50,000 READS!!! I am blown away! I seriously can't believe it. I'm so appreciative of all of you who have been enjoying my story! In order to celebrate I am putting out another update!

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Daryl

Denise kept Jo in the infirmary the first night for observation. She had a concussion and her arms had been cut up pretty bad. Nothing had needed stitches, but the doc wasn't taking any chances with her. She had given Jo something right away to make her sleep and I had sat with her until Denise forced me to go home around midnight.

I didn't sleep at all. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was somehow my fault. I had let her leave to go find Maggie and Carol alone. Why the hell had I done that? She had been tired and hurt already. That asshole had cut her and I had sent her out there straight to those pricks. I tossed and turned until dawn.

When the light first hints of light shone through my window I went outside to look over my bike. I sat down at the curb and started going through the packs. I pulled out the small one under the seat and frowned as I found a small carved wooden soldier.

Dwight.

I scowled at it and tossed it onto the street.

"Didn't even notice," Carol said as she walked up. "You got your bike back." She dropped down to sit on the step next to me.

"Yeah," I grunted. "You got another one of those?" I asked, motioning to the cigarette in her hand.

She handed one over and stared at my bike thoughtfully. "Those people you met, the ones in the burnt forest, they took it from you?"

I didn't want to talk about this. "Yeah."

"You saved them, right?" she asked.

I didn't respond, didn't even look at her. I had been an idiot.

"Sorry," she said. "It's who you are. We're all still stuck with that," she said staring down at her hands.

I frowned and turned to look at her. There was something up. She looked sad. "No, we ain't. I shoulda killed them."

Carol stiffened at my words. She set the cigarettes down beside me and started to walk away.

"Hey," I called after her.

She swung around to face me, but I could see she was fighting back tears. "The ones that took you and Jo and Maggie...what did they do to you?"

"To us?" she asked as though she were confused by the question. "They didn't do anything to us."

I scowled down at the cigarette in my hand as I thought over her words. When we got there every last one of them was dead. Jo had been hurt, so I was guessing she wasn't the only one to do the killing.

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Jo

I slept late that morning. It was the first time in a long time that I could remember ever sleeping past dawn. I sat up and stretched. I was sore, but my muscles all felt fine and my head hurt considerably less today than it had the day before. I reached up and lightly touched the spot just above my ear. I winced in pain, but the cut had closed. Both of my wrists were bandaged and there was a bandage around my bicep. I flexed both arms, but there was only some minor discomfort.

There was a pile of fresh clothes sitting at the end of the bed along with my should rig. I walked to the bathroom and showered, washing away the last of the blood and smell of gasoline.

I stepped out of the bathroom to find Denise sitting on the bed I had slept in, waiting for me. I picked up my shoulder rig and started to secure it. I looked around the bed in confusion. When my eyes met Denise's she seemed to understand immediately.

"Daryl took the rest of your weapons when he dropped off a change of clothes, he said those were your everyday knives and you wouldn't need the rest," her face screwed up in confusion and then shrugged.

I nodded. He had taken my throwing knives and kukri with him, leaving me with just the ones that fit in the shoulder sheaths and my spine sheath. "Where-?" I started to ask looking around.

"Oh, I sent him home," she replied "It's just you and I here. Are you feeling better?" she asked, looking at me expectantly.

I nodded, fighting the frown I felt building.

"What?" she asked.

I actually did frown then and shrugged as I tucked away the rest of my knives. I checked the gun that was resting in the holster, it was mine and it was still full. I checked it and double checked that the safety was on before sliding it away.

Denise was still sitting on the bed watching me as I rechecked my knives. "Is that a compulsion?" she asked curiously, then she blanched as she realized how rude her question seemed.

My frown turned to a scowl as I studied my feet. I licked my lips and opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. "Denise," I said after a couple of uncomfortably silent moments.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"You were a psychologist, right? I mean before."

She frowned at me and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I dropped out of medical school and well, I thought it was interesting and I-" she halted her rambling and took a deep breath. "Yes," she responded definitively. "Yes I am. Why? Is there something-?" she started to ask.

