Chapter Sixty-Nine

"Hey sleepyhead," Daryl heard a familiar voice say and he opened his eyes, seeing Riley sitting beside him with a smile on her face. "You're not supposed to sleep during watch, remember?"

He was tempted to roll his eyes at her comment but suddenly this strange feeling overwhelmed him, like he needed to remember something but he wasn't able to. He frowned as he instantly sat up, noticing they were sitting in one of the guard towers at the prison.

The hell?

He looked back at Riley, seeing her leaning her arms against the lower bars of the railing, staring up at the sky. A feeling of sorrow filled him at the sight but he didn't understand why.

"Riles?" He whispered in astonishment and she looked back at him, a sad smile appearing on her face.

"I miss you," she said with tears in her eyes and he could hear the clear sadness in her voice. He reached out to her, placing his hand on her cheek, feeling the wetness of her tears against his skin only a moment later.

He wanted to reply that he felt the exact same way but the words got stuck in his throat and he was unable to respond like his mouth was sewed shut. He hated seeing such sadness in her eyes, realizing it was mirroring the sadness he felt in his heart. It was a crippling feeling like the air had been sucked out of his lungs and he couldn't breathe. He wanted to say something to her, anything to make her feel better but he realized he couldn't.

The feeling of grief coursed through his body the longer he looked at her, her features imprinted into his brain. Those chocolate brown orbs that always looked at him with so much love, those small freckles on her nose and cheeks which became more prominent when she'd been out in the sun, those soft lips he'd kissed countless of times before but still longed to feel them once more. It was almost unbearable to watch but he kept his eyes fixated on her, fearing that if he would blink she would be gone.

She leaned into his touch and he could feel the familiar softness of her skin. He could recognize it in an instant as he'd felt it underneath his fingertips a thousand times before. But it seemed like such a long time ago. If only could feel it again, just for a second, one more moment without pain, one more moment with her.

He had this odd feeling that this wasn't real, like having a dream and knowing that he was in one, but he didn't want the moment to end, he didn't want to lose her all over again. His other hand reached for her, cupping her cheeks.

"Come back to me?" She said to him as she intertwined her fingers with his, staring into his eyes.

His reply was on the tip of his tongue but he could speak the words. He couldn't seem to answer since in his heart was filled with doubt. Will I ever get you back? Are you still here?

"I will," he was only able to utter as he leaned his forehead against hers and his nostrils picked up the familiar strawberry scent of her hair, a moment of calmness washing over him but as he wanted to take a deep breath again, she slowly pulled back, a frown marring her face, the doubt visible on her face, again mirroring the same feeling he felt inside his heart.

He wanted to speak again, make her believe that everything would be all right but did he himself believe the words he spoke? Would he ever find her? Was she still alive?

"Daryl!" He heard someone call out in the distance and he frowned in confusion, looking around but he didn't see anyone. He looked back at Riley, realizing she was disappearing as he could see straight through her, panic surging through him. This couldn't be happening, not again.

No, no, NO!

"Daryl wake up!" He suddenly heard Beth's voice say, feeling her hand on his bicep as she shook him once more and he woke up from his dream, sitting up so fast that it almost made his head spin.

"I hear walkers, a lot of them," Beth told him with urgency while she quickly stood up, her eyes scanning their surroundings, gripping her knife in her hand as she tried masking her fear but he could hear it in her voice.

Daryl needed a few seconds to realize that he wasn't at the prison nor that was Riley with him and he could feel the immense grief hitting him like a ton of bricks which momentarily paralyzed him, his hands turning into fists.

"Daryl?!" Beth said once again as he hadn't responded, making him snap out of his thoughts. He then strained his ears, hearing the familiar groaning sounds in the air which made him go straight into survival mode.

"C'mon, let's go!" He said to Beth, quickly standing up before grabbing his crossbow from the ground. He quickly kicked some dirt over the small fire as it would only draw the walkers closer to their location before he turned to the right, making sure Beth was following him.

They were zigzagging through the woods, the groaning of the walkers sounding eerie close. It was difficult to navigate through the trees now as it was pitch black, only the moon giving them some light. Thankfully Daryl had roamed the woods countless of times before in the dark but he knew they needed to find shelter soon since it was rather hard to pinpoint where the walkers were. They could be running right into a herd without even realizing it.

"Fuck!" He cursed when a walker suddenly popped up in front of them and he quickly shoved his knife into its skull before pushing it backwards.

"Gotta get back to the road, can't see shit with these trees!" He told Beth as she was breathing loudly behind him and he looked back at her before grabbing her by her wrist, leading the way since he knew it was easy to get separated from each other.

Beth didn't protest, running along with him as she felt her heart beating loudly in her chest, almost getting dizzy by the amount of abrupt turns Daryl was making. The groaning sounds around them intensified as if the walkers knew they were near but she tried to keep her mind focused on one thing which was keeping up with Daryl.

After at least fifteen minutes of zigzagging through the woods, they finally reached the road, almost running right into an abandoned car but Daryl managed to stop himself just in time as his palms landed flat against the cold metal of the vehicle, Beth appearing behind him a second later. They were both breathing loudly and the hunter knew they had to find a place to lay low for the few hours that was left of the night.

"Check the car," he told her in between breaths, moving forwards on the road, keeping his eyes fixated on the trees as his crossbow was raised, ready to hit any potential moving targets.

Beth ran towards the driver's seat, knowing that the car wasn't going to start but she turned the key in the ignition anyway.

Nothing.

Daryl looked back at her, seeing the confirmation in her eyes and he looked around before moving back to the car, noticing the lock of the trunk was already busted before quickly opening it fully.

"C'mon, get in." He told Beth whom didn't question his actions, quickly getting inside the trunk. Daryl soon followed, laying down opposite of her before closing the trunk as far as it would go before tying his bandana around the lock to keep it from popping wide open.

