"I need you to stay here and watch over things for me," Rick told him as he stepped outside of the prison with Daryl in tow.

This was madness. Rick ran into one scared teenage kid in the woods who told him about how apparently some shit is going down at Woodbury. Now all of a sudden he thought it was his responsibility to check it out and see if there were any survivors.

Michonne had briefly told them about Woodbury without a lot of details. There was not a lot of information that she had been willing to tell but from the sound of it, it seemed like an alright town, with the exception of their apparent leader who seemed like he was on some sort of a power trip. Who the hell named themselves The Governor? And who the hell was fine and dandy with calling someone that? Completely normal? No. Did no alarm bells ever ring for these people that maybe the guy was a bit off his rocker?

Whatever Michonne's reason for leaving was went unknown. All she had said was she left a friend there after she got a weird vibe from the leader of the town, which was understandable from Daryl's viewpoint. He would have booked it out of there too. The reason Michonne got to the prison was because she ran into Glenn and Maggie who brought her back after she was shot by some psycho coming after her in the woods.

"Listen, you don't gotta do this alone. I'll come with you. You'll need some sort of backup," Daryl argued.

He made a good point but Rick was not having any of it.

"No." Rick yanked open one of their trucks and threw in a rifle as he got into the driver's side. Daryl was bothered by how this was happening so fast. "I'm goin' in alone. I don't know what's happenin' there. I'm not gonna risk your life too. Stay here and keep things in order."

"What am I supposed to tell people, Rick? Huh? That you decided to go over to that place where that lunatic who calls himself 'The Governor' decided to let in a whole bunch of walkers to start munchin' on the people who live there for snack time? Now's not the time to be a knight in shining armor. It ain't your job—"

"It's my obligation," Rick concluded, his face serious. "My moral obligation." Daryl knew that there would be no reasoning with Rick; he had made his decision already and there would be no changing his mind. "I don't know how long I'll be gone for. I don't even know if what that kid told me was true but I'm gonna find out. All I need you to do is keep these people right here safe."

Daryl gave in. "Fine."

Rick shut the door and started the engine. Daryl didn't waste any time with running down to the gate and opening the two of them so Rick could drive through. Rick rolled down the window before he took off away from the prison. "Don't alarm anyone more than they should be," he instructed. "Keep an eye out for anyone who could be coming this way."

Daryl gave him a nod before he locked the gates back up and let Rick drive to Woodbury. This was stupid. He should be there with Rick. What he should have done was give Rick no option and just got in the truck with him. In his opinion, going it alone was a terrible decision. He hoped that it wasn't going to backfire.

"What's going on?" Beth's voice startled Daryl. He hadn't realized she was behind him.

His first instinct is to tell her that nothing is going on and that everything is fine. The problem was that Daryl didn't think that he could lie to her about this. He decided to sugar coat the truth.

"Rick thinks he needs to check on Woodbury. Some guy told him that some crazy stuff was goin' on and the guy runnin' the place let some of walkers in to the town. Said something about a mental breakdown. The kid's words, not mine. Kid ran off before Rick could ask more 'bout it."

"He's going alone?"

"Told me he wasn't gonna risk anyone else's life."

"Will he be okay?"

They both watched as the dirt from the truck was kicked up as Rick drove away and disappeared. To be honest, he was not entirely sure of the answer. "He's Rick. He'll be just fine."

His answer seemed to put Beth at ease. He wished it could do the same for him.

—

Hours went by with no sign of Rick or anyone from Woodbury turning up at the prison. Daryl had stopped pacing down the empty hallways to go back outside. He thought about going and trying to find this Woodbury place. Michonne had told Rick how to get there before he left so she would be able to get Daryl there as well.

Then Rick's words came back into his head. He was right, Daryl needed to stay here.

He didn't like this one bit. The balance of things was messed up with Rick gone and it made Daryl antsy. He didn't know what to do or what to say to people, so he had been avoiding mostly everyone as he waited for Rick's return and then he could be the one to explain his long absence to the others.

Minutes later three trucks came into view that were headed towards the prison entry gates. Two of them he did not recognize but the other he knew was theirs and could make out what looked to be the outline of Rick in the driver's side. Relieve washed over him as he ran back down to the gates to open them back up before walkers made their way over to the vehicles. Momentarily he thought that could be a bad idea. What if it was some kind of trap and Rick had been forced to drive here?

That wouldn't happen. Like Daryl, Rick would not risk the safety of the group. He would die before he led bad intentioned people back here.

Daryl did not get a good look inside of the trucks as they drove past him before he secured the gates again. All he could tell was that there were a number of people in each vehicle. He guessed they must have been people that Rick saved from Woodbury, making what the kid said about the town to be true.

