I'd like to thank everyone for their continued patience. I know this chapter was a long time coming. I'm trying to write at least a little bit every day, but sometimes life just insists otherwise. Anyway, thanks again, and I hope it's worth the wait.

Daryl woke from what was probably the best sleep he'd had in weeks...months...hell, maybe even years. His head was still a little achy and groggy thanks to the wine he'd consumed the night before, but he felt well-rested despite the threatening headache. He just hoped Dr. what's-his-name had some Tylenol or something to help him out.

He methodically began to stretch his muscles, letting the mattress cradle him just a little longer. He frowned and looked to either side of him, realizing only now that Beth was no longer in bed with him. Had she finally left him now that they were relatively safe? This place had food, electricity, running water. For all he knew, there were spare clothes stored somewhere that she was trying on right now. A moment's pause as he fought the sneaking feeling of disappointment from sinking too deep into his chest (seriously, what the hell was going on with him lately), he got his answer: on the other side of the bedroom wall, he heard the steady stream of the shower running. There was something more, though...something soft and sweet and damn near haunting.

Beth was singing.

Daryl wouldn't ever consider himself a connoisseur of good music, but he knew what he liked, and damn if her voice wasn't doing something to him...something not entirely unpleasant. If he were to let himself get sentimental and all that shit, he'd say it was working its way in and around him, filling and soothing him with its sad but sweet melody. It stirred something deep in his chest, something he couldn't quite identify. All he knew was that he was pretty sure he could listen to her singing all damn day...not that he'd ever let her know that.

He had the strong, sudden urge to hear her voice in a completely different capacity – memories of her crying out in pleasure as he fucked her the night before had him stirring in a much more familiar way. All he wanted to do in that moment was chase that voice out of her again, hear it panting his name in his ear over and over.

His mind made up, Daryl threw the blankets off himself and stood up in one fluid motion...

...and abruptly collapsed back onto the bed. The combination of a hangover headache, sudden motion, and what felt like most of his blood rushing to his dick caused him to reel backwards, leaving him with very little sense of balance at all.

He hung his head and focused on breathing, keeping the sudden wave of nausea at bay, not to mention trying to gain some sense of equilibrium. All (well, most) thoughts of steamy shower sex with his blonde songbird vanished. That's all he needed – be in the middle of the act and get a sudden case of the spins. He could see it all in his head: her long legs wrapped around him as he pressed her up against the tiled wall and then his own legs give out from under him, sending them both to the floor, at least one of them getting knocked unconscious.

Nope. He'd just have to calm himself down and wait for his next chance to be with her.

And damn he hoped it would be soon.

.oOo.

He's not sure exactly how it happened. One minute they were eating breakfast with the group, the next, Jenner was telling them that the building's generators were nearly out of fuel, which meant that the main systems were shutting down, including the computers that controlled all the viruses and whatever else they had in the labs. The only outcome was to blow the whole damn complex to kingdom come...from the inside...with all of them trapped inside. And it would all go down in a matter of minutes.

It was unacceptable. More than that, it was fucking bullshit.

Daryl felt helpless. One look at Beth, with her eyes wide and bottom lip quivering, had him burning with rage that this was the only option. He refused to believe it. He grabbed an axe one of the group had brought in the night before and started going to town on the metal doors separating them from the corridor that would lead them outside. Blow after blow, he was hardly making a dent. His next instinct was to crack the damn doctor's head open; surely one of the group could figure out what button would open the doors even without his help. He felt arms wrap around him, holding him back, until he finally gave in and returned to the doors, trying like hell to block out the quiet sobs of those behind him.

Finally, someone talked Jenner into giving them the chance to survive. The doors in front of him slid open. Daryl rushed back and grabbed Beth by the wrist and all but dragged her behind him into the hallway, racing to their room to grab what little they had before making their way to the lobby. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the group behind them, all frantically trying any and all exits, resorting to attacking the thick windows lining the walls.