The groaning of the walkers in the area increased before shadows appeared along the trunk of the car, Beth holding her knife tightly in her hand while Daryl had his crossbow raised at the opening.

The car moved a little when passing walkers bumped into it and they both lay motionlessly in the trunk, knowing any movement or sound would attract the undead.

It seemed like the endless amount of walkers passing the car didn't seem to end and Beth took small breaths. The space inside the trunk was very tight and the amount of air was low, she could feel the sweat forming on her skin.

How long until this was over? How many walkers were out there? What if they would notice them?

As if Daryl seemed to read her mind, she noticed how he suddenly raised his hand upwards, telling her without words to hold on. She was only able to nod briefly before looking away, closing her eyes as she wished for this nightmare to end.

Click.

Connor heard a familiar clicking sound behind him which made him open his eyes in an instant before the cold metal of a gun pressed itself against the back of his head.

"Don't move," he heard an unfamiliar voice say and he did what the man said and stayed frozen on the mattress.

It was all a dream, they're gonna kill me.

"Rick no!"

The familiar voice of the woman he'd met yesterday was heard before it was followed by rapid footsteps, and for a brief moment he felt relief coursing through his body that he apparently hadn't dreamt yesterday's events but he didn't dare to move to see who was pressing a gun against his head.

Rick frowned when he heard Riley call out to him and his eyes moved towards her, seeing her appearing in front of him.

"It's okay, he is okay, let him go dad," he suddenly heard Carl say from the couch while Riley kneeled down beside the unknown man who was laying motionless on the mattress.

"Who is this man?" Rick asked, not removing his gun away from Connor.

"We found him yesterday when we were searching for supplies," Riley quickly explained, trying to get in between him and Connor and Rick looked up at her now.

"Yesterday?" He asked in confusion and she quickly nodded before she placed her hand on his wrist as he was still pointing his gun towards Connor.

"Yes, I'll explain everything but please, don't," she said to him and she saw the conflict in his eyes since this was going completely against his protective nature but as she gave him a look of reassurance he finally lowered his gun, sitting down on the floor since he felt rather dizzy.

"How are you feeling?" Riley asked in concern as she saw that he looked rather pale, placing her hand against his forehead. Thankfully he didn't feel warm anymore.

"Just a little dizzy," Rick replied, in the corner of his eyes seeing that the man he'd just pointed his gun at slowly turned around, seeing how badly bruised he was.

"So, who is he?" He asked and Riley pursed her lips, briefly looking at Conner who sat up, wincing in pain.

"Well," Riley said, moving her eyes back to Rick who was looking at her in expectation. How was she going to explain this to Rick without sounding completely crazy for just letting a stranger near them?

"We found him yesterday when we were checking for supplies in the neighborhood," Carl then offered, walking towards his dad while Patrick remained seated on the couch, not wanting to get into this discussion.

"I'm Connor," Connor then said, offering his hand in greeting but Rick didn't shake it, looking at him in distrust before his eyes moved to Riley.

"Can we talk?" He asked and Riley nodded, offering him her hand so he could get up from the floor.

"Carl, can you.." Riley trailed off, looking at Carl who nodded before moving forwards to sit in a chair beside Connor who still hadn't moved from his spot on the mattress. Connor felt a sense of hostility coming from Rick, knowing it was because he was a stranger. He didn't really know the relationship between Riley and this man, only knowing that this Rick was Carl's father, but he hadn't dared to ask Riley for more information since she already seemed tense with the situation as it was.

"Want some crackers?" He then heard the other teenager, Patrick, say to him and he looked up, seeing the boy offering him a few cheese crackers. His stomach rumbled at the sight and he took the crackers from Patrick.

"Thanks, I'm starving."

Merle opened his eyes, blinking a few times before he sat up, looking around his makeshift camp. It had been a good idea to tie a few empty cans with some rope around the place he was sleeping, giving him enough warning when the occasional walker popped up. It had been a rather uncomfortable night because of it though, constantly having to watch his surroundings.

He had been walking for hours yesterday, dead tired on his feet when he decided to set camp. He still hadn't been fully healed from that strange flu he'd caught at the prison, being out of breath a lot faster but he had pushed through knowing that the longer he took, the more distance would grow between him and Riley's small group. He had been able to follow their tracks, even though he had been sidetracked a few times by the many walker tracks that covered theirs.

He gulped down some water before he opened a can of small hot dogs, stuffing a few of them into his mouth as he let his thoughts run. He wondered where his brother had gone, knowing that he'd been separated from Riley since Daryl hadn't been with her when he saw her leaving. He didn't understand how that'd happened since his younger brother wouldn't have left Riley out of his sight, especially in such a dangerous situation. An eerie thought popped up in the back of his mind that Daryl might've gotten injured but he quickly squashed it down as soon as it had appeared. His brother was strong, he had survived the fall of the prison, and there was no other outcome.

When he was finished eating, he stood up before taking down his makeshift camp, collecting the rope with empty cans tied to it, stuffing the items in a trash bag. He knew that supplies were scarcenow so he needed to keep everything he had.

He then stepped out onto the road, crouching down for a brief moment to detect the correct tracks before looking to his right, knowing that Riley and the others had gone through here. He stood up again, looking up at the sun which was slowly appearing from behind the clouds, knowing it was yet again going to be a hot ass day. He sighed before he continued his journey.

"So what's the story?" Rick as Riley as they were now sitting in the kitchen.

"Like Carl said, we found him yesterday. He was beat up, robbed, dressed only in his boxers laying on the ground," she explained. "At first we thought he was dead but then I noticed he was breathing so I thought I would check, see if I could help."

"Hold up, so I did hear Carl correctly that the two of you went out yesterday?" He asked and Riley frowned. Her first instinct was to lie and cover for Carl, but Rick was his father, he needed to know.