I stiffened and she stopped speaking. I couldn't imagine she would have made much of a therapist with her tendency to ramble, but I was desperate. I couldn't get Paula's words out of my head.

"Yesterday..." I started.

She turned to me, her expression encouraging. "When you killed-" she started to ask.

I snorted and shook my head. "This isn't about that...at least not directly," I took a deep breath. I needed to talk to someone and I didn't think I was ready to discuss this type of thing with Daryl. "When I was being held, the women there...they were afraid of me."

Denise nodded, but she didn't look surprised. Instead, she merely looked confused, as though she didn't understand what I was getting at.

I took another deep breath. "The one in charge asked me if there was any way I thought I wasn't a villain in all this...and then she told Carol she would rather be dead then end up like me..."

I dropped down to sit on the bed opposite Denise, but I couldn't look her in the face. Instead, I studied the callouses on my hands. Running my fingers over the ones I had gotten fighting with knives.

Denise made a noise in the back of your throat. "Of course she thought that Jo."

My eyes snapped up to meet hers in shock and she back tracked quickly. "What I mean is, no one sees themselves as the bad guy. We're all good guys in our own lives."

I frowned as I considered her words. She was right of course, but there had been a question nagging at me. The real question I wanted to ask and was too afraid of the answer. I swallowed thickly.

"I killed those people yesterday," I said simply.

Denise nodded. "So did Carol and Maggie," she added as though that was supposed to make me feel better.

I ran a hand over my eyes. "Yeah, but they felt something about it," I lifted my eyes to meet hers, ready to see the disgust and the fear. "I didn't feel anything, except relief that it was done."

Denise frowned, but nodded slowly. "They were trying to kill you," she said carefully.

"Sometimes I can't sleep. I have nightmares," I told her.

She nodded at that, not seeming surprised, and I wondered if I had had one last night. But I pushed the thought away. I needed to focus on this conversation. I needed to quit stalling and ask her what I had been wanting to ask since the beginning. I needed to ask it before I lost my courage and fled.

"Of the things you've done?" she asked in a gentle voice.

I looked up at her and frowned. "No."

She looked confused by my answer and I knew it was the wrong one. I should have lied and said what was socially acceptable. But I couldn't take it back now. I took a steadying breath and fisted my hands in the blanket beside my legs.

"They are only ever about the things were done to me...and-" I swallowed thickly as tears burned behind my eyes.

"What?" she asked. When I met her gaze there was nothing but compassion and understanding in them.

"Sometimes...sometimes it's losing Daryl," I said quietly, looking down at my hands. "Those are the worst. Somehow they are even worse than the ones of my sister dying," I snorted humorlessly and shook my head. "I don't know how that's possible. That was the worst thing that ever happened to me...but it's never about the people I've killed...Carol, she said she can't sleep because of it sometimes...I've never had that."

I looked up at Denise and swallowed thickly. I wanted to see her face when I asked the question. "Am I some kind of sociopath?"

Surprise chased itself across Denise's face and she immediately started shaking her head.

"You're a survivor Jo," was all she said.

I snorted in disgust. Sometimes I hated that word more than any other. It seemed so easy to hide behind it. Hell, I had been hiding behind it for years now.

Denise made a noise in the back of her throat and leaned forward so she was in my space. "Jo," she said seriously. "You have been through trauma. More than most of us could ever imagine....I think your brain has adjusted to cope with the things that happened to you. You aren't loosing sleep over it because you know you have always done what you needed to in order to protect yourself and those around you. I certainly do not think you are a sociopath. You love people, you love them with your whole heart...no Jo. Just no," she said dragging off. I looked up to meet her eyes and she looked thoughtful, but she wasn't lying. She genuinely believed what she was saying.

I rubbed at the back of my neck. "Thanks," I said and I stood up suddenly, swiping at my face. "Thanks for patching me up," I said and I turned towards the door. I looked around for my boots. I spotted them on the rug near the door.

"Jo," she called after me. I turned to face her, my impatience clear on my face. I couldn't stay in here anymore.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I need to speak with you and Daryl," she said briskly.

