Beth

Being on the back of Daryl's motorcycle is amazing. I feel so free like I'm flying but I'm too scared to let go of my death grip around his waist. I also don't want to let go. Being pressed up against him, the vibrations of the bike, and feeling his abs through his shirt is distracting. I try not to think too hard on those facts and focus on feeling the wind through my hair and the pretty scenery.

We've been on the road for five days. Our second day, we found someone. A man in a red poncho. We followed him for a while until we lost him. We didn't even get to set up a mic. We spent half of the next looking for him before we finally decided to move on. It was a hard decision for Daryl and I. To me, it felt like we were giving up on him. What if he needed our help? But Aaron told us that it happens sometimes. We did the best we could to find him and we shouldn't beat ourselves up. If we are meant to find him, we will. That made me feel a little better about the whole thing. We decided last night to travel to an area that Eric and Aaron have yet to search, which is where we are heading now.

We come up on the mile marker sign we've been looking for. We're here. We park on a road that's well hidden by the trees of the surrounding forest. According to the map, we are near several small rural towns. The plan is to search each one for any signs of life and scavenge what we can along the way.

We start our trek through the woods, moving parallel to the main road, making our way to the nearest town. Aaron and I make small talk but keep our voices low not to scare away any game or alert anyone of our whereabouts. Daryl listens, only contributing here and there. Eventually we run out of things to talk about and continue on in silence. The closer we get to the town the quieter the woods seem. Almost too quiet.

Daryl looks around ever so vigilant. I can tell Aaron senses something is off too by the way he keeps his weapon at the ready. Then, Daryl picks up on a trail.

"Someone came through here a while ago." Daryl says.

"If we see them, we will hang back. We set up the mike, watch and listen." Aaron replies, excited at the prospect of finding someone so quickly.

"For how long?" I ask.

Aaron gives us both a serious look. "Until we know. We have to know."

Daryl continues on and we follow him closely. Something about the way he says it makes me wonder aloud. "Have you ever sent people away?"

"Yeah." He says solemnly with his head low.

Daryl looks back at the man. "What happened?"

"It was early on. Three people. Two men and a woman. Davidson was their leader. He was smart as hell and strong. I thought they would work out. They didn't. I'm the one that brought them in so I had to be the one to send them out. Me, Aiden and Nicholas drove them far out. We gave them a day worth of food and water. Then we left them."

Daryl has a confused look on his face. "And they just left?"

Aaron looks ashamed when he says, "We had their guns." He pauses and corrects himself. "We had all the guns."

I put a hand on his arm. "You played it smart. You did well by them. More than what we would have done."

Aaron looks at me and nods. He doesn't seem bothered to know if we would have been in the same situation, we might, no, probably, would have killed those people. I think he understands. Deanna and the other Alexandrians don't, but Aaron gets it.

We only have to walk for five more minutes to find out why the woods are so quiet. We come up on blood, lots of it, leading us to a fresh kill. When we get to the scene, there is only blood and human limbs scattered everywhere. A person did this. They came up on the victim, killed them and dismembered them, piece by piece. I only see arms and legs, but the head and torso are missing.

"Whoever did this, took what was left with them." Daryl says.

Aaron stares in shock whereas deja vu hits me hard. This reminds me of finding Bob's leg on the grill near Father Gabriel's church. I also remember Daryl's story about Terminus. He said there was a room where they had torsos hanging up, where they trimmed and prepared the meat.

"Cannibal?" I ask. Why else would someone take a torso and a head?

Daryl gives me a knowing look. "Maybe. This just happened. Stay ready." He raises his crossbow and keeps following the trail. Aaron and I do the same.

Not much further ahead is a woman tied to a tree. Her long blonde hair covers her face and her head is down. She has a petite frame but is taller than me. Her chest and stomach have been ripped open with her intestines hanging out for all to see. She's so dirty and bloody it takes me a minute to realize she's naked. Deja vu hits me again to the walker Daryl and I found tied to a tree outside of Richmond.