"Carl left while I was still asleep," Riley admitted and Rick looked up at her in surprise. "Patrick woke me up since he was worried."

"Carl knows not to go-"

"I know," Riley cut him off. "I was angry at him at first, worried as hell that he went out by himself, but we talked and he told me to just give him a chance. I guess I understood his reasoning."

Rick lowered his eyes towards the table, knowing that his son had been angry at him from the moment the prison had fallen. He'd been so dead set on keeping Carl's life as normal as possible when they were at the prison, keeping him sheltered. But he realized that Carl knew that the world wasn't the same anymore, it would never be the same.

"He is able to handle himself out there Rick. He managed to kill several walkers, but I did tell him that we needed to work as a team," she mentioned. "We needed supplies, you were unconscious, I needed to do something and he wanted to help," she added. "So, we searched through the houses for a few hours. Afterwards, when we were heading back that's when we found Connor."

Rick didn't speak as he tried to process all the information, but Riley took his silence as disapproval.

"Look, I know it was dangerous, especially now that we've lost everything and everyone is scattered..." Riley trailed off, feeling guilty over the matter as she noticed the look on his face. "He was injured and all alone, I didn't have the heart to just leave him out there like that. I decided to make the call."

Rick understood her reasoning though as he seemed to think it over before he looked at her again. "Did you ask him the three questions yet?"

She looked at him in surprise before she shook her head. "I thought I would leave the questioning up to you," she told him and he nodded in understanding. "What we know so far is that he was by himself and he got ambushed by a group of men."

"A group? Nearby?"

"We're not sure; when we found him he thought it happened a few hours ago. They might've already left this neighborhood, or decided to stay in one of these houses as well." She mentioned and Rick's jaw tensed. If there was a volatile group in the area, they couldn't stay here for too long.

"We gotta talk to him, ask him what happened." Rick asked before him grimaced in pain when he moved without thinking, carefully rubbing his ribs.

Riley had noticed the movement, frowning in concern."We'll do that in a minute, first I need to patch you up. I wasn't able to tend to your injures apart from your face," she mentioned before she stood up. "I found a first aid kit and some bandages," she added while she was about to walk out of the kitchen but Rick stopped her as he reached for her wrist, making her look at him in confusion.

"Thank you," he then said as he looked up at her and she frowned.

"For what?"

"Taking the lead, protecting my son when I couldn't," he replied and she smiled.

"We're family, it's what we do."

It had seemed like forever that they had stayed inside the trunk of that car. Beth felt her muscles screaming at her in protest from laying crammed up in the small space along with Daryl but she'd stayed put for all those hours.

It had already turned daytime, and the trunk was heating up from the sun that was burning down on the vehicle. She felt the sweat dripping from her face, her mouth completely dry. It was like being in a sauna with barely any air. Daryl hadn't moved from his spot either, his crossbow still pointing at the small opening of the trunk. She looked at him from time to time but he hadn't spoken in all those hours.

She finally had enough though, not having detected any movement from outside the trunk for at least a while now so she made her decision, removing the knot from Daryl's bandana that held the trunk closed before she pushed it open, the fresh air coming as a relief.

Daryl hadn't objected to what she'd done so she'd figured it was all right, moving out of the trunk, her feet touching the ground before she stretched. She squinted her eyes at the bright sunlight before she looked around, seeing the car they'd been sitting in for the night more clearly now. It wasn't much, but she knew they had to salvage what they could, so she grabbed a plastic bag she'd seen in the back of the trunk and started to collect anything that could be useful.

Daryl didn't say anything, but he was surprised that she'd started to search for supplies without him telling her to. A voice in the back of his mind told her that he should give her more credit, but he felt like he'd barely knew her to begin with. Riley knew the girl a hell of a lot better; then again, she was obviously the social one out of the two of them. He swallowed when she entered his thoughts again, quickly grabbing a garbage bag he saw near one of the wheels of the car, getting to work.

It took them about twenty minutes before they'd gathered everything useful from the vehicle, from the hubcaps to the cable ties and side mirrors. Beth sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her arm. She'd been getting anxious again by the lack of communication between her and Daryl. It was extremely difficult for her not to talk, nor to not share any feelings or thoughts out loud. Keeping everything bottled up inside wasn't doing her any good so she figured it wasn't doing him any good either. But with everything she said, she barely got any words out of him or she'd just received a grunt as a reply.

After they'd finished, Daryl briefly looked at her and caught her staring at him, like there was something on her mind that she wanted to share but she didn't say anything. He turned his head away from her before reaching for his crossbow, turning around to head down the road. Beth merely watched him go before she sighed, quietly following him.

After Riley had taken care of Rick's injuries, also providing him with a fresh pair of clothes, she tended to Connor's injuries, redressing his bandages and making sure the cuts on his face were not infected. While she was busy doing that, Rick decided to have a talk with Carl in the kitchen first before he would start to interrogate Connor, leaving Patrick, Connor and Riley alone in the living room.

Patrick was engrossed in a few comic books he'd found in one of the bedrooms upstairs, forgetting about the entire world around him. Riley briefly smiled as she looked what he was doing.

"So uh, I don't mean to pry but is Rick you're husband?" Connor suddenly asked her and she looked back at him in surprise. "I mean, I saw a wedding ring on his finger and you're wearing one too."

''What? No-no he's not my husband,'' she said, quickly pushing back the emotions she felt by that particular word and Conner frowned.

"Sorry, I just assumed. He seemed rather protective of you all, figured you guys were married."

Riley swallowed hard before she looked up at him. ''I'm married, but Rick is not my husband. He's.. he was the leader of our group..'' Riley trailed off, the painful reality hitting her in full force again. There was no group left.