"Oh-kay," I said and I sat down and pulled my boots on.

Denise led the way down the sidewalk to our house. When we got close I spotted Daryl out front, working on his bike. He looked up at the sound of our footsteps and the frown on his face softened when he saw me up and walking about. He looked down at my wrists, where the bandaging was still visible and scowled.

"I'm fine," I promised him.

He grunted in response and then his eyes fell to Denise. "Ya need an escort from the doc 'cause you're fine?" he drawled.

I smiled and shook my head. "She had a proposition for us."

Denise cleared her throat and held out a map and a torn out page from a phone book. Daryl looked down at the items and frowned.

Denise stepped up. "I remember seeing it right when I realized I had no idea where I was going. Edison's apothecary and boutique. It's just this little gift shop in a strip mall, but if it's really an apothecary, they have drugs."

Daryl scowled down at the map. "How do you know they still got 'em?"

She glanced at me standing over her shoulder and then looked back at Daryl. For some reason she decided today Daryl was the one that needed to be convinced. "It isn't that far. I just wanna check."

I crossed my arms over my chest. She said she wanted to check. At no other point had she implied she had any intention of joining us on this little adventure. Daryl and I could do a run like this in our sleep, but babysitting someone else was a different story.

"And you and Jo aren't out scavenging today or pulling shifts."

Daryl nodded. "We'll go," he agreed. Though I could see in his eyes it would be a fight for me to be able to leave.

"I wanted to check" Denise argued. "I just wanted to help."

Daryl scowled. "How much time you spend out there?"

"None," Denise admitted.

"Forget it," Daryl snapped angrily.

"I can ID the meds. I know how to use a machete now," Denise argued as though that were going to save her life. "I've seen roamers up close, I'm ready," she assured him confidently.

Daryl looked over at me thoughtfully. "Ya good with this?"

I let me disbelief show on my face. "No."

"I'll go alone if I have to," Denise continued to argue.

Daryl's answer was immediate and matter-a-fact. "You'll die alone."

Denise looked back and forth between us imploringly. "I'm asking you to make sure I don't."

I looked back and forth between Daryl and Denise and sighed. I felt like I owed her and I could convince Daryl. "Dare," I said. "We can do this. You and I could do this in our sleep. We can take her with and still be back before dinner."

Daryl swung around to face me, scowling. "With you on the mend? You're okay with her putting you in that-"

I stepped up to him and pressed my fingers against his lips silencing him. His scowl deepened as he looked down at me and I giggled. What was it about this man? Even when he was growling and scowling at me I loved him.

"We've got this," I promised him.

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Jo

We took one of the older trucks. Daryl climbed into the drivers seat and before I could get in Denise slid across to ride in the middle. I shrugged to myself and hopped up, pulling the door closed behind me.

Daryl drove us through the neighborhoods, the truck jerked as he shifted hard, taking his frustration out on the poor truck.

"It a-" Denise started to say.

"What?" Daryl challenged. Shifting it hard again. This time it was entirely on purpose.

"Forget it," Denise said, shaking her head.

"No, what?" Daryl asked. The truck jerked again as he shifted and Denise sighed.

"I think maybe you're disengaging it too soon," she said pointing at the shifter. "I've been driving stick since I was fifteen, usually beat up trucks like this. I mean, before-you know, before I left home. My brother taught me...so...I just know."

Daryl ground the gears extra hard and turned to stare at her challengingly as he did so.

I bit my lip and smirked out of my window. Sometimes he could be a real ass.

I looked back out the windshield and frowned. "Daryl," I said, pulling his attention off of tormenting the Denise.

"Yep," and he slowed the truck as we got close to the huge tree that was blocking the road. It had fallen recently, the leaves hadn't even started to wilt.

"Stay here," he commanded Denise. He and I climbed out.

"This happened fast," I commented as I paced around the tree. "The tree rotted out, it wasn't people."

Snarling from under the tree caught my attention and I pulled my kukri and killed the walker then walked back to the truck.

