Beth cradled Gwen in her arms, softly singing to her to sleep. She walked around the back yard of Brenna's house, enjoying the warm air. Brenna was inside cleaning up around the house. She had only been caring for Gwen for three days now but she already felt a deep bond with the little girl. It had also been three days since she had spoken to Daryl. She was still angry about how he had embarrassed her in front of Steve and she wasn't about to crack and be the one to approach him when she had done nothing wrong.

When the baby was finally asleep she quietly made her way back into the house. She opened the door to Brenna's room where she also kept Gwen's crib. She gently lowered her into it and tucked her in. She turned around to see Brenna standing in the doorway. Beth smiled and said

"She's out like a light."

"I made some lunch if you're hungry." Beth followed her out, shutting the door. They sat down at the table to eat.

"So you're from Georgia too," said Brenna, cutting up her piece of meat. Beth nodded and said

"I was born here."

"I was born in Ohio," said Brenna, "But my family moved down here when I was a teenager. But we traveled often so I got to go a lot of places." Beth wishes she had traveled before things went to hell. She had never been further north than South Carolina or further south than Florida.

"I lived on a farm with my family," said Beth, trying to stay strong at the thought of her father.

"My husband and I lived south of Atlanta," said Brenna, "When the biters started to take over we ran north to try and find a safer place. It was soon after I found out I was pregnant." She took a deep breath and continued, "My husband, Tony tried his best to keep us safe. He went out hunting one day and left me at the house we were taking shelter in. I stayed up all day and night waiting for him. After three days of waiting and hoping I knew he was dead. So I left the house to move on and further up the road I found him. He had turned." Beth saw tears glistening in Brenna's eyes which she quickly wiped away. Beth thought since Brenna had shared her own personal story she should share hers.

"We used to live in a prison, Carol and I. We'd been there for awhile and I thought it would be our home." She knew not to tell Brenna about Carol being exiled because of Karen and Dave so she skipped ahead. "A man who wanted what we had attacked us. He killed my father right in front of my sister and I." She took a deep breath, keeping control of her emotions. "He destroyed everything we had and scattered us all. Don't know if the group will ever find each other again." She felt Brenna take her hand and say

"Well this is your new home now. We have a good man leading us, lots of protection and great people."

Daryl drove his knife into the head of a walker. When he brought it back out he kicked the body to the ground and stomped on its head, letting out his pent up aggression. Damien must have noticed because he said

"You alright man?"

"Ya," he said, "Just fuckin' hate these things." He scraped off the brains that had gotten stuck to his shoe. In reality he was pretty aggravated. Beth hadn't spoken more than a couple of words to him in a week and it was driving him crazy. He was sure she'd be the one to approach him first. He'd seen her hanging out with that Steve kid more and he knew he had been wrong to yell at her. He'd see them walking down the street and that he was the one walking with her. He couldn't deny and push away how he felt anymore but he knew he'd have to keep it a secret. He had to remind himself he was forty fucking years old. It just wasn't realistic for him to think anything besides a friendship between them could be healthy. He wasn't even a relationship type of person anyway; the idea of it sent him running. He had never had any serious girlfriends before, mainly just one night drunken stands with the girls Merle would bring home. He watched as Damien took out another lone walker. He was proving to be a good hunting partner, not that he needed one but he enjoyed his company. He had been in the marines and was a pretty good survivalist. They left the woods and started walking along the road.

They passed by a group of cars and Daryl looked inside them, surprised to see there were no rotting corpses sitting in the seats. He did see something that shocked him. It was a sheriff's hat. Rick's King County sheriff hat that Carl always wore.

Beth left Brenna's house after lunch. She was headed back across the street to Carol's when she was stopped by someone calling her name. She turned to see Steve running towards her. She smiled and said

"Hey,"

"Are you done watching Gwen?"

"Ya, Brenna said she can handle her for the rest of the day."

"Great," said Steve, "I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk to this cool place nearby." She could see him blushing nervously.

"Ya, I'd love too." She had had no intention of being any more than friends with Steve when she first met him but she knew Daryl didn't like him and if hanging out with Steve pissed him off she'd continue to do it.

Maggie awoke as she felt the car come to a stop. She was laying the backseat. She opened her eyes to see Glenn sitting in the front seat.

"Where are we?"