Daryl circles around with his crossbow drawn to check that no one is around. With the coast clear for the moment, we all approach the woman to get a better look. The blood is a vivid red, still dripping from her intestines. Flies have already started to buzz around her. Another fresh kill. Fresher than the last based on the color of the blood and the fact that it's still wet and dripping.

"She's tied up." Aaron says sadly. "And they fed on her. Tore her apart." Aaron looks at me and Daryl. "This just happened?"

Daryl and I both nod. I look at Daryl and see sorrow on his face as he looks at the woman. His face, he looks so troubled. Maybe she reminds him of me? I put my hand on his arm and give it a squeeze, pulling him from whatever dark thoughts are flooding his brain right now. His blue eyes meet mine. He stares at me then nods. He turns his attention back to the woman. He lifts her head by the hair revealing a "W" carved into her forehead. I can't help but gasp. Exactly like the walker outside of Richmond.

Aaron speaks up again. "She's marked. Like the walkers at the food place."

Her eyes flutter open and the cloudy, gray eyes of a walker stare back at us with hunger. She snarls once before Daryl puts her down. Upset by the whole thing, I finally look away. That poor woman. No one deserves to die like that. And considering the fact she was naked who knows what other torture she faced before death. I focus on my surroundings, anything to distract me from all this for a moment.

Through the trees I can see a building. I put up my binoculars to get a better look. I gasp again. "Daryl." I whisper harshly.

I look up at him and give him the binoculars to see for himself. Aaron looks through his too and reads aloud the writing on the side of building. "Wolves not far?"

"We've seen that before. At a food bank. It was a town over from the cabin where you were watching us." I explain to Aaron.

"What cabin?" Aaron asks.

I am confused so I try again. "The cabin. Before the barn."

He looks at me and Daryl with a look of concern. "I never saw you at a cabin." A chill runs down my spine. "Eric and I spotted you on the road early the morning before I introduced myself. You were taking a break from traveling. We already had a mike set up and listened. You all seemed like good people so we followed you all that day to the barn. We listened more there too for as long as we could before the storm hit."

I look at Daryl now, scared. He looks back at me. It's rare he lets his worry show, but I see it now. I turn back to Aaron. "Daryl and I were out hunting and found footprints along the perimeter to the cabin. They were too far to be anyone's from the group. It wasn't you?"

"No." Aaron says seriously.

"It was me." A voice calls to us. We draw our weapons as we look around to locate the person behind the voice. A man appears out from behind a tree to our left, covered in dirt, from head to toe. He stares back at us with a nasty grin on his face. He has greasy long hair framing his face. A big "W" is etched into his forehead too. Where he is standing, he had a clear vantage point to the tree the woman is tied up on, there. How long has he been there… watching us? Watching her? Another chill runs down my spine. He watched. He tied her up and watched as she was eaten alive.

He is holding a gun, aiming it at us, at no one in particular. He looks very calm and relaxed. One could even dare to say, happy. "Hi." He says to us. "I wondered where you all went. We've been looking for you everywhere."

"We?" Daryl asks with an annoyed tone.

"My pack." The man replies simply. My eyes flick around to the surrounding trees. I am careful not to move my head so it won't be so obvious as I start to count as they appear from behind them. One.

"You know the first settlers here, they put bounties on wolves' heads." Two.

"Brought the natives into it." Three.

"Made them hunt them." Four.

"Didn't take them long for them to kill them all." He points a grimey finger at the "W" on his head. Five.

They all have the mark on their heads, but the leader seems to be the only one with a gun. "They're back now. Some of the tribes around here, they thought the first people were wolves transformed into men. And now well… you know. Thoughts?"

My thoughts are going a mile a minute. They have us surrounded. It's five against three. We can take five. This knowledge gives me confidence. I push the fear down and respond. "Sounds like someone has been reading too much Twilight. I've always been Team Edward myself."