"Come on," I said pulling the door open and stepping back so Denise could get it out. "It's clear," I promised when I saw the fear in her eyes.

"The truck ain't gonna make it past this tree," Daryl said. "Come on, let's walk."

"Hold up," Denise called, frantically unfolding the map in her hands. "Looks like a straight shot if we follow the tracks," she said pointing down the line of railroad tracks that stretched out before us.

I stood, staring down the length of tracks in front of me and froze.

Daryl looked at me in concern, but I couldn't tear my gaze off of them.

"No tracks," Daryl told Denise. "We'll take the road."

"But that's twice as far," Denise argued.

"Go which ever way you like," Daryl snapped. "We ain't taking no tracks." He bumped my shoulder with his. I flinched and looked up at him and nodded so he would know I was all right. He led the way down the road.

We walked in silence for a while before Denise jogged to catch up, her feet slapping loudly against the pavement. "I'm sorry," she said when she caught up to me but her eyes were on Daryl's stiff shoulders. "I didn't mean to argue. You guys know what you're doing out here, I don't."

I nodded in response, but didn't take my eyes of the sides of the road, keeping an eye out from some kind of ambush.

"So ah," Denise stammered. "Who taught you?" I didn't respond. "You know, how to fight?" Her eyes flickered to Daryl.

"Not him," I told her briskly. I wasn't going to go into this with her. True, we had spoken earlier, but I wasn't ready to share any more than I already had.

"So was it-" she started to ask but I cut her off.

"It was just a man, okay?" I responded tensely. "A man taught me and now I know. Okay?"

Denise's eyes widened and she took a measured step away from me. "Okay." she responded and we walked the rest of the way in tense silence.

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Jo

When we arrived at the strip mall Daryl and I hesitated in the parking lot. The whole thing looked abandoned, but the outside of the apothecary's windows were covered in bloodied hand prints. Something had drawn a whole herd of walkers here, which meant there would probably be a surprise inside.

I glanced over at Daryl and he nodded, he saw it too. I drew my kukri as we approached. Daryl stepped up and pounded on the door with his fist. He leaned against the glass and listened.

"Alright," Daryl said handing me his shot gun. I swung my rifle he had insisted I bring over my shoulder and took his shot gun. "Me and Jo are gonna do this. You're gonna stay back, got it?" He opened his backpack and pulled out a crowbar. I lifted his shot gun and pointed it at the doors as Daryl pried the doors open.

Daryl pulled the doors open, took his shot gun back from me and lifted it to his shoulder. The store was dark and quiet when we stepped inside. It was a gift shop just like the sign said with all sorts of useless odds and ends.

The stench was awful and as soon as Denise stepped in behind me she bent at the waist and started gagging.

"We gonna find out what ya had for breakfast?" Daryl snapped impatiently.

Denise sucked in a breath to steady herself. "Oatmeal, just so you know."

I paced around, shining a flashlight over everything. So far not a single thing would be useful, it was all just tourist junk.

Finally, the beam of light illuminated a sign. The word Pharmacy was etched into the wall over the top of a metal security door. Daryl set his stuff down and started prying it open.

"You want me to hold your bags, or..." Denise asked unkindly as she stepped up behind me. I glared over my shoulder at her.

She didn't get it. She had been protected, and never went out of a run. For her this was an adventure. She didn't realize that every door Daryl opened had the potential to be our last.

With one final sharp jerk Daryl popped the door.

"Nice," I muttered stepping up next to him. He grunted, sliding it up and then climbed up on the counter.

"If you set them on the counter, I can tell you which," Denise offered behind us.

I put my hands on the counter and jumped up. I swung my legs around and landed lightly beside Daryl. He looked down at me with a smirk then he moved to one side of the shelves.

"No," Daryl said jerking his bag open. "We're gonna take it all."

"Are you sure?" Denise asked. "Because..."

"No, it's fine," I said going to the next shelf.

A thudding came from somewhere in the store. I stilled, and listened. When the thudding came again I leaned around the shelf and came face to face with Daryl. His frown matched my own.

"It's just one," I said confidently when the thudding came a third time.