"Take a look," he said. She sat up and looked out the front. On the left side of the road was a big blue sign that read 'Welcome to Tennessee.' Glenn sighed and said "I didn't realize we'd come so far North." They were both silent. Maggie knew what he wanted to ask.

"I don't think we should leave yet." There was Beth to think about and the others. They were most likely still in Georgia.

"We need to find a place to settle," said Glenn, "We can keep looking for them, but we haven't seen any good places to stay in for miles, there might be something over the border." Maggie didn't want to leave. But it was true they hadn't seen much but mobile homes and they needed something that was fenced in or at least two floors.

"Alright," she said, giving in. As Glenn drove forward she looked out the back window, leaving behind everything.

Beth and Steve walked along the fence that went around the town. She had expected this 'cool place' to be inside the town walls but as he pulled back he untied the chain links from the fence's pole she realized it was outside. She felt nervous and said

"Are you sure we should be going out there?"

"Ya it'll be fine," he said, "Don't worry I've got a gun." She still wasn't feeling reassured. He came over and put his hands on her shoulders. "I'll watch out for you." The look of sincerity in his eyes swayed her and she nodded. After him she snuck through the fence, tying it up after she got through. She felt rebellious and a bit naughty. She had never done anything like this before. It had always been Maggie who had been the one to sneak around with boys and get into trouble. She had always been the good girl. If Daryl knew where she was he'd flip.

She kept her eyes open for walkers as they walked along a path through the woods. She did have her knife strapped to her belt so she wasn't completely defenseless. She heard him up ahead

"We're here." The woods opened up to reveal a large rocky ledge. Beyond and below the ledge was a big green meadow. It was absolutely beautiful.

"Wow," she said, stepping out to the edge. "This is amazing."

"I thought you'd like it." She walked back over to him and took a seat on the ground. He sunk down next to her. "We can stay and watch the sunset if you want." Beth was too mesmerized by the view to realize how cliché he was sounding. Ten minutes later the sky was dyed the deep colors of red, yellow and orange. Beth had her head resting on Steve's shoulder. She felt a hand land on her shoulder. For one peaceful moment she assumed it was Steve's but then she heard the hissing. She looked up to see a walker standing over her. She screamed as it lunged for her. Steve got up and quickly shot it in the head with his pistol. She was still in shock as she sat there. Steve took her arm and helped her up.

"Are you ok?" She took a deep breath and said

"Ya, I'm fine."

"We should be heading back anyway." They left the ledge and started back down the path. Beth stopped when she saw them in the trees, moving towards them. It was a herd.

They took off running. The forest was darker than when they had come in and it looked different. Soon she realized they were no longer on a path but running through the bushes. She felt her foot get caught on a root and she fell, the breath getting knocked out of her. She rolled over onto the back. She called for help.

"Steve!" She didn't see him. She tried to get up but felt pain shoot through her ankle. She saw the walkers coming for her. This was how it was going to end, alone, in the middle of the woods, and left behind by a boy she had foolishly trusted. A walker fell over the bush in front of her and landed on her. She reached for her knife but before she could pull it out an arrow pierced through the walker's skull. The others were shot down around her. Then Daryl appeared and another man. She smiled, relieved to see him. But he looked enraged; his face red and twisted with anger. His voice came out low and heated.

"What the hell you doin' girl?" She wasn't sure what to say.

"Steve, he ran off and I-" More walkers were approaching and the other man said

"No time for that now, we better get going." Daryl walked past her, not looking down. The other man picked her up and carried her through the forest. She saw Steve standing back on the path, looking anxious. She couldn't help but be angry with him.

"You left me there!"

"I swear Beth I thought you were right behind me, I didn't notice until I turned around!"

"I was holding your hand, and I called your name!"

"I must not have heard it, I was running pretty fast." Daryl yelled out,

"SHUT UP!" Beth looked at him, shocked. She'd never seen him so angry. Even all those times he'd lost his temper back on the farm didn't compare to this. "DON'T SAY ANOTHER FUCKIN' WORD EITHER OF YA!" Beth kept her mouth shut, afraid to even breathe.

The walk back to the town was long and silent. When they finally got back she was taken to one of the hospital beds again. She was alone and she let the tears fell. What had she done? She was waiting for the doctor to come and look at her ankle then she could go. She didn't know how she and Daryl were going to stay in the same apartment without being at each other's throats. She heard the door open and thought it was the doctor but was shocked to see that it was Daryl. She could still see the anger and hurt in his eyes. He tossed something at her and it landed on her legs. It was a hat, Rick's sheriff hat.