All three trucks pulled up to the prison courtyard and parked near the side of the prison. Others from inside the prison filtered out fully alert and went towards the trucks, looking to each other for answers. All the doors opened and people that he didn't know got out and looked around dubiously, keeping close of one another before the people of the prison walked up to them with smiling faces.

Rick walked over to Daryl as he made his way back up to where all the commotion was. He saw that Rick had a lot of blood on his clothes and some spots on his face, the same as most of the new people. It looked like they had all been through the wringer.

"It was a mess there," Rick disclosed in a low voice as he approached, stopping in his tracks when he was in front of Daryl. "No one seems to really know what happened. They all say it happened too fast. They were all in the town square and The Gov—Phillip is his real name. He came out waving a gun around saying he let in biters and they were all gonna suffer. Lost his mind and then put a gun to his head. A lot of people were dead when I got there. Walkers were all over the place." Rick ran his fingers through his hair and gestured to the people who were being greeted by the prison group. "They're gonna stay here. With us."

That was certainly a change from his previous decision. "Thought you didn't want any outsiders here?"

"I changed my mind," Rick urged. "They need to be here and we can use the help. They're good people. Young kids, mothers…they wouldn't make it on their own."

Rick pulled him aside and walked away from the rest of the people so no one could be in hearing distance of them. He let out a deep sigh before he continued. Obvious signs of grief were played out across his face. "There's something else...Andrea's dead."

The words didn't quite sink in.

Another one of their own was dead.

"I didn't believe it at first, that she was so close to us this whole time. She was dead when I got there. I don't know how that happened. Had to get three walkers away from her. I almost didn't see that it was her." Rick turned his attention to the truck that he drove back and weakly pointed over to it. "I brought her body back. It was a last minute decision but I thought she deserved to be buried with the people she knew and buried by the people who loved her. I couldn't leave her there like that."

Daryl slowly nodded to what Rick had said. "I'll get a shovel," he gloomily offered.

Another grave.

Another death.

Another person none of them would see again.

—

Daryl saw Beth approaching through the tall grass from the distance when he was about done digging the new grave, one next to the others.

"Everyone knows," she relayed to him once she was by the grave, standing at the bottom. It took her a minute to begin again because she became aware of the body wrapped in a blanket that was by the grave. "They'll be on their way out soon, they're gettin' ready. Everyone is pretty torn up about it. The people from Woodbury really cared for Andrea, as much as we did."

Daryl drove the shovel into the ground harder and chucked the dirt to the side. "You doin' okay?"

Beth hesitated before her answered. "I'm not sure."

Daryl noticed how she had been holding onto her wrist with her other hand the entire time she had been talking to him. It clicked in his head as to why—it was because of her suicide attempt back at the farm. She realized he had been watching her and brought her hand up to rub her thumb against the light pink line in her skin. He wondered what it was like to have a scar there, visible to anyone's eyes and have it be a reminder of what happened and have people question how she got it. At least his scars were not visible as long as his clothes were on. He kept those carefully hidden away.

"I was so stupid then, so foolish. I was weak," she spit out while staring into the bottom of the grave, her hand still tracing the scar on her wrist. "Andrea made me realize I wanted to live though. She helped me more than she realized."

Daryl dropped his gaze to his boots and stopped digging. He remembered how he hadn't really liked Andrea when he first met her. Actually, he didn't really like anyone. But over time he didn't mind having her around and thought she was a strong person after she got over her suicidal ideations. He had thought that was pathetic of her, to give up like that.

Then when Beth had done the same thing back at the farm he couldn't understand why at first. Most of her loving family was still there even though the hope of a cure had been washed away. Now he understood a bit better, not by much but it was something. He could understand the being traumatized by the barn incident part after placing himself in her shoes. He wasn't going to ask her about it though. Past memories are never easy to relive when they involve pain. Daryl knew all too well about that.

"I'm glad you didn't go through with it." The words came out of his mouth before he could think about them.

Beth gave him a grateful smile. "Me too."

Daryl shoveled a few more times until the grave was finished. He wiped away the sweat that was clinging to his forehead from being out in the heat and high humidity for so long digging up the soil. For the end of summer, the weather was sure being fickle. His hair felt damp against his skin and he didn't make any attempt to mess with it other than get it out of his eyes. He caught Beth in a stare, which forced him to do a double take. He saw that she became flustered as she averted her eyes.

"Everyone should be on their way out in a minute," Beth said, turning back to him. She grabbed the bag that was on her shoulder to open it and she took out some tall white flowers that grew around the courtyard and kept them in her hands. "I collected some flowers for her. Andrea once told me she liked the daisies that grew around the farm. I thought that these are similar enough."

"Nice of you," he commented. Beth always did think of the little things.

