DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Well, this is technically a sequel to Prisoner of War, but it can be read on its own. I hope you enjoy it. Also, this chapter is a flash-forward.

"Stay behind me—" Daryl ordered Judith. The little girl, terrified, simply nodded and complied. She stepped behind Daryl's tall frame and covered her ears.

Gunfire echoed through the woods as they fought back against the group of survivors. Daryl shot off another round and nailed one of the fourteen guys in the head with a round from the Ruger SR9 he had found just a couple weeks ago. He had to make ever shot count. He was very meticulous with keeping track of how many bullets he had, to which he now currently had eight. That was it. He knew they were very limited on ammo, and their lives depended on it.

Two more men fell to the ground with fatal wounds from Carl and Maggie's shooting. It felt like fighting for their lives had become a daily chore. This certainly wasn't the first group to try and double cross them, and Daryl had a feeling it wouldn't be the last either. The world as they had ever known it was completely gone. There was no humanity left. There was only kill or be killed.

Daryl checked behind him to make sure Judith was doing okay. The tree he was standing behind provided some cover as he double checked his ammo situation, releasing the clip. He knew he wasn't wrong on his counting—he was just hoping some more bullets could just magically appear.

"You doing okay, kid?" Daryl bent down and placed a hand on Judith's small shoulder. She still had her ears covered as her big blue eyes locked onto his stare.

"Yeah…" Judith mumbled. "Is't done yet?"

"Not yet. Hang in there just a little bit longer." Daryl gave her shoulder a squeeze before he stood back up straight, resting his back against the tree. There were still a few gunshots that rang out. He had lost track as to which ones belonged to Maggie and Carl, all of the shots seeming to blend together in harmony. No matter what happened, he couldn't let Judith out of his sight.

Daryl swung around the tree and took aim at the nearest man who was staring Carl down from where he hid behind another tree. By the looks of it, Carl was too focused on covering Maggie's back that he left himself wide open for an attack. Daryl took the shot and the bullet pierced right through the man's neck as he quickly sputtered to the ground.

"Maggie!—" Carl cried out, grabbing Daryl's attention. Maggie was in trouble. These men were trying to take them out starting with whoever appeared to be the weakest. That's where they were wrong though, because Maggie could handle her own. She'd had plenty years of practice.

Maggie shot the man closest to her in the head and shouted back to Carl, "I'm fine!" Daryl could see her slight grimace from the blood splatter of the last shot.

Daryl's attention was drawn to the crunching of leaves nearby, the sound coming up from behind him and to his left. Judith's shrill scream was enough to confirm it as he whipped around as fast as he could to come face to face with one of the men. He was about the same height as Daryl and he didn't appear to have too much muscle mass—an easy target.

Before the man could fire off a round into Daryl's chest, Daryl slammed the butt of the pistol into the man's temple with enough force to knock him back. "Don't look—" Daryl warned Judith as he watched her turn her head away. The man stumbled before Daryl kept at it, slightly leaving his cover from behind the tree and flat out attacked him. He threw the man to the ground and continued to bash the side of his head in, gritting his teeth in disgust as blood spewed and coated the underside of his hand that had a firm grip on the Ruger.

This was what the world had come to though. They had to resort to bashing in human skulls now. It was sickening and Daryl had to admit that even he still wasn't immune to how repulsive it truly was. But it was the only way they could survive—by doing anything and everything in their power. They had to conserve ammo for times when they really needed it. Much like now. But Daryl couldn't risk wasting a bullet when the man was right there in front of him.

Daryl jumped back to his feet and quickly tried to wipe the blood off on the front of his pant leg. He patted Judith's shoulder to let her know it was okay as he pulled her to his side against the tree once more. All he could do was scan the area, searching for any sign of the other two. He hadn't seen or heard anything from Carl or Maggie since their short outbursts moments before. There was still gunfire though so he assumed they were still doing okay. They were tough, they could handle it. But that didn't mean Daryl still didn't worry. For all he knew, they were the only ones left. They were the only family he had left.

And the one thing that Daryl expected to happen, did.

Walkers were beginning to flood the surrounding area, scurrying through the trees and wobbling all over the place. There were at least eight men left as well. Not to mention, Daryl still couldn't see where the other two had disappeared to. Things always seemed to have a way of really spiraling downward—and fast.

Judith gripped a hold of Daryl's pant leg as a small whimper escaped. He felt incredibly guilty for getting her stuck in this mess, but there was no way around it. He'd just have to do his best to protect her at all costs. He only had seven bullets left, the crossbow on his back that held two bolts, and his hunting knife.