While others fired shotgun blasts and even tried breaking through the glass with an aluminum chair, Daryl kept Beth close and kept hacking away at the same spot near the framework with the axe. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carol digging through a duffel bag and hand something to Rick. Rick began yelling for everyone to get back; Daryl looked up curiously before making any kind of move. When he realized Carol had given him a damn grenade (wherever the hell it had come from), he grabbed Beth and hauled her as far back into the building as he could and threw himself on top of her, feeling her tremble beneath him as they both awaited the blast.

They didn't have time to wait for the dust to clear; as soon as they saw the window panel had been blown away, everyone made a break for it, knowing they had only seconds to get as far from the CDC building as they could. Daryl was grateful for Beth's long legs being able to vault over the piles of sandbags in their way as they rushed to the line of vehicles out on the street. They both slammed into the truck together before Daryl could find the handle and wrench open the door. He all but threw Beth across the worn and faded seat before covering her once again.

At first he wasn't sure the blast would ever come...until it did. The truck rocked back and forth from the force of the explosion as a wave of near-blistering heat surrounded them.

And then it was over. He couldn't hear much over the ringing in his ears, having been near the blast radius of two explosions within minutes of each other, but he felt Beth move next to him as he sat up to survey the damage. The blast radius reached just shy of the sidewalk; the building was basically obliterated, nothing left but smoking piles of molten steel and smoldering concrete. Daryl turned back to Beth, cupping her cheek with his hand. "You okay?" he asked, not sure if she could hear him or not. She nodded against his palm, gulping in lungful after lungful of air. He nodded, then pulled her close to him, setting her on his lap before shifting her to the other side of the cab so he could slide under the steering wheel. He breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. Within minutes, their mix-matched caravan was in motion once again, following the road out of Atlanta.

.oOo.

Daryl ended up having to abandon the truck and consolidate everything they had into the side compartments of Merle's bike. If Beth was nervous about riding on the back of the bike, she didn't show it. Much. Part of him knew she was holding onto him tightly, for dear life, out of fear of falling off. The other part foolishly hoped she was holding him tight because she wanted to.

Hours later, he noticed Beth sitting more upright than she had for the duration of the drive so far, her hands fidgeting against his stomach. He slowed down to look over his shoulder at her and saw she was grinning ear to ear, practically glowing with excitement. "The hell's a'matter with you?"

"I know where we are," she said, all but bouncing in her seat. "This is the highway I was supposed to be on. It runs right by my daddy's farm."

Daryl's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't expected that at all. He knew the group was quickly running out of options for places to stay. Truth be told, they were out of options, running on fumes, hoping for a miracle. "Well, hell, girl. Think he'd mind a couple visitors?"

She didn't get a chance to answer before Daryl had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of him. He craned his neck around to see what caused the sudden stop and saw a cloud of steam seeping from the front of Dale's RV. As more and more of their group left their vehicles, Beth and Daryl followed suit. He knew Dale had been limping the RV along for a while. The sun was on its way back toward the horizon, though they still had a couple good hours of sunlight left to see what they could find in the cars around them.

Daryl had made sure Beth was right next to him as they scavenged through the cars, grabbing what they could. It seemed Beth had realized just because they were near her daddy's farm didn't mean her daddy, or any of her family, was still there, and they needed to be prepared for that. Things were going fine until it got quiet.

Then a little too quiet.

And then, that same foreboding quiet was slowly replaced by the unmistakable growls of walkers...and it wasn't just a couple. It was a whole damn herd; had to have been at least fifty of the damn things coming right toward them.

"Shit."

He grabbed Beth's hand and all but dragged her after him, causing her to drop everything she'd found, but he just couldn't bring himself to care right now. Together they made their way down the road, going the same direction as the walkers, trying to avoid being seen while looking for a place to hide. As they passed a delivery truck, he heard someone panting, damn near hyperventilating. T-dog was bleeding, badly, down his forearm and a walker was closing in on him, cornering him against the tire of a car.

