, they couldn't have been very effective. Gas that made you cry? What was the point in that? She didn't know why that would help get Maggie and Glenn back, but if Daryl said it could, she didn't question him.

Carl walked over with another bag - Faye herself was off duty to get some strength back - and gave her a quick glance before Daryl helped him load it into the car boot. "Don't you worry about your old man, I'm gonna keep an eye on 'im." The two began to move away as the hunter motioned for Faye to follow them. "Come on."

Rick then called for his son, no doubt to have a heart felt chat, and Faye continued to follow close behind Daryl. He picked up his crossbow as he spoke. "You plannin' on trailin' behind me this whole time?"

"Yeah...?" She wasn't completely sure of his tone. Deciding she was probably fine, she picked up her pace a little to match the man's. "I get why you want a grown up to stay, but why are you taking the prisoner's instead of T-Dog?"

"'Cause I still trust T more than them." Faye knew Daryl was still annoyed at the other man losing her, but it was good to hear he still trusted him.

She frowned. "Then why does Axel have to stay? I'd prefer Oscar or Big-Tiny. Axel's annoying."

"And stupid." He added. "Useless. That's why he's stayin'."

When they came outside again, he turned and bent down to her level. "Stay safe, okay? No runnin' off."

Faye mock saluted him, replying with a grin. "When have I ever done that?"

To this, she got a roll of his eyes and he stood to speak to Carol. She smiled in return and Daryl patted Faye's head before making his way to the car.

"Hey! Wait!" Faye called, running forward to him. When he stopped to let her catch up, she spoke in a quieter voice as she brushed her fringe behind her ear. "What if- what if you don't come back?"

The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly, a little uncomfortable with the girl's persistence. "Thought I already explained that."

Oh. So his instructions for if he didn't return were to stay safe? "Is that all?"

"Don't need nothin' else. I'm comin' back-"

Faye folded her arms and huffed. "I'm not stupid, I know something could go wrong."

Unfortunately for her, Daryl knew more about the way she worked than she would like to admit. "I know. That's why I'm trustin' you t' take care a yourself. Your smart, you'll know what to do."

Calling Faye smart? That got you in her good books. Daryl calling her smart? This was her lucky day.

"Okay!" Faye beamed at the praise. "You've got to come back though!"

"I will." Repeating his previous action, Daryl patted the girl's head.

Moving to stand by Carl, the children watched as the adults climbed into the car and drove away.

Author's Notes:

So sorry this is late. I won't babble too long with excuses, but I have had and will continue to have an extremely busy week. I fell asleep before I remembered to upload a chapter. Every night until Sunday, I will be performing in a musical (Wish me luck!) so unfortunately, this means I won't be able to update again until Monday. Sorry for the long wait.

However, on a happier note, Daryl found Faye! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 17!

Anyway, I'll see you Monday!

Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.