T-Dog had fallen asleep on the drive, stretched out and snoring quietly along the backseats, listening to a walkman he found in Wiltshire. Ace still had her iPod tucked away, which she would have used to fall asleep if it hadn't died a week or two before.

Besides the quiet music they could hear splashing from the headphones of the walkman, the car was in complete silence. Daryl would have been lying if he said he didn't appreciate the silence but he knew that it was bitter sweet. Ace was not a silent person, and he knew the lack of a conversation was due to everything that had happened over the past week and not because she was respecting his wishes to not talk as much.

He did notice that every so often, Ace would glance over at the fuel gauge and the speed to check that Daryl was driving okay. With the way everyone joked about it, he assumed that he was always doing something wrong. Still, he tried to keep the driving as smooth as he could, listening to the criticisms some of the others had complained about Ace giving, as a method of keeping her anxiety at ease.

After around an hour of driving, he heard Ace sigh quietly to herself, putting her head against the window. He knew that she probably wanted to sit in silence as much as he did, he knew how people had off days and just needed

For the first time in a long time, Daryl was the person to try starting a conversation for the two of them. "Ya okay?"

Ace didn't say anything for a second, but did eventually shake her head. Stupid question, he thought to himself. Of course she wasn't okay. He didn't really know what kind of answer he had even been expecting, but that should have been it.

Instead he nodded, as a way of acknowledging her response, "That's okay. S'been a rough week."

"Yeah," she breathed out.

He had hoped his talking would trigger the hyperactivity she normally had when they spoke, the way she could carry on talking for the two of them without Daryl ever saying a word. It made communication much easier on his part, and while he normally wanted the silence for a change, he knew that this was not Ace.

Maybe she would tell him about how she felt, what happened when she and Glenn went missing in Wiltshire, the attack.

"I just miss my dad," Ace said quietly. "After I almost died, I thought about how awful it must be for him. He doesn't know if I'm alive right now, and that I could—I could die at any moment and he wouldn't he could be... and I wouldn't know."

"Don' say that."

"It's true," she whispered to herself.

If Daryl had heard her, he pretended not to. Ace kept her eyes on the ground in front of her, looking down at her boots, not speaking for a long moment.

"I'm sorry you had to kill for me," she said finally. "You shouldn't have done that for me."

Daryl bit the inside of his cheek. Ace made no indication she knew who'd actually killed the man, he thought she didn't really care, or think about it, because she was in shock afterwards. Still, it didn't seem like she was angry that he was killed or anything, which was one of the reactions Daryl thought she might have. Maybe he shouldn't have expected that reaction after seeing what side she was on in the Randall debate.

"Thought ya didn' know," he said finally.

"I didn't," Ace said. "Not really. Just guessed it was you. It's just . . . You've just been a little different since it happened, not that it's bad or anything, but I was still the reason you had to kill someone."

Daryl's eyes flickered over to her. Rick said he seemed different too, but that was only after he started snapping and yelling at him. He was surprised Ace noticed anything with the minimal interactions they'd had since she was attacked.

"I just thought that you blamed me," Ace said finally.

"Course I don' blame ya," Daryl scoffed. His voice was harsh, but Ace guessed that he was probably mad at the man that killed her and not her. "Asshole shouldn't be beating on kids. Ain't nobody's fault but his."

"I tried—" Ace stopped for a moment, thinking about whether she should say anything. "I tried to do it myself. I tried getting my gun anyway. I was just . . ." Ace trailed off. "I was so close to getting my gun. I was so close to killing him. Sometimes I just think about how my dad would react if I did actually manage to kill him."

"I'm sure if yer dad was around, he'd have done it himself."

"You don't know that," Ace said, her voice harsher.

She felt guilty more than anything, even if she hadn't managed to kill him, she tried to. It had to be done, and she would have done it herself, but her mind kept wandering back to what her dad would have thought of her.

"I do know that," Daryl argued. "I knew yer dad. He wouldn't've let that shit slide."