Daryl quietly handed his crossbow to Beth and silently slid his knife into the back of the walker's head. He muttered over his shoulder, "Get in the car," before pulling T-dog to lie flat on the ground and covering the man with the recently killed walker. When he turned around, Beth was still standing, dumbfounded, crossbow held loosely in her hands, staring at the scene with her mouth hanging open. "Get in the damn car, Beth," he growled out, grabbing her upper arm and pulling her toward the sedan, yanking the bow out of her hands while unceremoniously shoving her in the back seat before closing the door as quietly as he could, given how pissed he was. "Don't fuckin' move," he all but barked at her before grabbing the corpse out of the front seat and pulling it on top of himself, hiding from the oncoming horde.

Within seconds, he heard the raspy groans and scuffing feet filtering past him, hoping to high heaven that Beth had actually listened to him and stayed right where he put her. Once the last of the walkers had passed, he waited another minute or so to make sure the coast was absolutely clear before shoving the body off himself, opening the car door for Beth, and silently enlisting her help in carrying T-dog to the rest of the group.

When they had all reconvened, he noticed Rick was missing. Apparently, Carol's little girl had gotten scared and ran off and Rick went to find her. Close to an hour later, Rick came back, surprised the girl hadn't returned yet. Both he and Carol looked at Daryl expectantly, like he was supposed to just jump at the chance to go on a wild goose chase. He was about to tell them all to fuck right off until Beth laid a soft hand on his upper arm and looked up at him with those big blue eyes. "I ain't leavin' you behind," he whispered. "These idiots can't even take care of their own, how the hell are they gonna look after you, too?"

"Then I'll go with you. I know parts of these woods. We're not all that far from my dad's farm," she argued, and Daryl was hard pressed to find any fault in her logic.

"You got that knife on ya still?" She nodded in response, placing her hand on the handle. "Fine," he said gruffly and lumbered over the highway guardrail.

It ended up that the girl, Sophia, had run the opposite way of the farm, so Beth wasn't all that much help after all. Still, he felt better with her there with him rather than back with the crew suffering from a case of permanent-head-up-their-ass. After an hour or so with no trail to follow, the sun had sunk low enough that Daryl wouldn't be able to really look for the girl without a flashlight. They turned back, Rick reluctantly so, and crawled back over the guardrail with just barely enough light to see the rest of the group crowded around him. He shrugged his crossbow more securely over his shoulder and let Rick deal with the questions. He had more important things to worry about, like where the hell he and Beth were going to sleep that night.

Luckily, or so he thought, Dale had offered up his RV to them. The problem was, he had offered it to others as well, including Carol, so all night, Daryl could hear her sobbing and sniffling. Daryl was sitting at the table with his legs propped up on the opposite bench, Beth cuddled up against him, her head against his chest. He couldn't find a good spot for his head to rest against that wouldn't end up with a stiff neck in the morning, and, not for the first time, he regretted leaving the truck behind. Live and learn, he thought.

"Daryl?" Beth's whisper pulled him from his thoughts. "I need to get out of here. It's too stuffy and..." she trailed off, but he felt her turn her head to face the bedroom area in the back where Carol's sobbing hadn't let up at all.

"Yeah. Let's go."

They walked down the highway, staying in the shadows and out of sight of any walkers that may be lingering nearby. Fortunately, any walker worth worrying about had followed the horde that had come through earlier in the day, leaving the woods that lined the road relatively safe, at least for the time being. They'd travelled a mile, more or less, when Beth slowed to a stop. Daryl had taken two steps before realizing she was now behind him and turned to find out what the hell she was doing.

"If we go around that bend, down another couple miles, you'll see my mailbox."

Daryl blinked at her, her words not quite computing in his sleep deprived brain. "Say what?"

Beth stared off into the distance for a moment before shaking herself from her thoughts and looking at him, meeting his angry stare. "I...I told you we were close," she offered weakly.

He readjusted his crossbow on his shoulder and stepped toward her, toward the rest of the group behind her. "The fuck we standin' here for? Let's go get the bike an' head..."