Daryl nodded in agreement. "It sounds like it's stuck."

I went back to my side of the shelf and worked on dumping all of the bottles into my backpack. I couldn't reach the ones on the top and I had to climb up on the bottle shelf. Holding myself up with one hand I struggled to knock the bottles into my bag.

I felt movement behind me and when I turned my grip slipped. I fell back, crashing into Daryl's chest.

"Ya need a stool darlin'?" Daryl teased, his hands steadying me.

"Ass," I muttered under my breath in a teasing voice.

He smirked and stepped up, clearing the top shelf into his bag easily.

Glass shattered behind us and we both whirled to see Denise standing over a broken display.

"What the hell are you doing?" I was jumpy and it made me snappier than I had intended.

"Nothing," she said and she stalked out of the store.

I exchanged a long look with Daryl but he only shrugged and finished up.

When we were done we stepped back out into the daylight to find Denise sitting on the sidewalk. She was looking away from us, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. I looked back at Daryl for help. I was no good with emotions.

Daryl shrugged. Lot of help he was.

"Hey," Daryl said. "You did good finding this place."

Denise nodded and swiped at the tears on her face. She climbed to her feet roughly.

"We tried to tell you, we both did," I said in a gentle voice.

"I know," she agreed and the three of us set off down the road.

After a long uncomfortable silence Daryl finally spoke up. "So was he older, or younger?"

"Older. By six minutes. My parents came up with the Denis/Denise thing on one of their benders. Hilarious right?"

When Daryl didn't respond Denise kept talking. There was something about Daryl, that when he reached out to you, you felt like you could tell him anything. It always surprised me the people he chose. They were never who or what I would expect. I remembered back to a long ago conversation with Merle. He had told me once that his brother had a weakness for broken things.

"Nothing scared him. He was brave. He was angry, too. It's kind of a dangerous combination."

Daryl snorted and nodded. "Sounds like we had the same brother."

I glanced back at Daryl and caught his eye. He looked sad for a minute. Or what I knew to be Daryl's sad face. I didn't think others would be able to read it, but what happened with Merle still hung heavy over him from time to time. I found it odd that we had both been thinking of Merle at the same time.

We crossed the train tracks and Denise and I kept walking. I hesitated when Daryl didn't follow. Instead he turned down the tracks.

"Hey," I called to him.

He pointed down the tracks. "This way's faster right?" And he started walking without looking back to see if we were going to follow. We did.

We walked past a traffic snarl, but the cars were old and there were walkers inside so we kept going. The sun was shinning and walking side by side with Daryl was relaxing. I wanted to reach out and take his hand, but I wasn't sure how he would feel about it in front of someone like Denise. We weren't close to her, and he didn't like PDA at the best of times.

"Hey," we both turned together to see Denise had stopped one hundred yards back near the cars. "There's a cooler in there!" she called to us. "Might be something we can use inside."

"We got what we came for," I said, we had the meds and had made it through without a fight. I wasn't looking to tempt fate today.

Daryl shook his head beside me, "Nah, ain't worth the trouble, come on." Daryl called and we kept walking.

All of a sudden we heard Denise cry out. The two of us whirled and took of running as we saw her on the ground, trapped under a walker. By the time we got there she had rolled over on top of it and had her machete in hand. Daryl dropped his gun and pulled his knife, but as soon as I was clear of the cars I jerked a throwing knife out of its sheath.

"No don't!" Denise yelled. She grunted and fought until she was finally able to stab it in the skull.

Daryl and I shared a disgusted look. This was why we didn't bring out newbies. When she stood, Daryl snatched up his gun angrily. Denise stepped forward looking pretty proud of herself for about five seconds before she doubled over and vomited.

"Oh man," she grunted. "I threw up on my glasses."

She went back to the cooler and opened it. "Hot damn," she said, pulling out a handful of sodas.

"What the hell was that?" Daryl snapped stepping towards her angrily. It was then I could tell that he cared about her and in his own way they had become friends. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be so mad. "You could've died right there, you know that?"

"Yeah, I do," Denise agreed stepping up to him.