The Wolf laughs at my sarcasm. Then he aims the gun straight at me. The Wolf is still as confident as ever when he speaks again. "I like this. Talking. I don't get to meet new people very often. Maybe once every two weeks. But I have to work at it. We do. Sometimes we find camps. We run through them. But we have traps too. It's different. It's not like meeting like this. Someone happening on us. It's like a meet-cute in the movies. But this isn't that cute. It's more like… fate. You were the ones that got away. Although I remember there being more of you…" His gaze shifts to Aaron. "You. I don't remember you. You're new."

Aaron does his best to look calm and keep his voice steady but his fear is written all over his face. "Um, my name is…"

The Wolf smirks. "It doesn't matter who you are. The only thing that matters is we aren't letting you get away again."

Suddenly I'm acutely aware that the wolves around us are significantly closer than before. The Head Wolf speaks again. "Now here's what's going to happen. We are going to take everything you have and then… we're going to take you."

Daryl seethes beside me with his crossbow aimed at the leader. "Like hell you are!"

In an instant, all hell breaks loose. Daryl fires a bolt and shoots the Head Wolf in the foot, making him drop his gun. At the same time, I turn and fire a bolt, killing one of the four wolves that tried to sneak up on us. Daryl charges the leader while Aaron and I fight the other three. I hear blows land behind me and hope Daryl is the one landing the blows. Aaron shoots and misses a Wolf. But kills him with a second shot. I don't have time to reload so I drop my crossbow and duck when I see a knife flying at me. I pull the recurve bow off my back and shoot one of them in the chest. Aaron and a Wolf are punching each other. Where Aaron's gun is I have no clue. I take aim and shoot the man in front of me again, this time in the head. I don't trust my aim to kill the one Aaron is fighting so I pull my knife and jump on the Wolf's back. He struggles to get me off of him. Aaron punches the Wolf but the guy is huge. It has little to no effect on him. He backs up into a tree, knocking me off and taking the wind out of me. He punches Aaron and knocks him out cold.

He turns to me. I'm still against the tree. I'm scared beyond belief but try to remain calm. He takes a swing and I'm able to duck out of the way. My foot catches on a tree root and I fall down. The Wolf looms over me. He pulls me by the hair making him look at him then backhands me across the face. I yelp in pain as I fall on the ground. I hear the sound of a blade rip through flesh and Daryl grunt. I get my feet under me and sneak my knife that's in my ankle holster in my hand. When I turn to the Wolf, I position my body in such a way where he can't see it. He grins down at me hungrily as I stand and slowly back away from him. In my peripherals, I can see walkers coming toward us, attracted by all the noise.

The Wolf stalks towards me for a step or two, then lunges at me. He's bigger and stronger than me, but I am faster. I am able to duck and sidestep his attack, meanwhile cutting the right side of his torso. His knees buckle in pain, he growls, and clutches his side. I try to kick his injured side but he grabs my right leg, knocking me on my flat back. He pulls me towards him. I flail my free leg hoping to inflict some kind of damage. My left knee connects with his face. With half of my body underneath his, I see a hand reaching for my knife. I twist my body away and knee him again but not as hard as last time. He takes his left hand off his side to hold me down while his right hand holds down my knife hand by the wrist. I try to wiggle away as he shifts himself on top of me. He pins my arms up under his knees. He prys the knife from my hand leaving me completely defenseless.

Victoriously, he carcasses the blade of the knife against my face, smearing his blood on me as he says, "My turn."

He moves the blade to my throat, pausing there for a moment before continuing to drag it down my chest. He clearly wants to take his revenge slowly. A movement over his right shoulder catches my eye. It's a walker closing in on us. The Wolf is too focused on me to notice. I watch in horror as the Wolf brings the blade to my torso around the same place I cut him. He maneuvers the knife to where I can feel the tip poking my ribs. He flicks his wrist and gives me a shallow cut to match his. I wince in pain. The Wolf laughs. The walker behind him bends down and takes a huge bite out of the Wolf's neck. His weight shifts and I try to get free as the walker devours the Wolf who is screaming. His blood drips and spills all over me. I'm able to get an arm out from under him and take back my knife that the Wolf dropped beside us. Losing too much blood, the Wolf collapses on top of me and suddenly I'm face to face with the walker. Thankfully the Wolf is sandwiched between us with his head beside mine but the walker still sees me. My entire body is pinned again. With the combined weight of the Wolf and the walker, there is no way I'm going to escape. I frantically try to get my knife hand loose with no luck. This is it. This is how I die.