Ace's head snapped to look at him, and she stared for a moment. Part of her wondered if this was some kind of joke, or generalisation of how all dad's would react, but that's not what he said. He said he knew him, like, personally.

"What—?"

"—I knew him," Daryl interrupted, his voice quieter. "Before all this. He was an old friend from high school," he explained. "He lemme work in his shop for a while when shit got bad. I guessed you were his kid when I saw the hoodie back in Atlanta."

Ace nodded slowly, just trying to take in what he was telling her. She remembered him being really awkward about her hoodie back in Atlanta, how he said that he'd been to the garage. She never thought about it much after that.

"Why are you saying this now?"

"I was on the fence about tellin' ya for a while, weren't too sure how to bring it up," Daryl said. "After everythin', it just seemed like somethin' you'd like to hear. I didn' want it to come up like this, but here we are."

Ace nodded.

As the news slowly sunk in, the more excited Ace became. It was strange, a strange thing to hear at a time like this, but she loved it. Daryl Dixon was friends with her dad. There was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn't been there for a long time.

"I don't even know what to say," she pursed her lips, thinking of any questions. "What else do you know?"

"I know that yer name ain't really Ace," Daryl glanced over as she pursed her lips, a small smile working its way onto her face. She hadn't been expecting that, "And I know that's all yer dad used to call ya when ya were lil'. Used to drive ya mom up the wall."

T-Dog shifted around in the seat behind them, making Ace look back over her shoulder to see if he was waking up, and when he wasn't, she looked back at Daryl.

"I remember she hated it," Ace smiled. "But my dad's always called me Ace for as long as I could remember. And when my friends heard it, they started calling me Ace too. It's the only name I've heard since I was young. It just stuck."

"Believe it or not, he always wanted a girl."

"You're right," Ace said. "I don't believe it."

Ace was quiet for a moment, and for the first time she had a smile on her face. It was nice to talk about her dad, her mother, her friends, to be reminded of things that happened before the apocalypse. She only wished she had known about it sooner.

She glanced at Daryl before asking. "So, you knew my mum?"

Daryl looked over, "I only met her a few times, she came to the shop on occasion, brought ya to see yer dad. Even invited me over for dinner once or twice. She could get along with anyone, even Merle."

"I think I could have gone my whole life without knowing that my mum knew Merle," Ace smiled.

Daryl chuckled, his head nodding in agreement. "It's why he kept bugging ya after ya fixed his bike," he said. "I told him I thought ya were their kid, and he went outta his way to make our lives miserable."

Ace felt her smile growing bigger now she knew the reason that Merle had been so weird around her. Well, maybe he was being normal, which was the weird part, Ace thought. That had to be why he was nicer, maybe he felt sorry for acting the way he did the day before, and wanted to make up for it if there was a chance he knew her.

"Yer a lot like her, ya know," Daryl said after a moment of silence. "Your mom."

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Her mother was such a good person, so kind. Ace thought that she could only dream to be anything like her mum. Daryl was right about her, she could get along with anyone. Ace remembered walking around with her when she was young, and she would stop and talk to anyone and everyone she knew.

"I just can't believe Merle knew my dad," Ace said finally, after a long moment of silence. "They're so different."

"They didn' like each other," Daryl said. "Merle loved pissin' him off. I was lucky they didn' see each other that much."

"That sounds right," Ace smiled.

Ace had all these questions now, all these things she wanted to know, whether he had any stories about him and her dad back in highschool. She barely had the time to think about her dad, to get over what had happened, but talking about it now was really showing her how much she needed this.

She looked at Daryl, still smiling. "So you knew me when I was a kid? I don't remember you."

"Ya wouldn't, was only lil'. I wasn't around lots when ya got older."

"How come?"

"Merle got outta prison Just wasn't 'round," Daryl said, before adding. "I did babysit ya once, though. When ya were lil'."