"Found that today, thought you should know." He turned and walked out the door.

Daryl had never been so angry in his life. She was stupid to leave the town like that, especially with that kid. As he walked out of the hospital he saw Steve hanging around the front of the apartment building. He couldn't help but grab him by the front of his shirt and back him hard into the brick wall. He got close to his face. In a low voice he threatened him.

"Ever go near Beth again I'll rip your face off." He let him go and started walking towards the door.

"What do you care?" Daryl stopped, turning around to face him. "You're not her daddy or brother, what do you care what she does." People who knew Daryl never talked back to him. He went back over and said

"You fuckin' leave her alone!" Steve had a smirk on his face.

"Oh I get it now, you two are fucking. Did coming here make her realize there's more out there for her than just an old redneck?" He saw red and before he knew what he was doing he had punched the kid in the face. He was on the ground, his nose broken and bleeding.

"What the fuck?!" he said, wiping some of the blood off. Disgusted, Daryl walked into the building, leaving him there. He walked into the apartment, he saw Carol standing in the kitchen. He kept walking as she tried to talk to him.

"Where have you been? And where's Beth?!" There wasn't anywhere for him to go off and be by himself like the prison. It was a four room apartment. So he went over to the window, looking outside and keeping his back to Carol. He knew he'd have to tell her what happened and it would only be worse if he waited.

"Found her with that kid outside the walls. They were gettin' attacked by walkers."

"Is she ok?!"

"Ya just sprained her ankle; she's down in the hospital again. I can't believe she'd fuckin' run off with that kid. He left her on the ground with a hurt ankle and just kept goin'. I gave him a good talkin' to before I came in here." He felt Carol wrap her arms around him from behind. He was still too pissed off about what Steve had said to him to really care. "I found Rick's sheriff hat today," he said, "In a car on the side of the road, looked like it'd been there for awhile, couldn't find any fresh evidence to show recent activity."

"They're out there somewhere," said Carol, "They're survivors you'll find them eventually."

Daryl knew finding the hat was a serious new clue in their attempt to find the others but he couldn't help his thoughts from drifting back to Beth. He thought of her going off alone with Steve. What had they been doing in the woods? He hadn't really asked her. Maybe they had just gone for a walk or maybe they had been looking for a private place. The thought sent his temper flaring again. He thought back to when she had told him that maybe she only wanted one thing from Steve too. He was pretty sure Beth was a virgin. There had been Zach and that boy she had dated back on the farm but the relationships hadn't been that long and Beth didn't seem to be the type to jump right into having sex. He turned around and looked down at Carol. She had a sympathetic expression and she gently placed both her hands on his face. It was in the heat of the moment, in his anger at seeing Beth with another boy he couldn't help but want to get back at her. When Carol leaned up and kissed him he didn't stop her. The kiss got more passionate and he felt her backing him towards the bedroom. He couldn't go that far. He was about to back away and tell Carol what they were doing was wrong but the image of Beth with Steve flashed through his mind. He let her bring him into the bedroom. He went down onto the bed backwards. Everything in his mind was screaming no, he had no sexual attraction to Carol. She climbed onto him and pressed her lips back onto his. She started to claw at his shirt which he slipped off over his head. He was careful to keep his back down on the bed, not wanting to reveal any of his scars. He felt her fumbling with his belt. He heard a small gasp and both of them froze. He looked up to see Beth standing in the doorway. Her face was red with embarrassment. She looked shocked and hurt. He also noticed that her foot was wrapped in a bandage. He heard her mutter

"Sorry," then she left the doorway. Carol was off of him and sitting beside him, her face also red with embarrassment. He got off the bed, re-buckled his belt and pulled his shirt on. He found Beth lying on the couch, the blanket pulled over her head. Before he could speak she sensed his presence and said "Just go away." Daryl thought about standing there and trying to explain things to her. His feelings about her and how confused he really was. He couldn't do it, so he walked away and left the apartment.

Thanks everyone for the reviewing and reading :) To be honest I thought writing Daryl and Beth would be hard for me because I didn't think I'd do a good job at keeping Daryl in character but I'm actually finding it really fun lol. I bet you're all pissed at him right now but don't worry things will get better ;) I've never liked the idea of Carol and Daryl. They're way too much alike and I feel like they wouldn't have a healthy relationship. I also think Carol's too old for Daryl lol