The walker has flesh dangling from its mouth. The flesh drops with a horrendous squelch next to my face. The walker growls and leans towards me. A knife flys piercing the walker's skull. I look at the direction it came from and see Daryl. He threw it. His only weapon. He threw it to save my life. The Head Wolf grabs Daryl from behind and puts him into a chokehold. Daryl is a good fighter but he's injured and with the walkers coming, he needs my help.

I turn back to the predicament I am in. I have to get free before the Wolf turns. I pull and pull until finally I free my knife hand. I stab the Wolf in the skull. I get my feet flat on the ground and use my hand to push against the Wolf. He moves slightly, taking the walker with him. I push again and again until my right shoulder is exposed. I manage to get my other hand out from under the pile of carcasses. With a few more pushes, I am able to untrap my legs and stand up.

I am weak and lightheaded but I can't worry about that right now. Daryl is still fighting with the Head Wolf and more walkers are coming. One is making its way to Aaron who still is unconscious. I take Daryl's knife out of the walker's skull. I run and stab the one after Aaron. I turn and make quick work of finding my crossbow. I reload and shoot another walker. I reload again and turn around. More walkers are coming but they are still far enough away that we are safe for the moment. I look at Daryl. The Head Wolf pushes Daryl to an oncoming walker. With Daryl in the way I can't kill it but I can kill the Wolf. I take aim and let my bolt fly. It finds its home in the Wolf's eye socket. He falls instantly and I reload. Daryl keeps the walker at arms length and flings it on the ground, but he is still in the way for me to shoot it. I run over and sink my knife into its head. It goes limp.

Daryl and I look at each other. He's got a cut on the inner part of his thigh just above his knee and he's got a black eye forming. Otherwise he looks fairly okay. His eyes scan my body for injuries like mine did his but I'm covered in blood so he asks. "You hurt?"

"I'm okay. One of them cut me." I motion to the general area. "But it's shallow. Just a scratch. I'm okay."

He nods and pulls me into a tight hug. The hug is short because we are still in danger. The other walkers are getting closer. I hand Daryl back his knife. He limps over and grabs his stuff. I put my recurve bow and sheath on my back. Two walkers get a little too close for comfort. Daryl and I take them out with our crossbows with ease. I retrieve our bolts as Daryl hobbles over to Aaron and tries to wake him up.

Daryl slaps his face lightly. "Aaron! Wake up! We gotta go!" Aaron's eyes flutter open and he moans. "That's it. Com'on, we gotta go."

Daryl and I help lift Aaron up as best as we can. He takes in the sight of us and instantly shakes off his own grogginess to assist us instead. We all help each other step for step. We move slowly towards the car and motorcycle.

Once we get some distance between us and the walkers, we take a quick break. I immediately pull out our first aid. Aaron keeps watch as I tend to the cut on Daryl's leg. Upon closer examination the cut on his leg is closer to his knee and thankfully his artery didn't get nicked. He will need stitches but there isn't time for that right now. His jeans are in the way so I rip them. Once the hole is big enough, I clean my hands off so I can disinfect the wound. I bandage it up as tightly as I can to keep it from bleeding anymore than it already has. Tonight I will stitch it up.

Once I am done, I go to put away the first aid but Daryl stops me. My eyes meet his. "Now you."