Oh my God, Daryl the babysitter, Ace's mind squealed, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah?" Ace grinned. "How did that go?"

"Ya were a fuckin' nightmare."

"How so?" Ace asked, still smiling.

"Jus' were."

"I see," Ace dragged out the words as she spoke, "And how old was I exactly?"

Daryl glanced over, a small smirk on his face when he answered, "'Bout six."

"I see," Ace nodded, pressing her lips into a thin line to hold down her smile. "Are you sure I wasn't just acting like a normal six year old?"

"Don' see what that's gotta do with it."

"Well, I just doubt that you babysat a lot of kids, that's all," Ace said. "How come you had to babysit me?"

Daryl was quiet for a moment. He remembered it like it was yesterday, as she was right, he didn't babysit a lot of kids. He knew she wouldn't enjoy the story, but he answered the question anyway. "Jus' came over for a few drinks, yer dad was watchin' ya while yer mom was seeing some family or friends, I dunno. He got a call that she collapsed," Daryl glanced over at Ace who was no longer smiling, now that she understood the circumstances. He was quieter when he said, "It was jus' before she got diagnosed."

"Yeah," Ace breathed out, wiping just under her eyes.

"Well, he ran out and asked me to watch ya while he was gone," Daryl said, a small smile on his face as he remembered the next part of his story. He carried on, knowing that the rest would make her smile. "Then you came down the stairs asking where he went, and I told ya he went out for smokes, and ya said 'do you mean fags?'" Ace's smile returned for a second, her eyes still watery as she looked at Daryl. "Almost fuckin' died."

"I bet," Ace said. "God forbid my dad went out for fags."

"Oh my God," Daryl's hand went over his face, rubbing his eyes as Ace stifled a laugh.

She smiled, sitting back in her seat. Even if Daryl had never planned on telling her about her dad, Ace was glad that she could talk to him. After everything, she wondered if she would even be able to do that. It seemed to come easier with Daryl, for some reason.

"I'm not," Daryl's voice cut into the silence.

"Huh?" Ace voiced, not understanding.

"Ya said you were sorry I had to kill for you," Daryl kept his eyes on the road, shifting his body into a more comfortable position as he spoke. "I'm not."

Ace had been getting better over the coming weeks, the group noticed. She was talking more, sitting with the rest of the group rather than wanting to be alone, and could even fake a smile for Carl again. She was still a shadow of the girl that had been in Atlanta, but she was getting there. It was better.

Spring had come around not long later, leaving the snowy weather behind, which made travelling around a lot easier for the group. Daryl was even able to get his bike off the pickup and ride that around again.

It was night time in the draughty cabin they had been staying in, and Ace turned over in her sleep, slowly rousing from the quiet sound of movement beside her head. She pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes, her face contorting at the orange light from a lantern across the room.

Daryl was sitting down against the wall, pulling his knees up so they were bent in front of him. He glanced down when he saw Ace move, now aware that she was awake.

"What's going on?" She mumbled tiredly.

"Nothin', didn' mean to wake ya, jus' got back from watch," Daryl placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her to lay back down. "Sleep. Get some rest, long day tomorrow."

"Okay," Ace fell back down in an instant, more than happy to be going back to sleep. Her head sunk back into her rucksack she had been using as a pillow.

Ace was glad Daryl was back from the watch, his body in the way of hers sheltered her from the cold draught that came in from under the front door. That didn't stop the bitter cold air getting inside her brown woollen and under the thin blanket.

Daryl saw her arms trembling as she shivered quietly beside him.

"Cold?" He asked.

"A little."

"Here," Daryl leaned forwards and pulled his arms out of his coat. He flipped it the right way around, before placing it down over her torso as a second blanket.

"Thank you."

Ace then shifted the thin blanket so that some of it was covering Daryl's legs, not wanting to be the reason he was too cold. The new warmth just made her tired enough to close her eyes and fall asleep again.

"Goodnight," She mumbled, closing her eyes.