"You have a group?" Connor questioned, becoming more curious by the second. They might've had a community like he had as well; perhaps they had encountered a few survivors that he might know. He had hoped to find some of his people, even though he knew it would've been a long shot. He had seen so many get killed, so many creepers stumbling around, he had barely made it out alive, maybe he was too hopeful. Maybe he should just accept the fact that he was the only one left.

''We had a group,'' she said, feeling an instant tightening over her heart at all the familiar faces that flashed in front of her eyes. She had no idea what happened to the others, no idea what happened to her hunter. She held hope that they would've survived. And Daryl.. Daryl is a born survivor, he made it out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Connor said, seeing the sadness in her eyes, realizing that she too had been through a lot of hardship as well. The fact that she was married and her husband wasn't here clearly explained it all.

"It's okay, it's only human nature," she replied while she placed away the small box of bandages that she'd used. "We'll talk about it soon. We also have a lot of questions for you as well. In this world it's always difficult when meeting strangers, you don't really know who you can trust. We're always very careful when we're meeting new people,'' Riley said and Connor frowned before he looked away.

You couldn't be more right.

Riley was about to open her mouth when suddenly a knock was heard on the door and they all froze.

Rick and Carl appeared in the living room, having heard the sound as well and he instantly looked at Riley who looked equally surprised. Rick slowly walked towards the door before looking through the peephole. Suddenly he started to smile, chuckling a little as well before he sat on the couch.

"What?" Carl then said and his father looked back at him.

"It's for you."

Carl looked at his father in surprise before he quickly ran over to the door, moving the curtain away from the window, seeing someone very familiar looking back at him.

"Michonne!" He said in surprise and the woman smiled at him. "It's Michonne you guys!" Carl said as he looked back and both Riley and Patrick looked equally surprised, quickly moving towards the couch to push it away from the door. Carl hastily removed the knot on the door before he opened it, seeing Michonne standing there.

"No way!" He exclaimed before he stepped forwards, hugging the woman.

"I can't believe I found you," Michonne said, smiling as she looked around the room before she frowned when she spotted a strange man sitting in the corner of the room.

"I'm so happy you're here," Riley then said, interrupting her train of thoughts as she wrapped her arms around her when Carl had stepped back. Michonne smiled, hugging the young woman. She couldn't believe that she had actually been able to track some of them down.

Merle grunted in annoyance as he stabbed another nearing walker in the head. It was extremely frustrating that the area was swarming with walkers, which slowed down his search. And he couldn't prevent himself from coughing every now and then, the remaining reminder of the fucked up flu he'd endured. He kept on having to either hide or take on some walkers, not being able to walk a straight hour or so without having to stop again. The fall of the prison clearly had an effect on the walkers surrounding the area as they'd been drawn to the sound and smells.

The amount of fresh tracks on the ground surely wasn't helping him either, but he was almost ninety percent certain that he was following the right footprints. It was actually helpful to him that he knew that Rick was injured since the man had been dragging his feet, but not as much as a walker would do. Also the smaller footsteps of both teenage boys that trailed after it was a good indicator he was going the right way.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a bit dizzy and he cursed. It was bad enough that he'd lost his family, but that he physically still wasn't fully back to his normal self made the situation that much more frustrating. He wiped his knife along the pants of the walker he'd just killed, the stench coming off the body almost making him want to vomit right there and then.

He leaned against a nearby tree, knowing he needed to take it easy but there wasn't any time to rest. He grunted as he pushed himself off the tree, moving forwards down the road.

"Start talking," Rick said as he looked Connor dead in the eye, and Connor's jaw tensed. Who was this guy, a cop?

"What do you want to know?" He asked and Michonne leaned forwards while Riley shifted in her seat. Perhaps she had made the wrong call to bring Connor back here; both Rick and Michonne were clearly on edge.

"Riley told me you were robbed and beat up by some men, were you on your own?" Rick asked and Connor quickly nodded.

"So how did you end up here?" Michonne then asked, Connor's eyes moving towards her.

"I was just passing through; I try not to stay in the same place for too long." He answered, Michonne raising her eyebrow at that.

"So what's your story, everyone has one." She said and Connor lowered his eyes towards his hands, Riley feeling the grief just rolling off of him at that question. Connor figured that he did needed to tell the truth if he was going to stay with these people. Even though he didn't know anything about them and trusting people nowadays was hard, if not impossible, but he had been on his own for so long already, he longed to be around people again, getting out of his own head. He was someone that needed people around him, he was going crazy without having someone to talk to, someone to depend on.

"I had a group," he then said and Rick and Michonne briefly looked at each other, not knowing if they liked that particular news. "A community actually," he added as the familiar faces appeared in his mind, the smiles and laughter of men, women and children.

''It was safe; we'd made sure it was. Gates and walls, kind of like a closed off community. We boarded it up with metal plates so the creepers couldn't spot us.''

"How did you manage to do that?" Rick asked and Connor looked up at him.

''When the outbreak began, my family traveled in a school bus that we found at a nearby school in our neighborhood. My father, brother, his wife and their two daughters, my wife and my son. My father spotted that gated community when we were looking for fuel and came up with the idea to live there. It was difficult at first because it was swarming with those creepers as they were all locked in. We were sure that other people didn't even dare to risk it, but after a week of hard work and being extremely careful we managed to clean it out.''

"Just with your family?" Rick questioned then, remembering the difficult time they'd faced when they entered the prison.

Connor sadly smiled, nodding as he remembered that particular moment. "My brother and I were actually on a family visit when the outbreak began. That's why our family was together. My father, he was ex military, my brother as well, let's just say they knew how to plan." He replied and Rick frowned as he realized what that meant. Connor surely would have to inherit some of those skills.

"You were in the military too?" Riley then asked.

"Well, I tried it for a while but it wasn't something for me."