"Are you hearing me?" Daryl snapped, stalking towards her.

"Who gives a shit?" she snarled. "You could've died killing those saviors, both of you. But you didn't. You want to live, you take chances. That's how it works. That's what I did."

"For a couple of damn sodas?" he challenged.

"Nope," she said, walking towards us. "Just this one," she said holding up a can of orange soda triumphantly.

Daryl looked like he knew what it meant but I sure didn't. Denise walked away heading down the tracks. I stared into Daryl's eyes and could see how mad he still was. How frustrated he was when she wouldn't listen. I shook my head and stalked after her.

"Are you seriously that stupid?" I challenged.

Denise stopped and faced me. "Are you?" she asked. "I mean it, are you? Do you have any clue what that was to me? What this whole thing is to me? See, I have training in this shit. I'm not making it up as I go along like the stitches and the surgery and the..." she drug off and Daryl shifted his weight uncomfortably.

I looked back and forth between them, not following what they were getting at.

Denise shook her head and plowed on while she still had the wind in her sails. She pointed defiantly at Daryl. "I asked you to come with me because you're brave, like my brother. And sometimes you actually make me feel safe."

Daryl frowned at her words, seeming surprised he made anyone feel safe.

Then Denise rounded on me and her face softened a little. "And I wanted you here because...because I wanted you to know you aren't alone, and people aren't afraid of you anymore and you don't have to be afraid of yourself anymore either. And because you're stronger than you think you are, and it gives me hope that maybe I can be too." she looked back and forth between us. "I could have gone with Tara. I could've told her I loved her but I didn't, because I was afraid. That's what's stupid. Not coming out here, not facing my shit and it makes me sick that you guys aren't even trying because you're strong and you're smart and you're both really good people who love each other and if you don't wake-"

I heard the thwack of Daryl's crossbow and had a millisecond confusion. He lost his crossbow, but the sound was so familiar to me...then an arrow lodged itself in Denise's head and I froze. The familiar green and white fletching catching me eye.

"-up...and...face your-" Denise collapsed forward and Daryl was there, catching her and lowering her to the ground.

I jerked the rifle up into my hands, and heard Daryl do the same with his shotgun.

"You drop them now!" a man yelled as he and eight others appeared out of the trees.

Daryl went still beside me, and then I felt him tense and his breath started coming in short, angry pants. I wanted to look at him, to figure out what was happening. Because something was happening, something I didn't understand.

The man who had first spoken came out of the trees, shoving Eugene in front of him. He forced Eugene down onto his knees, and I could see Daryl's crossbow dangling from one hand. Even from this distance I recognized it like it was an old friend.

Eugene's face was a mask of terror.

Daryl slowly lowered his gun. I risked a glance at him and was shocked to see the pure rage burning in his eyes. I lowered my rifle slowly, not liking it. As I lowered it, I switched it to my left hand, so my right was free. I was faster with my right.

"Well, hell," the man said. His long blond hair hung down around his face, partially shielding the half of his face that was covered in a horrific scar. "You got something to say to me?" He asked, his eyes were glued on Daryl. "You gonna clear the air? Step up on that high horse?"

I glanced at Daryl and swallowed nervously. He was practically quivering with barely contained rage.

"No," the man mocked. "You don't talk much," and I wondered if he realized how much he was provoking Daryl.

He jerked his head and two of his guys came up to us and started searching us. The guy searching me was over eager and his hands wandered. I scowled at him but didn't complain. I couldn't take my eyes off of Daryl and the man standing there. The tension in the air felt like a pot about to boil over. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Any small infraction was likely to set Daryl off and so I bit my tongue until he was finished.

"Still getting the hang of her," he said, motioning with Daryl's crossbow. "Kicks like a bitch, but-"

"I should have done it," Daryl's voice rasped angrily as he cut the man off.

"Oh, what's that?" he asked. "Seriously, I didn't catch what you said."

Daryl didn't take his eyes off the mans scarred face. "I should have killed you."

I sucked in a breath as realized hit me. This was the man from the forest. The one Daryl had helped and offered sanctuary to. I felt my eyes widen as I realized what all had just happened and what it meant. They were Negan.