His tone is definitive. Even though I'm alright, I know that all he can see is a bloody mess when he looks at me. His mind is probably running wild wondering how badly I am hurt. I smile and nod. He rips off a piece of flannel and works to clean the blood off my face, arms, and neck. My cheek is a little tender and I can tell it's a little swollen from the Wolf hitting me. Daryl's touch is light and gentle. It feels nice. My clothes are still all bloody but getting all that sticky blood off my skin makes me feel ten times better.

Daryl puts down the flannel cloth which is now completely stained red. He turns back to me and searches my clothes. He finally sees the small rip in my shirt. His large hand touches just under it. "Here?"

He looks at me. I nod again. It feels wrong to speak in this moment. In caring for each other, it feels like it's just the two of us again. Even with Aaron here. He's far enough away not to hear us but I don't want to ruin this bubble we've created by talking too much. The air between us is a close match to when we were sitting at the table at the funeral home. The look in Daryl's eyes are the exact same as they were that night. It's like he can see straight into my soul and I, his.

He lifts my shirt to look at the cut better. I look down at it too. It's a little deeper than I thought but I won't need stitches like him. I look back up at his face. He nods once and then bandages it up. He puts away the first aid and looks over at Aaron. It's been quiet so far but I know we need to get going. Daryl stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and stand. I lean into him, placing my free hand on his chest and he puts his other hand on the small of my back. He leans down and captures my lips in a gentle kiss. When he pulls away, he rubs the back of my head and pulls it into his chest. We embrace each other for a few moments knowing good and well we could have lost each other back there. He saved me and I saved him. Although he probably didn't need my help as much as I needed his.

I pull away and look up at him, thanking God that we are still alive. His big hand cradles my cheek and he whispers. "Let's go."

Aaron does his best to find sticks long enough to be crutches for Daryl who strongly protests. "Dammit I'm fine." But despite his best efforts, Aaron and I insist and I'm glad we did. Because with each step he's leaning on the makeshift crutches more and more.

We finally reach the motorcycle and car by nightfall, Daryl humbly admits he won't be able to drive it back. Thankfully Aaron knows how to ride and lets us take the car. It's late so we all agree to stop somewhere to rest for the night. We drive for a few hours before we find a small secluded house.

The house is tiny. It's gotta be less than 800 square feet making it real easy to clear. Aaron insists on taking first watch so that Daryl and I can rest. Without argument, Daryl and I retreat to the master bedroom. Once we have the door closed, I silently make him sit down so I can stitch up his leg. I get down on my knees to see it better. The only source of light I have to work with is the moonlight. His cut looks purple compared to his blue skin. I grab my needle and thread, and get to work.

After thirteen stitches and fresh bandages, I give it a gentle kiss. "All better."

He takes my face into his hand. His thumb gazes over my swollen cheek. "That's a hell of a shiner."

"I could say the same about you." I say as my eyes dance over his face, taking in his black eye and bruised chin.

"I've had worse." He reassures.

I climb in bed beside him. His arm stretches out and I curl myself into him. Exhaustion from the day takes us over and next thing I know I'm being woken up for watch duty. The sun is almost up and the plan is we will leave in a few hours. Daryl joins me out on the porch.

"Good morning." I say quietly.

"Mornin'."

"You're just in time." I tell him.

His face scrunches up in confusion. "For what?"

I smile at him. "The sunrise."

He huffs a chuckle and sits with me in silence as we watch the sun peak up over the horizon behind some trees and through the fog. The sun flares reach out over the land. It silhouettes the trees perfectly. The sun illuminates the fog where we can see it swirl over the ground. It makes the scene before us look like a dream.

"Beautiful." Daryl's voice rumbles into the gentle morning air.

I look at him and he looks at me. Don't you think that's beautiful?

"Yes it is." I smile at him.

On our way home, we take a different way back, just in case. We are almost home when Daryl comes to a screeching halt. Aaron stops behind us and I can hear him holler a what is it at us. Daryl doesn't respond with words. He puts his large arm out the window and motions Aaron to come forward. Aaron walks the bike up to the car and stops as soon as he sees what we see through the windshield.

A quarry full of thousands of walkers.