"But I'm sure it did teach you some skills, didn't it?" Michonne asked before Rick could and Connor nodded, confirming Rick's suspicions, realizing that having military skills would make you a valuable asset to a group but really dangerous towards enemies.

"What did you choose instead?" Riley then asked, clearly interested in his life before the outbreak and Connor smiled at her as he thought back at his old job.

"Med school." He replied and Riley's eyes widened. A doctor? Finding people with good medical skills in this world nowadays was like finding a goose that could lay golden eggs.

"So how did your family manage that community?" Rick asked.

''The first few weeks went by and we started to look for supplies. There was actually a lot of food nearby so we started to haul that all in to save up. After about two months we started to encounter other people. It was of course difficult to know who to trust, but we created our own system. People weren't allowed to carry weapons inside the community. It involved a lot of trust from both sides, but it did work," Connor explained. "In the end we had about fifty to sixty people, including children."

"What happened, why did you leave?" Michonne then asked and Connor lowered his eyes again.

"We let in the wrong people." He stated and Rick's jaw tightened as he realized where Connor's story was heading. It seemed like groups always tended to fall, like it wasn't allowed to build up something again in this world without it being knocked down again. They'd been through it as well, at the farm, the prison, nowhere seemed safe.

"We were so careful, but still, those bastards had tricked us." Connor said, his hands balling into fists as he thought back at that moment. "They actually opened the gates, attracted the dead and our whole community got overrun."

"Were you the only survivor?" Rick then asked and Connor looked up again.

"I searched for weeks around the area but I found no one, just their bodies, dead and alive." He replied and Riley instantly looked at the wedding ring on his finger. He mentioned that he had a wife and a son, realizing that the names he'd called out when he first saw her were the names of his family.

As she looked up at his face, she could see that his eyes glazed over and she felt her heart break. He'd lost his entire family, his group, everyone.

Just like we did.

After walking for a few hours, Daryl had decided to set up a camp since he knew it was going to get dark soon, Beth following his lead as he was securing several ropes along some trees, making a small circle. Beth's stomach rumbled after several minutes as they hadn't eaten anything since yesterday.

Daryl briefly looked at her since he'd clearly heard the sound since it was extremely quiet between them and walked away without saying a word, Beth staring at his leaving form, sighing loudly before sitting down on the ground, deciding to make a small fire to cook whatever Daryl would manage to catch.

As she was digging a hole in the ground, she let her thoughts run free. She didn't understand why Daryl was acting this way. They were feeling the exact same things, loss, desperation, sadness. But instead of talking about it or at least making some kind of plan on what they were going to do, he just stayed silent.

Back at the prison he was pretty much second in command, planning with Rick, going on several supply runs, but now? It was like he'd just shut down, running on auto pilot.

She stopped her movements once that thought passed her mind and she looked up at the direction Daryl had gone off to. Was that what he was doing? Just running on survival instinct without making himself think of anything else, fearing he would break?

Meanwhile, Daryl was out looking for something to eat. Unfortunately, the area they were in wasn't showing much signs of life, apart from the occasional walker he encountered. No rabbits, squirrels, nothing. It was like the area they were in was mirroring his mood, miserable. The longer he was out here, the more negative he started to feel. He could tell Beth wanted to talk, but the state he was in now, he just felt annoyed by it. Talking would do shit in this situation, they were never going to find the others. Trails were going everywhere, walkers mixed people, it was a maze. Being around her was suffocating even though they were saying the bare minimum. She was looking at him with hope in her eyes, and he had lost just that, hope.

After sitting in complete silence for about an hour, Beth looked up when she heard some rustling behind her and she quickly turned around, seeing that Daryl had appeared behind her. He was holding what seemed to be a-

"Is that a snake?" She asked him and he looked at her before he nodded in affirmation, sitting opposite from her, placing his crossbow beside him.

"I've never had snake before," Beth started while Daryl started to skin the reptile. "Have you?"

He merely grunted in response and Beth's hand turned into a fist, but she managed to prevent herself from yelling at him.

"I've never had squirrel before until we had to leave the farm." She continued and he briefly looked at her, knowing he'd been the reason she and almost all the other people of their group had started to eat that kind of meat. "It took a bit getting used to but when you season it, it's actually quite all right."

He didn't reply yet again and she rolled her eyes, opting to just stay quiet, laying down on the ground as she looked up at the sky. She wondered what their plans for tomorrow would be. She couldn't imagine of having to walk through the woods for yet another day, just merely moving forwards with no plan in mind.

She glanced at Daryl who was now in the process of roasting the snake above the small fire she'd made earlier. He had to worry about the others too, so why wasn't he making plans with her on trying to find them? They had a major setback earlier with the children, but that didn't prevent her from wanting to search for the others. But Daryl was the tracker; he knew how to search so why wasn't he doing it? What was he waiting for? Was he afraid of who or what they would encounter?

Maybe she should just start with something, just doing anything and maybe he would follow. She grimaced at the thought of going out there by herself, she probably would just get lost in the process. But maybe it was the right thing to do, to just push herself forward. She had always been in the safety of the prison and only in very rare moments had she been allowed outside. She had actually grown used to it, so now to be out here was so alien.

She closed her eyes as she let her thoughts run free. There were so many things that she hadn't done in her life yet, the stories she'd heard from both Maggie and Riley. Sneaking out of the house, going to parties with friends, drinking alcohol. She almost wanted to chuckle at the thought but then the feeling of loneliness gripped at her heart when she thought of her family and friends so she quickly pushed away the memory before opening her eyes again.

Even in this kind of world, she hadn't even tasted a sip of alcohol before. Mostly it had to do with the fact that her dad had his issues with it in the past, but still, it was the end of the world, literally, so why shouldn't she just try it now? It was a start of doing something, what was there to lose?