Daryl kept his left hand firmly planted on the back of Judith's head to let her know he was very aware of her presence. He had to try and scout the area one last time. He didn't want to do it, but it was looking more and more like it was his one and final option… He was going to have to separate from Maggie and Carl.

The walkers were still closing in as the gunfire slowly died down. Whatever was left of the fight, it was beginning to head west through the trees as the sun was still barely peaking over the horizon. It would be night before long and the chances of survival would drop to a bare minimum. Daryl had to get out of there with Judith—now.

Daryl cursed under his breath, quiet enough so that Judith couldn't hear. He clicked the safety on the pistol and secured it in the waistband of his jeans at his back. Daryl scooped Judith up into his arms and held her close to his chest, making sure to maintain the balance of her weight with his left arm before he pulled the Ruger back out right-handed. If he really needed to kill something, whether that was human or walker, he couldn't risk it by carrying Judith and trying to swing a measly knife around.

"Daryl—where we going?" Judith wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his chest the best she could as his left arm supported her.

"We gotta get out of here and get somewhere safe," Daryl answered her the best he could. He stepped out from behind the tree and began to head south. Right now, there really wasn't a direction that was better than the others. He just needed to get a move on.

Just as he was passing through some more trees though, there was a barrage of bullets whirling passed him. His first instinct was to turn his back to the oncoming attack to protect Judith who was still cradled to his chest. He was able to quickly glance over his shoulder and spot the two men who had found him. Apparently they hadn't all disappeared. But what did that mean for Carl and Maggie?

Daryl was able to shoot one of the men down before any other damage could be done. He was about to shoot the last man standing in view but instead watched as a walker had grabbed him from behind, ripping the skin and tendons from his shoulder as its vicious jaw clamped down. The man screamed out in pain as Daryl kept moving, honestly hoping that man's screams would save their lives. Maybe it would distract the surrounding walkers long enough for him and Judith to make an escape.

He had six bullets left now. Nowhere near enough to even begin to feel safe. Hell, he could waste six of the walkers that were within fifty feet of him right now and then he'd be shit out of luck. He just had to keep pushing on, try to avoid the walkers. The man's screams were beginning to fade and Daryl picked up his pace. He had to move faster. Some of the walkers nearby were beginning to pick up his and Judith's scent and once that man was dead, there wouldn't be any more of a distraction.

"Daaaryylll," Judith whined. Her face was buried into the side of his neck now.

"We're okay, Judy. But hey—we've gotta play the quiet game now though, alright? The quieter you are the better. Win a prize…" It was the first thing that came to Daryl's mind to try and keep her calm and quiet. It also wasn't the first time the quiet game had been introduced to her.

"What I winned?" Judith's voice still carried as Daryl stopped behind a tree once he realized four walkers picked up on it. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He couldn't take on four walkers. He just had to pray they found something more interesting than Judith's voice.

"Darrrryl—"

"Shh—" Daryl quietly shushed her, trying to sound as nice as he could. He learned that the hard way one of the times they had gotten themselves in a jam with a herd of walkers previously. He shushed her then and it took Maggie close to five minutes just to calm her back down as she only cried and pouted. He hoped that wouldn't be the case this time for the fact that 1) he didn't have Maggie to calm her back down 2) he didn't have anyone to cover his back and 3) he couldn't begin to take on all of these walkers by himself.

Once he noticed the four nearest walkers had dissipated, he kept walking and gave Judith a reply before her three-year-old mind lashed out at him. "Uhh… You can win a…" Daryl racked his brain. He didn't have shit to give her for a prize as it now occurred to him that Carl had all of their stuff. Carl had offered to carry the backpack since Daryl ended up carrying Judith most of the time, her little legs unable to keep up with them for the long hikes. "I can't tell ya. It's a surprise. Wouldn't wanna ruin the surprise, now would ya?"

"A surprise?" Judith repeated.

"Yeah, but we gotta keep playing the quiet game though. I'll let you know when it's over. Just—Just rest your head and close your eyes in the meantime…"

Daryl was beginning to realize that if he didn't find Carl and Maggie, he was royally screwed. There was no way he could handle Judith by himself—the temper tantrums she threw, the unnecessary crying and whining, and her volume. The kid had no sense of the word 'quiet'. When she talked, she talked loud enough for everyone to hear. Daryl would have to work with her on that.

But the further Daryl walked, even changing his direction from time to time, he realized he wasn't getting any closer to finding anyone. There were no longer any gunshots that filled the air and there was no movement in sight as he had finally managed to get out of the midst of the walkers. The sun was beginning to set much too fast for Daryl's liking as all light would be gone within the next hour. He needed to find the others and he needed to find a place to hole up for the night.

This wasn't good. This was not good.