"I can't, Daryl."

He frowned at that, taking another step toward her. "Why the fuck not?"

She hung her head and twisted her fingers in knots. "I...I don't know..." She drew in a deep breath and forced her hands to her sides, steeling herself to look up at him again. "What if they're all gone? If they left? If they're all dead? If they're walking around like those...things? I couldn't stand watching someone put them down. I'd be alone. No family left. I just...I can't."

Daryl didn't miss the way her voice started shaking as her eyes shone with tears. He huffed noisily, "An' what if they're all still there, just sittin' pretty? We're out in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. What if you're sittin' here, holdin' out, scared fer nothin'?"

"And if they are alive?" she answered back hotly. "I show up out of the blue and they ask how I survived and they found out what I...what we..." She sniffed loudly and angrily wiped away a tear. "If Daddy found out that I let you..." she hung her head again, "he wouldn't let me stay anyway."

A plume of rage shot through him like wildfire. So, what, he was good enough to keep her ass safe but not good enough for anything else? What the hell was he thinkin', anyway? That she'd wanna stay with him? Some greasy old redneck damn near twice her age? Still, who the hell did she think she was, makin' him feel like he wasn't good enough? Sure as hell was good enough for her last night.

"My daddy's real religious," she continued, pulling Daryl from his angry thoughts. "He about kicked Maggie out when he found out she was foolin' around with boys. I...I agreed with him. I was mad at her. How could she act so..." Beth hugged herself and looked around before she continued. "Then I found her birth control pills. It just proved what she was doin'. I just...I couldn't believe it. I grabbed that whole packet and ran down to the duck pond and threw them right in. God," she laughed quietly, "we were screamin' and yellin' and Daddy came runnin' out and then I saw the look in Maggie's eyes." Beth turned to look at Daryl, "I knew if I told him what I'd found, she'd be gone for good. She was on her last chance with him...and I couldn't have that. So I told him we were just playin', put on my biggest smile, mud drippin' all over the both of us." She looked away again, wiping a tear off her cheek. "If he puts it together that I had sex with someone I hardly knew, he wouldn't care about the why."

Daryl was quiet for a moment. "So what?" Beth looked up at him, startled at his bluntness. "If they're already gone, whether they're dead or just gone, are ya any worse off than ya are now? An' if yer dad finds out and actually kicks you out, we just continue our little arrangement. Ya got nothin' ta lose."

He watched as Beth took a slow breath in and held it before puffing it out. "You're right. For all I know, I've already lost them. Guess I don't have any reason to be afraid." She steeled herself and turned to face him again. "Tomorrow. I'll show you how to get to the house. Either way, it'll be safer there than out here on the road."

With that they returned to the RV. Daryl noticed a slight bounce in Beth's step that he hadn't noticed before. He held back, letting her lead the way back, refusing to admit to himself that he hoped she was right about her dad, that their little deal would carry on. The girl was damn near addictive, and he wasn't ready to kick this particular habit yet.

The group was slow moving the next morning, as per usual, much to Daryl's chagrin. To top it all off, Rick decided he wanted to go looking for Sophia again, and took Carl and Shane with him. They'd been gone just under an hour when they heard a single gunshot. Daryl fought to keep from rolling his eyes when Lori started pitching a fit about something being wrong, mainly because he knew they were looking to him to fix it. He begrudgingly led anyone not working on the RV along the trail the other three had left, but stopped short when a short haired brunette on horseback pulled up in front of them.

"Maggie?!" Beth whispered, her eyes all but bugging out in disbelief.

The brunette didn't seem to hear her, instead asking for Lori Grimes, rattling off some story about Carl getting shot by someone from her farm. Without blinking an eye, Lori mounted the horse, sitting behind Maggie. It was only then that the brunette laid eyes on her sister. "Beth?" She looked back in the direction of the farm. "Can you find the farm from here?" Beth only nodded. "I'll see you there."