The next morning, there was a hand on Ace's shoulder, gently shaking herself awake. She grumbled under her breath, before turning over and pulling Daryl's coat further over herself as if to say that she didn't want to be awake at that time.

Daryl just rolled his eyes as he watched her, still having to repeat this battle. "C'mon," he said quietly. "We're goin' huntin'."

"What time is it?"

Ace only opened her eyes for a split second to see how light it was, and when the brightness hit her eyes, she immediately closed them again, pulling his coat up and over her face. From the split second she saw around the room, everyone else was still asleep.

"Early," Daryl said, shaking her again. "C'mon, Rick's waitin' outside."

He pulled his coat from over her, and Ace groaned quietly, pushing herself to sit up. After stretching for a second, and grabbing her bottle from the ground next to her for a drink of water, she reached her boots.

"This seems like a bad idea," Ace reminded him, like she did whenever they went hunting. "Are you sure you even want me to come?"

"Ya ain't getting out of it that easy," he said, rolling his eyes. "C'mon."

Ace then moved to grab her knife and gun, putting them in her coat pockets she had been wearing through the night. Daryl quickly and quietly grabbed his own things while he was waiting, putting his coat back on and standing up.

As she was putting her water bottle in the yellow bag, Daryl stopped her. "No, the bag stays."

Ace just stuck her tongue out at him, but listened anyway, leaving her bag on the ground behind her. When she was ready, she stood up and followed Daryl out of the cabin.

Rick was already standing out there with two rifles, one over his shoulder and one in his hand, which Ace assumed was for her. She had been killing walkers with the rifles as practice normally when they were just about to leave the area so the sound wouldn't draw them to a house they were staying in. She had never actually hunted with a rifle though, well, she had never actually hunted anything. Ace treated hunting with Daryl as a walk to get some fresh air, some time to bond with Daryl, as much as he hated it. Any time she tried killing their dinner for the night, she always missed.

Rick handed her the gun, smiling at her tired look, "Morning."

"Yeah it is," she grumbled.

And with that they followed Daryl off into the woods, rifle over their shoulders for another painstaking day of hunting with Daryl.

It had only been half an hour before everything was thrown into motion, and they were already doing things wrong. Ace tried holding back a laugh, biting her lip so hard in the process she was sure it would bleed. Rick took another step, that was all he did, but you'd think he'd shot another guy by the way Daryl reacted.

"My God, Rick," he groaned in frustration.

"I-I'm sorry," Rick apologised for the tenth time in the last ten minutes. Ace felt like she was going through some kind of deja vu, because she always did the exact thing he did when she made some kind of noise. "There's a stick there."

"Then don't step on it," Daryl scolded.

Ace let out a snort, unable to hold back the laughter.

Daryl shot her a glare, "Quiet down, you."

Ace breathed out to stop the laughter, "If that's what you wanted, you brought the wrong people out here."

Daryl sighed again, "I can't be the only one that knows this shit. Rick, you need to, you're supposed to be our leader or whatever. And for your family . . . and Ace . . ."

"Oh, you don't get to scold me," Ace said. "I tell you every time this is a bad idea."

"Oh, I get to scold you," Daryl argued. "I bring you out here 'cause you've been with me more than the rest of 'em, I know yer learning, pickin' this shit up. Gotta be."

"I'm trying," Rick assured in the quietest voice he could. "I'll do better."

Daryl just scoffed.

Some movement caught Ace's eye. "Daryl . . . there," she whispered as quietly as she could while still grabbing his attention.

Face scrunched up in frustration to look at her, he followed her eyeline, features relaxing at the sight of the rabbit. Daryl changed his stance, raising his crossbow to his sight, took a step forward, and—

SNAP!

Ace's jaw nearly dropped, hand flying over her mouth as she looked down at Daryl's feet. Rick had also pressed his lips into a thin line to stop any noises from coming out, sharing a look with Ace behind Daryl's back.

