The next morning, we pack up and leave the old plantation home. Daryl and I are in the same car. Before we pull off, I sneak one more glance at the window to my-almost-old bedroom. I know I got to put it away so I do. I catch Daryl's eyes in the rearview mirror. He doesn't say anything but I nod to him anyway, telling him I'm good. He dips his head in return and we follow the caravan to Alexandria.

Walkers cause us to divert our route. We are on the road for an hour when suddenly, we stop. We all climb out of our respective vehicles to see what the hold up is. Once I step in front of the RV, I see it. Del Arno Foods, a large canned goods warehouse with multiple trucks parked outside the docking bays. Aaron argues the case that we should check it out immediately. If we bring trucks of canned goods with us, we'd be heroes even though the pantry at Alexandria is well stocked. No one objects and Rick assembles a team to go check it out first. Once it is clear, then the rest of us will help load a truck.

Rick, Michonne, Aaron, Eric, and Glenn are the ones chosen to scout the area first. The whole warehouse is surrounded by a high chain link fence. There are a handful of walkers inside the fence. While Abraham's crew stands guard, Maggie, Daryl, Carol, Sasha and I draw the walkers to the fence and dispose of them quickly, allowing the others to go inside the fence. We all watch them clear the parking lot area and in between the trucks.

"This is too easy." I say to Daryl as the group inside disappears behind the trucks.

Daryl hums in agreement. Minutes pass in silence. The nagging feelings that something is wrong will not leave me. I tell myself the others can handle themselves and try to remain positive. Without warning the doors to all the trucks open at the same time, unleashing a herd of walkers into the parking lot area.

We all spring inside the gated barrier and start taking out walkers. Daryl and I hang back to use our bows. When I run out of bolts, I pull my knife and go in. I get to the first walker and gasp when I see the "W" carved into its forehead. I look around and notice they all have a "W" etched into their heads. "Daryl!" I yell behind me.

"I see it." He pushes up with the rest of us but still back far enough to give himself time to reload. One walker gets past us and charges toward Daryl who buries his knife in it's skull.

There must have been over a hundred walkers shoved into those trucks. The group on the other side push in closer until we meet in the middle, killing every single one. We finally come face to face with the other group. We are all panting and exhausted. I take in each of them, scanning them for injuries or bites. Thankfully I don't see any.

"What happened?" Daryl asks Rick.

Rick doesn't provide any information we don't already know. "The trucks were rigged."

After we gather our bolts, we inspect the trucks. There are walkers with "W"s that have been dismembered from the waist down, suspended in the trucks. The missing body parts are scattered on the floor of each truck. There isn't a can in sight. Whoever set this trap, they are bad news.

"The "W"s… they are branding them. " Sasha comments.."Like cattle."

"Beth and I saw a walker with a "W" near Richmond." Daryl says. His trained eyes spot something, "Rick." He points to the rigging that set off the trap in the first place.

Eugene evaluates the rigging too along with Rick. "I must say it is a teetotal clever apparatus. The engineering behind this is as well done as a steak."

Rick turns to Aaron. "How far are we from Alexandria?"

"75 miles west roughly."

"These people are in your backyard." Rick says. "Let's head out before they come back. We will head east for a while then double back towards the community. We don't want to lead these people to your front door."

After about a hour of going the opposite direction of Alexandria, we hit a snag when the RV breaks down. We all gather and wait while Abraham and Glenn check on the issue. Daryl nudges my arm and jerks his head to the woods. He catches Rick's eye and we disappear into the nearby trees. We barely make it in the treeline, out of sight, when Daryl stops.

"What is it?" I ask curiously. I thought he wanted to hunt. We haven't ate anything all day. But apparently he has other plans.

He shifts his weight from one foot to the other nervously. "Need ta talk to ya."

"Okay about what?"

Daryl straightens up. "About last night. My talk with Aaron. He pulled me aside while you was singin'." I nod, knowing this already. "He was askin' me questions."

"What kind of questions?" I inquire cautiously.

"Questions about me and you. Us. He wanted to know if we was married." Daryl looks down at his feet and kicks some dirt.

I'm taken aback by the sudden direction of the conversation. "Oh… what did you tell him?"

Daryl bites his thumb. He is nervous. More nervous than I have ever seen him. I can tell he is fighting to get through this. "The truth. He said the people in Alexandria are well meanin' but very judgemental. They might see us and get the wrong idea. Aaron said it might do us good to say we are married."

I absorb everything he is saying and try my best to process it. I'm only 20 years old but I'm with a 36 year old man. Age has never been a thing I thought twice about since Daddy was so much older than Momma. I remember the conversation I had with Daryl weeks ago when we talked about this very thing. I said who cares and he immediately responded that people cared. I guess he was right after all. I'd like to think things like this didn't matter anymore. They might get the wrong idea. In this world, it's all about survival and outsiders might look at Daryl and I and think I traded my body for protection or that he took advantage of me or something. I don't want that. But I don't know if faking marriage is the best idea either.