Anger shot through Daryl like electricity. This girl's been missing for close to a month and her own damn sister hardly even said two words to her. Circumstances be damned, that was downright shitty. He wasn't even sure Merle would have pulled something like that. He looked over at Beth again, and saw her trying like hell to hold herself together.

She looked up at Daryl with sad eyes and a watery voice to match, "We better get going."

By the time they'd returned to the highway, got the RV up and running again, and cleared enough cars from the road for their vehicles to get through easily, there was barely enough light to see. Not that Daryl had asked, but the majority of the group stated they'd rather stay where they were one more night rather than travel in the dark. That same anger from earlier spiked at that. Like Beth wouldn't know how to get to her own house, regardless of what time of day or night it was.

Beth, he noticed, just took it all in stride. Damn girl was tough; he wondered if she'd ever get a chance to prove it to anyone but him. He was ready to say 'Screw 'em all,' and head out just the two of them to get her home, especially now that she knew her family was alive and well. Beth didn't seem any more anxious to get moving than she had last night, so he didn't push matters any further. Instead they climbed into the back of the truck the Grimes had been driving, using the opportunity to stretch out rather than try to grab a few winks of sleep in the cramped RV again.

A thought flitted through his mind: this could be his last chance to be with her, to feel that tight pussy around his dick, to feel her breath against his neck as he pumped into her. Based on the way Beth was cuddling into his chest like a damn kitten looking for a warm spot to sleep, he figured she was having close to the same thoughts. The kicker was, with them being in a vehicle by themselves, yes they had privacy, but they were ultimately exposed to anyone who walked by, living or dead. They'd have to be damn careful and quiet to avoid any unwanted attention.

Daryl let his arms wrap themselves around her. "Could be our last chance," he murmured against the top of her head. "Ya wanna?" For a moment, he thought maybe she'd fallen asleep. Maybe she was too afraid to tell him she didn't want to.

But then he felt her snuggle in even closer, something he didn't think was possible, and tilt her head back. Her lips brushed against his jawline, "Okay," she whispered.

"Gotta stay damn quiet," he told her as much as reminded himself as he angled himself to face her fully It about killed him to say it. Other than an ice cold beer, all he wanted in this world was to hear her sweet voice crying out, knowing he was the one that caused her to do it.

He wasn't sure who kissed who first, but before long, they were making out like a couple of teenagers He almost pulled away when he realized that was exactly what she was, but he just couldn't bring himself to. It was just so easy to take her in his arms, to wrap himself around her. He'd never really wanted to be all that close to anyone, let alone some chick, and yet here he was, seemingly unable to get enough of this girl.

If he were honest, the selfish side of him, which made up most of him, hoped she was right and her dad would kick her out just so he could keep her with him. And it wasn't just the sex, though that made up a big part of it. Being with Beth, making her feel good, feel safe, feel like maybe someone gave a damn about her, made him feel good.

When the hell did he start giving a damn about anyone, let alone some chick?

Beth ain't just some chick.

Where the hell does this crap keep coming from?

How the hell did my shirt come open?

Daryl pulled away from Beth suddenly and glared at her only to see her looking up at him innocently. Sometime while he was lost in his thoughts, she had worked her way into his lap and was now straddling him. Even in the waning moonlight, he could see her pupils blown, drinking in what little light they could find. Her fingers were dancing nervously on the last button holding his shirt closed; her bottom lip hid behind her top teeth as her thumb pushed the button through its hole.

He wanted to yell. He wanted to shove her off him and storm off.

He wanted to feel those soft, delicate hands on his skin.

Daryl watched in silence as Beth slowly lifted her shirt up over her head, baring her perky little titties to him. Just as he had the thought to cup them in his hands, her fingers trailed up his arms to play along his collarbones then drift down his torso. His abdominal muscles moved on their own accord, reacting to being unintentionally tickled. Before he had the chance to say anything, she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips, pressing herself into his chest.