After Connor had endured Rick's interrogation, he was drained, sitting motionlessly on the couch as he stared at the wall in front of him while Carl and Patrick were playing some kind of board game in the corner of the room. It'd been difficult to answer all questions thrown at him as it brought back a lot of painful memories, but he knew he had to or else these people would surely kick him out. He couldn't go back out there by himself, not after encountering people that did seem trustworthy. And he knew those kind of people nowadays were very rare.

He could only hear soft murmuring noises coming from the kitchen as Riley, Rick and Michonne were still in there in deep discussion. He wondered what they were talking about and who was going to side with him. He had a feeling Riley would most likely be up for him staying with them, she had been the one to bring him along in the first place. Even though she was still practically a stranger to him, he had noticed that she was someone with a caring nature. She had looked after his injuries and made sure he had clothes since everything he'd once had was stolen. She had prepared a bed for him and made sure he was fed. But it was also in the way she behaved around the two teenagers in their small group who weren't even family. He wondered if she even had children of her own or was someone's sister.

"Hey," Riley suddenly said and he looked to the left, seeing her carrying a tray with two bowls. "Brought you some tomato soup."

Connor gratefully took the soup, feeling the warmth of the bowl in his hands. Riley sat beside him on the couch, starting to eat from her soup and Connor looked at her. "Is there a verdict yet?" He asked as he motioned his head towards the kitchen where Rick and Michonne still hadn't come out.

Riley shook her head and Connor didn't reply, taking another bite from his soup. It was obvious that the two strangers in the kitchen had the final decision in his faith. He briefly wondered what he would do if he would be kicked out, be he decided to push that troublesome thought to the back of his mind for now.

"Shouldn't you be in there with them?" He then asked her and she looked at him.

"They already know my decision." She replied and he looked at her with questioning eyes. "I was the one who decided to bring you here, and I'm sticking to that decision." She added and he felt a bit of relief flowing through him even though one out of three still wasn't much.

"Thank you." He said and she smiled in return.

It was silent for several minutes, and even though no decision was made, Riley still had every intention of getting to know the stranger she brought in.

"Earlier, you said you were on a family visit when the outbreak started," she said and he looked back at her before he nodded.

"Yeah, my brother and I decided to take our wives and the kids for a trip to their grandparents." He replied. "My mom really wanted to see us all, she was sick.. cancer."

"I'm sorry," Riley replied but Connor shook his head.

"In a way, I'm thankful she didn't have to experience this all," he said to her. "She passed away a few days before the outbreak started."

Riley lowered her eyes after his reply. The outbreak had been hard on everyone, but to the sick or elderly who didn't have anyone to protect them, to be so defenseless, experience such a horrible and painful death. To be eaten alive.

"But no one could've ever been prepared for what happened afterwards." He then added and she slowly nodded in agreement.

She then looked at him from the corner of her eye as he continued eating. He seemed to be truthful and she wanted to believe everything he'd told them so far, hoping she had made the right call to bring him here. He'd told them he'd lost his family, but she understood why he didn't went into detail, knowing that saying such things out loud only caused more pain and grief. Thankfully, both Rick and Michonne hadn't pried, having noticed his behavior the moment they'd asked him about his family.

Before her mind was able to wander, Rick suddenly stepped into the living room, followed by Michonne. Both Connor and Riley looked up the minute they noticed them and Rick moved forward, looking at Connor.

"So, we've decided that you can stay," Rick said and Connor released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, briefly looking at the ceiling to thank God that they were letting him stay.

"But first," Rick added and Connor's head snapped back at the man. "I need to ask you three questions."

Merle tossed another twig in the small fire he'd made as it was dead silent around him. Another day had passed and he knew he was getting closer. He figured it would be tomorrow or the day after that he would find Riley and the others. Since both her and Rick seemed injured by the way he'd seen them escape the prison, he knew they had most likely tried to find shelter first, staying in one spot to regain their strength and find supplies. He questioned what their reaction would be. Rick would most likely be glad to have another set of muscle and protection for the kids and Riley, he was sure she would be happy even though he wasn't the right Dixon.

He lowered his eyes as he thought of his younger brother. The man was still alive, that he was sure of. He wondered who he was with, hoping he wasn't alone. Even though his brother's social skills weren't all that great, the man wasn't good with solitude, not like Merle. Especially after he'd seen Daryl in the group, he knew he craved to belong somewhere, somewhere where people actually wanted him around. While this was the end of the world, Daryl had actually found his home.

He sighed as he lay down, staring up at the dark sky, spotting only a few stars. While he was better with solitude, it did feel rather strange now to be by himself after being with other people for so long. And if he was honest with himself, he didn't like the feeling anymore. He understood Daryl better now; it was a nice feeling to actually be needed. Not that he would ever confess such things out loud.

He suddenly heard the snapping of a twig behind him but as he sat up, he felt the familiar cold metal of a gun pressed against the back of his head and he cursed at the few seconds that he'd lowered his guard.

"Well, what have we here boys?" He suddenly heard a man say behind him and a few dark chuckles followed.

"I claim the knife!" Another man suddenly piped up.

"It seems you gotta cut it off his arm as it's stuck to it," another voice said in a snarky manner and Merle narrowed his eyes at that particular comment.

"I'd like to see you try, asshole." He grunted and a few chuckles were heard.

"Well, someone's got balls." The first voice said and even though Merle couldn't see him, he knew this had to be the leader of the group by the clear authority that was dripping from his voice.

"Y'all gonna show yourselves or what?" Merle said in clear annoyance and suddenly a man appeared in front of him and he looked up, getting a clear view of him now. Gray hair, gray goatee, mid fifties.

Why in the hell does he look so familiar?

He did his best not to widen his eyes in surprise as he realized he'd seen this man before. It seems decades ago but he would never forget encountering this group with Riley when they'd found Patrick.