Daryl just growled out a low and primal sound. "Not a damn word."

He carefully stepped forward, headed in the direction of the rabbit that scurried off. Ace shook her head, because of course not. Why would she say anything? Her teeth bit into her lip again, trying to stop the laughter. Ace's eyes met Rick's one more time, but each of them had to look away from each other as they followed behind Daryl.

When they caught up to him, he was picking up the rabbit he'd managed to take down before it got away.

There was a noise behind them, and Ace glanced over her shoulder to see a walker, stumbling towards them, arms waving around one at a time to reach out to them. It tripped, but managed to keep its balance to near them.

"Ace," Daryl addressed her and nodded toward the walker without another word.

Ace glanced at him incredulously, but he only looked away, back at the tracks. The walkers got louder as it stumbled closer, losing its balance as it sped up. She stuck out my bottom lip at the men.

What was the point of having them around if I still had to do this? Ace thought.

Being careful to breathe only out of her mouth, she took a few steps closer, letting it approach as she held my knife up high, before harshly bringing it down, plunging into its brain. She tried to pull my knife out as it fell, but it didn't budge, and the weight of the body made herstumble forward.

"Damn it."

"Quiet," Daryl mumbled from behind her.

With her hand still on the hilt of her knife, which was still in the skull, she almost turned around and yelled, just out of spite. Instead she sighed, putting a foot on the walker's chest to push down and yank the knife out.

Ace fell back a few steps, but managed to stay on her feet as it came out. Without another word she followed after Daryl and Rick, but not before wiping the blood away on the walker's clothes, and concealing it in the sheath.

When they had gotten enough food for everyone to eat that night, they started heading back to the cabin. It had been hours, and at this point it had to be late afternoon.

"We gotta good haul today," Daryl said.

"This doesn't sound very quiet," Ace hummed after.

Daryl just swatted a hand at her, which Ace dodged away from, stepping to the other side of Rick for protection. "Brat."

Rick chuckled, watching the two, "Yeah, better than normal."

"Should be seeing a lot more animals 'round now Winter's passed," Daryl agreed.

"Walkers too," Ace grumbled.

"Walkers too," Daryl agreed.

Ace glanced over at him, noticing the mixture of squirrel and rabbit hanging from a piece of string at his side. She remembered the day in camp, where he had been told that Merle was left in Atlanta. When he threw the squirrels at Rick. They came a long way since then, she noted. Rick and Daryl got on so much better.

She remembered being so confused and angry that they wanted him to be okay with the news that his brother was gone, and still to that day, she didn't understand how they could ask him to do that.

"Glad ya actually shot one today," Daryl said, noticing her eyes on the game.

Ace only hummed in response, glancing forwards again.

She had become okay with the idea that they needed to kill to eat, and she was tolerant when it came to actually killing the animals herself. She didn't like it, but she knew that it was necessary. As long as she was using a gun and was far away, it felt less personal to her, and she had become okay with shooting at animals herself. Ace was only really concerned about the noise they created anymore.

"You too," he said, turning to Rick. "Especially after all that noise, lucky we even had anything around to kill."

"I doubt the guns helped that much," Rick said.

"That's why we generally use 'em towards the end," Daryl said. "Not much we can do 'bout it till we find more silencers and shit."

"Yeah, and how often does that happen?" Rick asked as a joke.

"Ya manage to keep yourself quiet, might make this a regular thing," Daryl said.

"I'll try."

"That's what ya all say," Daryl smirked, glancing at Ace.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ace shrugged. "I thought my exact words were 'this seems like a bad idea, are you sure you want me to come?'"

Daryl scoffed, and Rick grinned.

The cabin came into view not so long later, and they were happy to see all the cars still there, no more walker corpses around than there had been when they left. T-Dog was standing on the porch, watching them as they arrived.

"How'd it go?"

"We got dinner," Daryl called back.

"Oh hell yes," T-Dog cheered.

"How's everything been here?" Rick asked.