His hands came up to cover her back, all but crushing her to him. He didn't know what was going on and he couldn't find it in himself to care anymore. This tiny little thing of a girl was the strongest damn addiction he'd ever had, and he had to get his last fix in before she left him. His pants were growing painfully tight, his dick straining against the zipper. He gasped in a breath when Beth moved her hips just so against him, giving him the sweetest and yet most aching pressure where he needed it most.

"Get them shorts off," he grunted against her lips, trying like hell to pull himself away again. He moved her as gracefully as he could, given his mental state at the moment, and started hurriedly wrestling his belt out of its buckle and shoving his fly down, giving him momentary relief before he pushed his pants and boxers halfway down his thighs, struggling not to make too much commotion so as not to make the shocks on the truck squeak. He turned to see if Beth was ready and damn near came just at the sight of her, sitting there so innocently, not all spread out like in nudie mags or porno flicks. Her shorts sat next to her as she looked back at him, her eyes repeatedly glancing down at his crotch. He wondered just how much she could see of him. "Get on over here, girl," he motioned with a jerk of his head.

"But I...I thought…" she stammered out.

Daryl pulled her back into his lap, stopping her short, though he figured what she was about to ask anyway. "You weigh less," he explained. "truck won't make as much noise this way."

"But, I've never…I don't know what to do," she said softly, but still slowly crawled back to him to take back her place in his lap.

He remembered back to just a few moments ago, how she moved against him without any help from him. "Think yer gonna be just fine." Daryl reached between their bodies to line himself up with her entrance and slowly dragged his other hand up her thigh to rest just above her hip. He guided her slowly down his length. "It's all you, girl," he tried to encourage her and worked to focus on holding still, as much to keep quiet as to not scare her.

Seconds passed before she started moving on her own. Beth repositioned herself, spreading her legs so she could sink all the way down until their hips met. "Oh my god, Daryl," she whispered and let her forehead drop to his shoulder. He could definitely agree with the sentiment. Feeling her around him was like sliding into heaven, and when she started arching her back and slowly curving into him, he'd thought he'd died and gone there, never mind that he didn't deserve anything this good, this too-perfect girl. End of the world be damned, he was in fucking paradise.

Beth started riding him, always slow and careful, keeping her movements smooth. Her nipples rubbed teasingly along his chest, little sighs and moans escaped from her perfect mouth as she did. Her lips formed a perfect "O" as she found her rhythm. He couldn't stand it anymore; Daryl leaned forward and kissed her, swallowing any sounds she made before they grew too loud. Their tongues danced together as they hummed their pleasure to each other. She pulled away, gasping for breath as her legs began to shake on either side of him. "Daryl…oh god…" she panted, her hips now moving erratically.

Suddenly she leaned back, her back arching beautifully backwards, her hands on his knees to support herself. He marveled at how perfect she looked as she found her release, still bucking against him, her nipples pointing to the roof of the truck. He knew better than to move in this most crucial moment, but also knew he had to as her face contorted in the pleasured pain of her orgasm. Her moans were growing louder every second; any more and she would have alerted every walker in the area exactly where they were. Daryl moved to support her with one arm and clapped his palm over her mouth just before she groaned out her release.

He grit his teeth and growled as Beth curled back into him, her inner walls milking his own orgasm from him as her arms wrapped around his shoulders. They clung to each other as they came down from their respective highs. Daryl leaned back, holding her to him, allowing them both the relax and catch their breath. As the tension in his muscles faded and sleep began to overtake his senses, two thoughts plagued Daryl's mind:

Why did that feel like goodbye?

Why was it bothering him so much if it was?

.oOo.

The next day, bright and early, Daryl refused to take anyone's complaints or excuses for waiting on the highway one more minute. He rushed everyone through a meager breakfast and all but shoved them into their vehicles to get this show on the road.

When they pulled up to the house, Maggie was already pacing on the porch, trying to see through the windows of each vehicle, apparently searching for her sister. Some time to finally start giving a damn, Daryl scowled to himself. Here they were on his bike, out in the open, and her sister couldn't even see her.