"Nice arm," the man said in clear interest and Merle spat on the ground, never letting his guard down.

"Gets me by." He said matter-of-factly and the man actually smirked at that. Merle saw five other men appear now, but he knew that there were a total of seven since there was still one who had him at gunpoint.

"What's in the bag?" The man closest to him suddenly said and Merle saw in the corner of his eye that the guy actually had the nerve to reach for it and he raised his arm, his knife inches away from the guy who stopped and glared at Merle.

"Don't even try it, kid," Merle grumbled and now the leader of the group actually laughed while the others apart from the guy he'd just threatened chuckled under their breaths.

"That put you in your place, Len." The man said and Len was obviously annoyed by his leader's comment but didn't say anything which did show the amount of power the man had over the other men.

"I'm Joe," the leader said and Merle looked back up at him.

"Merle." The older Dixon replied before he noticed the small nod Joe gave before suddenly the cold metal behind his head was removed and the man behind him appeared beside Len, which added yet another unfriendly face to the already hostile group.

"You traveling by yourself there, Merle?" Joe asked and Merle grunted in affirmation. He sure as hell wasn't going to say anything about the others he was searching for. But he knew that he needed to change his game plan now since he couldn't lead these people to Riley and the rest of his group.

The question now was though, how in the hell was he going to get rid of these thugs without getting killed in the process?

"Babe?" Riley heard Daryl say and she took a deep breath, pressing her back against his chest, relishing in the skin to skin contact. "Happy birthday," he added and she smiled while her eyes remained closed.

"Isn't that supposed to be a song?" She mentioned and she heard him scoff behind her.

"Dixon men don't sing," he grumbled and she chuckled before she felt him placing something in her hand and she opened her eyes, looking down towards her hand.

"What is it?" She asked as she felt him press his lips against the back of her neck.

"Open your hand." He whispered and she did what he said, seeing a black threaded bracelet. She picked it up with her other hand to show a tiny silver arrow dangling from it. Her eyes welled up with tears as she saw that he'd clearly made the bracelet himself by the way it was knotted and her breath got stuck in her throat.

"You like it?" He asked and she heard the familiar uncertainty in his voice.

"It's beautiful," she whispered and his arms tightened around her.

"You're beautiful," he said and she smiled through her tears before he whispered in her ear.

"I love you."

She opened her eyes, still smiling as she looked at the bracelet tied around her left wrist, still hearing his voice in her head.

I love you too, she thought and she was about to turn around to snuggle against his familiar warmth before she froze, realization hitting her. He wasn't here, she had been dreaming, dreaming about an event that had happened months ago. The time that he was still with her, the time that they were still together.

She gasped as she quickly sat up, seeing that Carl and Patrick thankfully hadn't heard her as they were still sleeping soundly in the corner of the room.

She looked around, feeling like the walls were closing in on her right there and then and she could sense that familiar panicky feeling bubbling up towards the surface. She quickly got up from the mattress, not wanting to wake up the two teenagers present in the room as well.

She carefully stepped towards the door, softly opening it before she swiftly made her way towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her just in time as tears started to fall.

No.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the living room, both Rick and Michonne had heard the footsteps above them and they frowned at each other. They'd agreed earlier that since Michonne was with them now, they had more protection so they could spread out some more instead of staying hauled up together in the living room so Carl, Patrick and Riley were sleeping upstairs while both Rick and Michonne stayed downstairs with Connor.

"I'll go," Rick said to the woman, passing by Connor who was still fast asleep on the couch, making his way towards the stairs, thinking that one of the kids was up.

As he reached the hallway, he went towards the bedroom, seeing the door was ajar and he looked inside, noticing that both teenagers were still asleep, and realizing that Riley had been the one who was up.

He frowned when he suddenly heard a noise coming from the bathroom and he quietly made his way towards the door, pressing his ear against it. He could clearly make out the sound she was making inside the room, her cries cutting straight through him.

Inside the bathroom, Riley was trying to catch her breath but the tightening feeling inside her chest made it difficult to breathe.

Calm down, you're okay, calm down, get a grip! She inwardly screamed at herself, tears rolling down her cheeks as grief was taking over while she sat on the bathroom floor, her back pressed against the cool tiles but it wasn't helping with the sweat that was forming on her forehead.

He was gone, he wasn't coming back, and she would never see him again. Please come back to me, I can't do this without you, please..

"Riley?" She suddenly heard someone familiar say her name and she looked up at the door. "Are you okay?" Rick asked and she tried to regain her voice so he wouldn't come in and see the state she was in, she was a mess.

"I'm o-okay." She barely got out and she knew he could hear that she was anything but that. She then saw the doorknob turn, but he wasn't able to open it since she'd locked it beforehand.

"Riley, open this door." He then said with a bit more urgency in his voice.

"Just-just go, I'm fine. Please," she pleaded, not wanting Rick to see her like this. She had been good at keeping up a strong front all of this time but her walls were completely down now, fully exposed. She didn't want them to see her so weak, especially Rick.

"You don't sound fine, please open this door." He now demanded while trying to keep his voice down as to not wake up the two teenagers in the bedroom.

"No, just g-go." Riley said before her eyes suddenly widened when the door actually opened and she briefly wondered how Rick had learned how to pick a lock before the man appeared in front of her.

It was rather dark inside the bathroom, only the moonlight peaking through the small window allowing Rick to see Riley sitting on the floor while tears were rolling down her cheeks. He quietly closed the door behind him before he crouched down in front of her, seeing her struggling to breathe and he realized she was having a panic attack.

"Riley, look at me," he said since she hadn't looked at him from the moment her eyes had met his seconds ago when he'd entered the bathroom. She didn't listen though as the tears kept flowing from her eyes while she was taking sharp short breaths.