She fell silent after that. When he examined her standing there for a moment, he saw the sorrow in her angelic features. It was the first time he wished that he was one of those people who could easily comfort others when they were distressed—like Beth could do. He was in no way, shape, or form that kind of person.

"Is she…recognizable?"

"I didn't look. Couldn't."

When Rick had pulled the truck up to the graves and opened the trunk, Daryl saw that he had wrapped Andrea's body in a blanket. He had been grateful for that. Blood had seeped though and Daryl knew she must have had multiple wounds, maybe even body parts missing. He didn't want to think about it or see it. He kept every bit of the body covered when Rick helped him move her beside where her grave was going to be.

"I don't blame you for not looking."

Daryl stuck the shovel into the pile of dirt that was next to the open grave. He looked at Andrea's body that was on the ground next to the grave for a minute before he stepped out of the grave to get her and put her into her final resting place.

"I'll help," Beth generously offered, moving to the lower portion of the body.

No. He didn't want her to have to help move Andrea's body into the grave. He needed to spare her of that memory. It was bad enough that she had to see Andrea wrapped up like this.

"I've got it." Beth didn't listen and began to reach for Andrea's feet to help her into the grave. "Beth, I got it." He said it more sternly so she understood.

Her eyes snapped up to his as she retracted herself upward and took a step back, arms falling back to her side. He saw the pain in her eyes, the sadness. He wondered if he showed the same thing to her. He could normally mask his emotions pretty well but today was different. Just like when they gave Lori a grave, Daryl couldn't hide his emotions as good as he usually could. A death of one of their own affected him in a way that could not be described. Everyone grieved, then and now, including him.

It was a loss for them all. Even the people of Woodbury knew Andrea and were upset by the death of their friend.

Movement by the prison signaled that the others were on their way over and he needed to get a layer of dirt on top of her before they managed to get all the way over to the gravesite. He worked swiftly to get her covered once he got Andrea's body in the grave as gently as possible.

Beth stayed with him the whole time without saying another word. She didn't need to. Having her there was good enough for him.

—

Daryl and Beth were the last ones to leave the grave. They were walking back up to the prison when Daryl realized that he didn't want to go back inside just yet. The majority of people from Woodbury at the makeshift funeral had been crying their eyes out and continued to sob on their way back into the prison. It sounded bad but he didn't want to be around that. It was too much. He didn't know how to act around people who were crying, let alone people that he didn't know.

"Michonne said you wanted to learn how to use a gun better," Daryl started with. He needed a distraction from all this, an excuse to stay busy. Staying busy was his way to dealing with things. "You doin' anything now?"

"Nope."

Daryl strayed from the path they were on and started to walk over to where they kept a stash of some of the guns. "Good. Follow me."

Once they were over there, Daryl picked out an assault rifle that he was familiar with using. He first made sure to unload the ammo out of it so that the gun wouldn't go off by accident. Noise equated to more walkers. Since there was no danger and this was for practice, there was no real need to fire even if Daryl knew that Beth's aim would benefit from it. Also, no one else knew that they were doing this now so he thought startling everyone with a shot would not be the best idea, especially considering the circumstances.

The sun was beginning to set in the west so he suggested they move over to the far side of the prison, away from the noise of the walkers who were grouping along the fences, and where there would be the most light.

On there way over he could hear that Beth's breathing became shaky and it caused him to stop and turn around. Beth's eyes were watery and she was desperately trying to blink the impending tears away. She brought the back of her hand up to her eyes and rubbed them while she turned to the side to shield herself from him. "I'm fine. Really. I think I'm crying out of guilt for not doing it during the funeral," Beth said as she finished wiping her eyes. "And here I thought that I was all out of tears. I haven't cried in so long."

"It's okay to be upset," he responded, though it's the exact opposite of what he had been telling himself for as long as he can remember. "You sure you're alright?"

Beth let out a breath and gave him a reassuring smile. "Yes."

Her tears stopped and her eyes adjusted back to their normal lighter blue color. It didn't go unnoticed by Daryl that he would not have minded her crying in front of him and letting out the sadness, unlike how he felt with the others in the prison crying.

They continued walking over until Daryl was satisfied with the spot he had picked out in the wide open space. He handed the assault rifle over to Beth, who was unsure of where to place her hands at first before figuring it out on her own.

"Show me how you would aim."

Beth gave him a partially panicked look before holding up the assault rifle at a nonexistent target. He checked her stance and she had that perfectly. The rest needed a little work.

"Now lift your arm in the back up higher," he coaxed.

She did what he told her. "Like this?"