My eyes immediately ranged over the men pointing guns at us as I fought to form some kind of a plan that would get us out of here alive. Daryl wasn't thinking clearly, I recognized the look on his face when he couldn't reason past his temper.

"Yeah," he agreed, sounding sincere for the first time. "You probably should have. So...here we are. Kind of begs the question, right? Who brought this on who? I mean, I get that you'll just have to take my word for this, but..." he flashed a charming smile. "She wasn't even the one I was aiming for."

Daryl stiffened at that and for the first time his eyes trailed to me.

The man just shook his head. "Like I said, kicks like a bitch. It's nothing personal. Look, this isn't how we like to start new business arrangements, but well you pricks kind of set the tone didn't you?"

My mind started to race as I realized that compound we hit couldn't have been there only base. There were too many of them. Paula's group, those men who had come as backup, and now these men. The math just wasn't adding up. What had Jesus gotten us into?

"What do you want?" I snarled, unable to contain myself any longer. Daryl wasn't getting anywhere with this guy.

He turned to face me and his eyes slid over me. "I'm sorry, darlin' I didn't catch your name. I'm D, or Dwight, you can call me either," he said smiling at me. "So? What's your name?"

I grit my teeth at his use of the same petname Daryl used. It made my skin crawl. "Jo, what do you want?"

"Well, Jo, it's not what I want. It's what you and Daryl are going to do. You're going to let us into your little complex. It looks just beautiful in there. And then you're going to let us take whatever, and whoever we want. Or...we blow Eugene's brains out. And then yours and then his. I hope it doesn't come to that, really. No one else has to die. We just try and start with one. You know...maximum impact to get our point across. So, what's it going to be? You tell me."

Eugene spoke for the first time. "You wanna kill someone, you start with our companion hiding there behind the oil barrels. He's a first-class a-hole and he deserves it so much more than us three," Eugene was crying and scared but I was shocked he would give up Abraham. At least I assumed it was Abraham, the two of them had set out from the gate this morning together.

Daryl shifted his weight and I could tell he was pissed Eugene was giving up one of our own. We had always known Eugene was a coward, but this was something else.

Dwight scowled and pulled a hand gun. "Go check it out," he ordered one of the men.

Everyone's attention was focused on the oil barrels when Eugene met my eyes and winked. Then he turned his head and chomped down on Dwight's groin.

Dwight screamed and automatic gun fire came from the forest behind the men. Daryl leapt forward without hesitation and slit the throat of the first man he could reach. He snatched up the man's rifle and stood in the middle of the tracks fearlessly firing at the others. I threw myself behind a car for cover and started firing, trying to cover Daryl, who was still standing out in the open.

I spotted Abraham in the woods and shot a man trying to sneak up on him. Abraham flinched and then looked over at me. He flashed me a smile of thanks and then kept shooting.

"Daryl!" I screamed. Finally he jerked out of whatever, anger fueled daze he was in and ran for cover. He dove behind a car as the glass shattered. Walkers started pouring out of the trees.

Dwight finally managed to kick Eugene free and started firing at us wildly with his handgun. I rained bullets down on him, but he flattened himself between the rails.

"Fall back!" he screamed to his men. "Fall back!"

I heard Daryl's gun click empty and watched Dwight swing around and point his gun straight at Daryl. Something in my chest tore loose and my hand found a knife. It shouldn't have worked, I shouldn't have been faster. Thinking back in it later, the only explanation I had was the Dwight had hesitated. He had a clear shot on Daryl and he couldn't pull the trigger for whatever reason.

Dwight jerked and yelled as my knife landed in his shoulder. He turned and fled.

I ran to Eugene who was wailing. I knelt next to him. He had been shot in the side.

Daryl leapt out from behind the car and scooped up his crossbow on the move, intending to pursue.

"Daryl stop!" I yelled, desperate for him to hear me.

He hesitated, but didn't take his eyes off the retreating men.

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Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this one! Thank you again for all the support!!!! I couldn't do this without you!