"Quiet," T-Dog said. "This place is pretty secluded, not many walkers around."

"That's good," Rick said, walking up to the house to join him. "We'll stay here for another night or two. Been nice to stay in one place for a few days."

"Tell me about it," T-Dog said.

Rick turned inside the cabin, before heading inside, muttering something about telling the others the good news. Ace didn't really hear, she wasn't really listening.

"You guys staying out here?" T-Dog asked. "I'll head out with Glenn to get some firewood if you take over watch for me."

"Yeah, we've got it," Daryl called, waving a hand.

T-Dog retreated inside the house to fetch Glenn, Ace assumed. She just planted herself next to the car, keeping an eye out for walkers. Glenn and T-Dog came out of the house seconds later, and Glenn squeezed her shoulder as he passed her. She watched as they walked further out into the woods, but still remained in her sight for a good long while.

"C'mon," Daryl called, getting her attention from his place on the step. "Ya can help me skin 'em."

Daryl normally skinned the food himself when they went hunting, and if he didn't, Carol or T-Dog or some others around camp usually took over. That was normally when Daryl got busy doing something else, like helping Ace with the cars or going on watch.

"I don't know how," Ace said.

Daryl smirked. "I'll show ya."

"No," Ace said. "That was my nice way of saying I'd rather do anything else right now."

"Don' care," Daryl nodded his head to the empty spot next to him on the step. "Gotta learn."

Ace huffed, sitting down on the step next to him.

They started cooking in the night, as the sun went down, barely an hour or two after Rick, Daryl and Ace had returned with the food. They knew they should have started cooking sooner, but after preparing the meat and gathering firewood, they didn't have enough time to cook before it got too dark.

There was just enough food for everyone to get a share if they wanted it, and everyone ate in the living room. Lori was able to be around the smell of cooking meat, which was a relief for the group, as they were able to keep the windows closed and the cold spring air outside.

Daryl grabbed some of the meat, putting it in a metal dish to take out to Carol, who opted to go on watch when they started cooking. He passed Ace, Beth and Carl near the front door, playing a board game with some craft pompoms to replace whatever missing pieces there were when they found it.

Ace looked up as he passed, wondering what he was doing.

"Goin' on watch," he told her. "Be good."

"I'm always good," Ace smiled.

"Sure."

Carol was already on watch, which he knew. She was leaning on the porch railing and looking out into the woods around them for any signs of walkers. When she heard the squeaky door close behind her, she looked over her shoulder and spotted Daryl behind her.

"Here," he held the dish out to her. "It's rabbit."

"You spoil me," Carol smiled and took the dish from him gratefully, taking out one of the pieces of rabbit. "Did you eat?"

"Yeah."

"You're lying," she said. "I know you didn't."

Carol held the dish towards him with her other hand, but he just pushed it back to her. "I'll take whatever's left later on."

She was unconvinced, but took the dish back, "You'd better. Everyone needs to eat, even you."

Daryl ignored what she was saying with a roll of his eyes. "I can take over if ya want," he suggested.

Carol shook her head, "I'm okay for now. If I go inside Hershel will start teaching me to do stitches on a kitchen sponge."

Daryl quietly chuckled, "How's med school coming along?"

"It's nothing much, he's just trying to show me some basics to help when the baby comes," she explained, eating her last piece of rabbit. "He might have to do a C-section because that's how Lori gave birth to Carl. Hershel just wants all the help he can get."

Both of their eyes shot up when they heard rustling from the trees in front of them, and they saw a walker stumbling out from the shrubbery. Daryl pulled his crossbow from over his shoulder, but Carol stopped him.

"I got it," she said.

Instead of using the rifle at her side, Carol used the gun Rick gave her to go on watch with. A pistol with a silencer, so if there were single walkers like the one in front of them, she could take them down a little quieter. Carol knew not to use the louder guns unless they were leaving that house.