Before he knew it, he stepped closer so that his chest was inches from her back and their bodies were almost touching. Daryl's hand reached out and grabbed onto her elbow to pull it back down into a better position because she had lifted it too high. He put his other hand on the front of the rifle to line it up straighter. "Like that."

He lingered a little too long without recognizing it. Beth turned her head back towards him while she kept the rest of her body in place, the gun still aiming and Daryl's hands still on her elbow and on the side of the rifle right by where her hand was holding it up. A few strands of her ponytail brushed against his face as she turned her head, causing him to catch the smell of her sweet scented shampoo. Daryl felt his heart rate pick up automatically. He dropped his head along with his arms and took a large step back while clearing his throat. He bunched the hand that had been on Beth's elbow into a fist before letting it go.

Come on, Daryl, learn some personal space.

"So this is right?"

Daryl took another look at the way she held the firearm. "Yeah. Then all you gotta do is find your target. Watch it closely and don't second guess if you have the shot or not. Most likely you do so don't be hesitatin' or it could cost you your life. Then you pull the trigger. Make sure when you move it from side to side you keep it straight. Don't lose sight of what you're aimin' at. It sounds easy but puttin' it into practice is harder."

Beth pulled the rifle away from her and looked at it for a second before returning her gaze to Daryl. "Thanks for showing me."

"Yeah, well, hopefully you don't ever gotta use one."

"One can hope. So are we done then?" From the sound of it she seemed disappointed.

"I'm not done with you yet," he reassured her, talking the rifle she was holding back into his arms. Honestly, they could have been done. In his opinion, most guns work the same way. It didn't look like Beth was in need of a lot of training with this but it was an easy excuse for him to be around her and to do something else other than fence duty. "We'll practice more tomorrow. I'll show you all the different guns. Some of them can be tricky to handle."

Daryl placed a hand onto her arm for a brief second to indicate that they should start walking back inside, which they did.

"Gun boot camp will Daryl Dixon. Sounds...exciting."

"Really? It doesn't sound like a nightmare?"

Beth laughed. "You don't see me runnin' for the hills, do you?"

"Let's not talk about hills," he grumbled as the memories replayed in his head. There was no need to relive the embarrassment. He had already accidentally mentioned to Beth that it had happened a second time, making her the only other person who knew.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that. Bad choice of words," she giggled. It was nice to see her happy after she had been upset following the funeral. Her being happy somehow transferred the happiness over to him and raised his mood. "You know I bet you can't beat Michonne out though. She was a great teacher. Want me to show you what she taught me?"

The perfect opportunity for him to tease her. "No need for that. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Beth's jaw dropped and she moved so that she placed herself in front of him with her hands on her hips, blocking him from moving any further. It reminded him of how Merle would say that every time a woman put her hands on her hips, that meant the guy was in some deep shit. Daryl tried really hard to hold a smile back but he was failing miserably at that. "Hey! I'm really good! Michonne told me herself that I am. You best be nice to me or I might just accidentally shoot you tomorrow," she teased back.

"You wouldn't do that," he told her confidently. "Beth Greene wouldn't want to hurt anyone. You'd feel too guilty."

"I've killed walkers," she defended. "I don't feel guilty about that. I did at first but not anymore."

"Walkers don't count. They ain't people no more. Hurting livin' people on purpose and meaning it is a whole other story. That's why I know you ain't gonna shoot me."

Beth turned back around and started walking next to him with a devilish grin on her face. He figured he probably deserved whatever was coming his way. "You're right! I wouldn't need to shoot you, Daryl. As history shows, all I would need to do is send you off in the direction of a hill and you'll do the damage to yourself without my assistance." Beth nudged his shoulder as they walked. "What do ya think? Third time's the charm falling down a hill enough to make you a bit nicer?"

He's kind of taken aback by how brazen she was.

"Oh. Ouch. That's a low blow there, Greene." For a moment he thought he felt a twinge of pain where he had received scars from those to falls. Most likely it was all in his head. He then added, "It's not my fault. I have bad luck with them or somethin'."

"You started it," she pointed out the truth. "But I promise I won't talk about...the 'h' word anymore."

Since when did they start bickering like an old married couple? However, he is impressed by her fearlessness when it came to going back and forth with him, not afraid to say anything. It was yet another thing to add to the list of things he liked about her—the list that somehow got so long that it was turning into a book.

This girl was going to drive him crazy.

He might just not mind that.

A/N: I just got done taking one of the hardest exams and now I won't know my grade until Monday. Fantastic, right? My ever helpful professor refuses to use my college's online system to post grades. Why you might ask? That's a good question since he never explained when we asked him. So I came straight home to edit this and I am ever hopeful that my brain is still working after that exam and this ended up being an interesting chapter with few grammatical errors (end of rant). :)

As always, thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and adding this story to your favorites!