"Riley," Rick said again, reaching forwards to place his hands on her shoulders, catching her attention.

"I-I can't, I can't do this."

"Calm down, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth," he instructed and she tried to listen but it was difficult as the horrible thoughts that'd planted themselves in her mind wouldn't leave.

Gone, he's gone, I'll never see him again, her heart rate quickening.

"Riley!" Rick then said a bit louder and her eyes snapped back towards his. "Breathe, you're gonna be okay. He's okay," he added and her eyes widened as she realized that he understood what she was thinking about. "He's out there, looking as well, he'll never give up, and you know that."

Rick noticed that she was focusing on his words now as she blinked, trying to take a deep breath. "He'll want you to keep on going too, you can't give up," he mentioned, seeing that she was slowly taking deep breaths.

After several minutes, Riley had finally calmed down and Rick removed his hands from her shoulders, sitting in front of her on the tiled floor.

"I'm sorry," she quietly said, wiping the tears from her eyes even though more threatened to fall, she couldn't seem to stop herself from doing it.

"For what? Crying?" He said to her in surprise, not understanding why she should apologize for that.

She looked away from his eyes. "I'm supposed to keep it together, I just… I can't."

"You shouldn't keep up this strong front." He told her and she looked back at him. "It'll eventually break you; you should've talked about it."

"Talking about it makes it real, I can't imagine not seeing hi-"

"That's not going to happen," Rick said with a clear certainty in his voice. "It's Daryl we're talking about here, that man is made for this world."

"I'm clearly not," she mentioned but he shook his head.

"You've changed a lot since the first day I met you," he said to her. "You were already strong; it just needed to come out."

She frowned as she considered that thought. It seemed ages ago, that day that Daryl had brought her to the farm. Thinking back at it, she had been so inexperienced and perhaps still so innocent, not realizing all the horrors their current world would bring. A lot had changed, and perhaps, she had changed as well without even realizing it. Perhaps she was more hardened by this world, but being able to lead?

"Hey," he said, giving her knee a brief push with his hand to get her to meet his eyes. "You should believe in yourself some more."

"I feel like I'm supposed to know what I'm doing, but I don't. You guys always seem to have some kind of plan to follow."

"You guys?" Rick asked and Riley looked away.

"You, Daryl, Michonne, Merle, Carol," she mentioned. "I'm not like that."

"I don't think you understand that you are capable of doing the exact same thing. Even now, you don't realize that you've been keeping both my son and Patrick safe while I was out cold. You stepped up and took the lead."

She looked back at him when he said that and he gave her a knowing look. Perhaps he was right; she had been doing just that without even realizing it. It was like running on instinct.

"Don't cut yourself short like that, you're a brave woman." He mentioned and that comment coming from him made her feel more secure. "And while it seems like I know what I'm doing, half of the time I just have to go with my gut feeling. There is no guidebook for this world."

She nodded before wiping away her tears. "You're right. I guess I was going down a dark path just now. I'm just, we are.. we were a team," she corrected herself, "it might sound cliché but it really feels like I've lost my other half. I feel lost without him," she admitted.

"I get it, more than you know." He told her and she lowered her eyes, knowing who he was talking about.

"It doesn't make you weak to admit that out loud. We're all human, it differentiates us from them out there," he told her but she didn't reply, merely staring at the ground.

Rick had to admit that it surprised him to see that she considered herself to be weak. She had gone through a lot of change over the course of time. She had practically grown up from an innocent girl to a brave young woman. He understood what had attracted Daryl to her in the first place.

"Look, I know I'm not Daryl but you can talk to me, I'm a good listener." He mentioned and she looked up again, giving him a small smile.

"Thank you."

He smiled as well before he stood up, offering her his hand which she took, standing up as well. "I know it's difficult, but we have to keep going, for ourselves, the kids, we have to." He said.

"I know, I'm holding on to that." She replied, going over to the mirror and taking in her puffy eyes she could clearly see even without that much light in the room.

"Here," he said, reaching for a small washcloth before wetting it with a bit of water from a bottle of water one of the boys had placed on the sink earlier when they'd brushed their teeth.

"Thanks," she said, taking the washcloth from him before dabbing it gently against her eyes. She hoped the kids wouldn't notice it in the morning, not ready to answer any questions on how she was really feeling.

After Rick had left the bathroom, she looked back at herself in the mirror again while leaning her hands on the sink for support. I can do this; I'm no good to them if I'm a blubbering mess. I have to hold my head up high and keep faith, we're going to find the others and I'm going to find him. We will see each other again.

She then reached in the back pocket of her jeans, taking out the photograph she knew she had with her but avoided looking at, too afraid of how it would affect her now that Daryl wasn't around.

She took a deep breath before she looked at it, seeing both her and Daryl smiling on it. She still remembered this moment quiet vividly, how she'd longed to go back in time and relive it. She traced the outlines of his face; it was so rare to see him smile without the familiar frown on his face.

She turned the picture around, her eyes watering when she read the sentence scribbled on it in familiar handwriting. It were three words that she'd read a thousand times before but she longed so much to hear him say them to her right in this moment.

I love you.

~ TWD ~

A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter. It has been very difficult finding both the time and inspiration for this story, but I'm glad to finally be updating it again. My apologies to have kept you all waiting for so long.

I want to thank everyone who has placed this story in their follows/favorites and also the readers who took the time to write me a review. It's very motivating to keep on writing when seeing your comments and to read that people want to know what's going to happen next. I hope you guys still enjoy reading Armored Love as much as I like writing it.

Questions: do you think Merle is able to handle himself in Joe's group? Will Beth be able to pull Daryl out of the negative spiral he's in? How are you liking Connor so far? Will he be a valuable asset for their own group? Do you think Riley will find out he's Daryl's childhood friend?

I hope you'll share your thoughts with me on this new chapter.

Until next time!