She held up the pistol, immediately pulling the trigger and taking down the walker. They waited a moment to see if there were anymore around, if anymore would have heard the suppressed gunshot or the body falling, but there didn't seem to be anymore threats in the nearby area.

Daryl blew out a whistle, "Yer gettin' better at that."

"Yeah, well after missing all those shots at Wiltshire I thought I should probably practise some more," she said.

"It turned out fine, though."

"Yeah, that was luck," Carol said.

Daryl shook his head, "Ain't no such thing."

Maybe he was right, they never had any other moments that would show they were lucky. Maybe they just weren't lucky, Carol thought to herself.

"You were right, you know," she said after a beat. "About Rick I mean. I know I was harsh to start with, but he really pulled through."

"I knew he would," Daryl said.

"He's still working through some things, and I can't blame him after what happened with him and Shane, but he did manage to keep us together through all this," Carol continued, putting the rifle back down against the railing. "I just hope we can find somewhere to settle down soon. Lori doesn't have long left, a couple months now, but when we find somewhere we need time to prepare."

Daryl nodded in agreement, "We'll find somewhere."

She was right though, they did need to find a place before she gave birth. If she really did need a C-section, they couldn't just do something like that on the road. Not only that, but with a baby crying 24/7, they would never be safe from walkers.

There was a muffled cheer and booing from inside the house, quiet, but still audible to the two of them through the front door. Both of them glanced back, but when they realised the noises were happy, they relaxed.

"Is that the kids?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, they were playin' some game."

She nodded her head, turning to look back out at the woods. That made more sense than walkers somehow managing to get into the house through the nonexistent back door. She felt stupid for even bring worried about the noise, she too had seen them looking through boxes in the other room.

"Ace seems to be in better spirits lately," Carol said finally.

"Yeah," Daryl nodded. "She's been doin' alright."

"I mean, it makes sense. If anything ever happens she always has you, Rick and Glenn fawning over her," Carol grinned at him, which made Daryl roll his eyes. "It works for most girls."

"Jealous?"

"Maybe a little," she said. "Wish I had my own groupies."

Daryl scoffed, shaking his head.

When Carol had stopped smiling, she remembered how Ace had been only a month before. Not talking, beaten and bruised. And then before back on the farm, she said that she should have been lost instead of Sophia.

"She never got a lot of time to grieve much after the farm," Carol said quieter. "I wanted to talk to her about Sophia, after the barn opened. She felt so guilty about what happened, and a lot of that was my fault. But I never got the chance before the bar or everything with Randall."

When Carol had spoken with Ace, it was before the barn had been opened, when there was a chance Sophia was still alive. Ace had been so guilty then, not believing when Carol said she wasn't to blame. She couldn't have imagined what Ace thought about herself after they found Sophia as a walker.

"She went through a lot," Daryl said. "Everyone did."

Carol nodded, chewing the inside of her lip for a moment as she thought about it. "I wish we could have talked about it after."

"She's okay now," Daryl assured her. "Either that or she's copin' better, but she's doin' okay."

She nodded.

Carol, too, felt that she was coping a lot better now. This had been the first time she's spoken about her daughter since Carl yelled at her about heaven on the farm. She had been so upset with him, but now she realised that he was grieving and just needed some more time before talking about Sophia.

"She needs someone around to look after her," Carol said. "And I'm glad it's you."

Daryl stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head and turning back to the treeline, "She ain't my kid."

"No, but you're trying to be something for her," Carol said. "I can see that. You may not be great at it, but you're trying. I'm sure Ace sees that, too."

Daryl glanced down, but this moved his eyes back to the treeline and held his gaze there. He had been trying, not just for Ace, but mainly for Owen. After everything his friend had done for him, he felt obligated to make sure Ace could look after herself, that she was doing okay. He just wished his friend was here, Ace needed her dad, not him.

"Just think about it," she said finally.

Daryl gave a single nod. "Ya sure ya don' need me to take over?"

"For a minute," Carol said. "While I get you something to eat."