Beth's soft lips against his cheek pulled him from his thoughts. His eyes snapped over to meet hers, and were met with a sad smile. "Thank you, Daryl," was all she said before taking her bag from his side compartment and jogging up to meet her sister.

Daryl couldn't understand why he was so angry and upset. He had one less responsibility now. Yeah, he'd lost his piece of tail, but there were lots of women who'd either left him or he'd snuck out on. Why the hell was Beth's leaving affecting him so differently?

He still hadn't figured it out while the group set up camp on the far side of the lawn.

He still hadn't figured it out as he continued the search for Sophia. (It wasn't like he had shit else to do.)

He still hadn't figured it out while he recuperated from landing on his own damn arrow when he fell down the damn hill when Beth's damn horse had bucked him off when a damn snake had spooked it. In fact, now he had more to ponder: why did his heart start racing when Beth would come to bring him a meal or when he heard her voice, her laugh, drift in from the next room? Even more confusing was why he was so disappointed when he didn't see or hear her all day.

The only thing that seemed to push Beth from his mind was when Glenn announced there were walkers in the barn and Shane ended up going ape shit. Daryl took the shotgun the deputy practically shoved in his hands and followed to the barn. Shane broke the lock and chain keeping the barn doors closed and a dozen or so walkers came stumbling into the yard.

Daryl, Shane and anyone else armed with a gun opened fire on the walking corpses. He gave a moment's pause when, somehow, over the volley of gunfire, he heard Beth sobbing behind him. He turned back to see her clinging tightly to her sister.

Everyone froze when the last walker made her way out of the barn – Sophia.

They watched in near silence – the only sounds filtering through the air were the girl's soft growls and her mother's cries – as Rick took care of her at point blank range.

The Greene girls walked around the bodies, apparently recognizing quite a few as friends and neighbors. Beth stepped carefully around them, stopping to kneel next to what looked like an older woman. She reached down and brushed the hair out of the woman's face.

Then all hell broke loose.

A spike of fear pierced Daryl's heart, paralyzing him as the older woman reached up and lunged for Beth, jaws full of rotting teeth snapping in her face. Maggie, Rick, and several others rushed to pull the two apart, but the woman's body must have been to fresh as she held on relentlessly. The commotion stopped suddenly. When the dust settled and everyone backed up to give her space, Daryl saw Beth pull the knife he had given her out of the walker's skull…then heard her openly sobbing, "I'm so sorry, Mama."

Her sister and some scrawny blonde kid scooped her up and walked her back to the house while Daryl looked on, still in numb shock after what had just happened. He vaguely wondered if the kid was the boyfriend Beth had mentioned when they first met, not that it really mattered to him at this point. He decided then and there that he needed to get away, that he couldn't stand to be around anyone anymore. The kicker was that he couldn't bring himself to leave Beth, even though she wasn't really with him anymore.

He realized as he started packing up his things why he felt the need to stay: If her family thought it was a good idea to keep a bunch of walkers in a barn (apparently, her old man was convinced they were just sick), how safe could they really keep her? Despite his best efforts, he actually gave a shit about her and didn't want to see anything bad happen to her. She was too good for that. Instead of taking off into the woods, Daryl found a spot near the edge of the property where the remains of the fireplace and chimney still stood, the last remaining part of a farm house built and torn down long ago, that would keep him far enough away but close enough to Beth to keep himself from worrying about her too much.

The next week or so, the rest of the group fell into a routine while they waited for Carl to recover from being torn up with buck shot and the surgeries to repair any damage. It was two weeks before Daryl saw Beth again after the barn incident. "'Sa matter, girl? Yer little boyfriend ain't doin' it for ya so yer lookin' for a good time with me?" He looked up from sharpening his homemade arrows and really looked at her. Her face was down-turned, as if she had a hard time looking at him. He noticed she had a bag, packed full, on her back. "What, yer old man find out?"

"Something like that," she mumbled, her voice watery, as if she'd been crying. "I'm pregnant."

Thank you for reading - please leave a review!