I decide to put the ball in Daryl's court. I trust him and if he thinks this is something we should do, then we will do it. "What do you think we should do?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. Part of me wants to say screw em. It ain't none of their damn business anyways."

"And the other part?"

"The other part of me thinks it might not be so bad to be married to ya." He smiles. His tone is a little playful yet so sincere. His words make me all warm inside.

I would love to imagine a life married to Daryl but I don't allow myself. Not yet anyways. We said we'd take things slow, this is the opposite of slow. We haven't had any talks about the future. Not that any of us ever have talks about the future anymore. Majority of the time, we are just trying to make it to the next day. But at the prison, we planned for the future all the time. If Alexandria is what Aaron says it is, we could have a real future there.

"As sweet as that is…" I pause, suddenly nervous to have this conversation with my boyfriend who I have technically only been dating for a week now. "...Alexandria aside, is that something you would even want? Marriage?"

"Used to never want it 'fore. Didn't think it was ever in the cards for me, y'know? But now… with you…" He looks away shyly, then back at me. "Maybe. Yeah." I can see his ears poking out from behind his hair turn red and I can't help but smile. He is so cute sometimes. "What about you?"

"Growing up I always thought I'd meet a guy, get married, settle on a plot of land on my Daddy's farm and have lots of kids. Then everything happened and I didn't think that kind of life was even possible anymore or that I'd live long enough to see it." The scar on my wrist burns. "Then we found the prison and I saw Maggie and Glenn do it. I began to hope again that I could have that too. One day."

Daryl nods. He is unsure. It's a weird thing to see him like this. "Whatever ya want to do Evergreen, I'm good."

I hesitate to answer. I know we wouldn't be technically married but we'd have to act married. Considering how we are still very much new in our relationship, that might be a little difficult. Especially when your husband doesn't like to be touched or PDA. But then again all married couples are different. I don't know.

"We ain't gotta get married for real, if ya don't want. Or we don't have to do it at all. I know I ain't what ya pictured when ya thought about your future husband." Daryl adds.

My heart breaks hearing his insecurity. "It's not that I don't want that life with you. I do. You're not what I pictured my husband to be. You're so much better." I try to reassure him. He scoffs but I shake my head. "You are. I don't want no one else but you." He must hear the sincerity in my voice because he doesn't argue anymore. "But we just got together. We said we'd take it slow and figure out how to be together. If we say we are married, then we would blowing past all that. It's just a lot to consider. I mean we haven't even said I love you yet-"

"-I love ya Beth." He interrupts me suddenly. His tone raises at the end and my heart flutters. No guy has ever said that to me before. The way he said it… like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He even sounds a little hurt that I didn't already know or something.

"You do?" I can't help but ask. I know I fell for Daryl long ago. The realization hit me in the hospital, my crush for the crossbow wielding badass had bloomed into love. I knew because my heart ached for him like it never ached for anyone else before. It was like I could feel it in my bones. Being with Daryl, he makes me feel special and more alive in a way I've never felt before. He makes everything better just by being near. If that isn't love, then I don't know what is. I just haven't said it because he's… Daryl. He is more skittish than a squirrel when it comes to talking about his feelings.

"Yeah, I do, Evergreene." His blue eyes stare deep into mine when he says it.

"I lov-"

"-You don't gotta say it, just cause I did." He huffs at me.

"I know. I'm not. I love you too, Daryl." I mean it with every fiber of my being. I walk into his space and seal it with a kiss.

I pull away when I have an idea. "What if… it doesn't have to be all or nothing. What if… instead of saying we're married, we tell them we are engaged. It would give us more time to figure this whole thing out and show everyone in Alexandria that we are committed to each other?"

Daryl rubs a hand across my back. "Sounds good t'me." He puts his forehead against mine and smiles. "So we doin' this?"

I laugh. "Is that your proposal?" I tease.

He leans back and says, "Hell no. This is," He bends down on one knee.

"You don't have to-" I start to argue.

He shuts me down instantly. "Yeah. I do. If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right. Now I can't ask your daddy for permission, but I asked Maggie-"

Stunned. Overwhelmed. I can't believe this is happening right now. "-You asked Maggie for permission to marry me?"

"Yeah this mornin' b'fore we left and after givin' me some shit, she agreed." I giggle, trying to imagine what that conversation was like.

He dips his fingers into his right blue jean pocket, and pulls out a real engagement ring. "What'd ya say? Will ya marry me, Evergreene?"

I nod unable to speak at first. "Yes I will." He slides the ring on my finger and stands up slowly. One large hand holds the side of my face as he leans in and kisses the life out of me.

We hear the RV roar to life and we break apart. He takes my hand and leads me back to our family. When we emerge from the trees, I fully expect him to let go of me but he never does. Instead we walk hand in hand to RV, to Alexandria and to our future.