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Jo

We had been on the road for weeks now and things were going from bad to worse. Much worse. We had run out of gas a few days ago and were now traveling on foot. Rick had chosen Washington as our destination. He believed that even though Eugene had lied about being a scientist there might be a decent argument for civilization to have survived in the capitol. 

Food stores were nearly exhausted and we hadn't found any decent places to raid since we left what was left Noah's family compound. It was high summer and hot and we seemed to be in a drought in Virginia. Water stores were running dangerously low now. I managed to find a new backpack along the way, though it only carried my empty water bottle and jacket. 

Daryl wasn't helping matters either. He disappeared every morning and ranged through the woods until we made camp at night. He would reappear out of the dark, sometimes with something he had hunted, sometimes with nothing. I think that was weighing on him as well. He had always been able to provide for the group and now there was nothing. He would sleep by himself away from the fire and took more watches than anyone else. Once it was dawn he was up again disappearing as soon as it was light enough for him to see. It had been ever a week since he last spoke to me for sure. Probably nearly as long for anyone but Rick. Whatever he was going through I didn't know how to help him. He was running himself to exhaustion. I was starting to worry about him going off by himself. 

We were stopped on the side of the road resting. With so little water left we were taking more breaks than usual to preserve our energy. If this continued on for another day I planned to talk to Rick about starting to travel at night. It would make it difficult to see but it would hold dehydration at bay a little longer. 

Daryl stood and stretched and turned towards the woods. "You going for water?" Rick asked, from his place on the ground. 

Daryl nodded but didn't speak. 

"Take some back up with you," Rick's eyes flickered to me but I tried not to notice. Daryl hadn't wanted me around him in a long time. "You'll cover more ground that way." 

Daryl frowned at Rick but finally nodded. 

"I'll come," Maggie offered and Sasha climbed to her feet beside her. 

"Me too," Sasha said, swinging her rifle over her shoulder.

I sat staring at him, silently willing him to give me some indication he wanted me with him. He met my gaze for only a second then he turned and headed into the forest. I shook my head and looked back down at my hands. 

"You coming little sister?" Abraham called to me. He startled me out of my dark thoughts and I looked up in surprise to see him and Rosita standing over me. They had their weapons up and looked like they were also going looking for water as well. They went out of their way to include me whenever they could. It was obvious to everyone Daryl and I were on the outs.

I nodded and climbed to my feet. My ribs would still tweak a little if I twisted a certain way but otherwise I was healed up and able to help out. My torso was a light yellow color now and I knew it would soon fade. I followed Abraham and Rosita silently through the forest. We traveled for nearly an hour before we were forced to return to the group empty handed. 

It had been two days since we found fresh water. We had only two bottles left and with so many people it wouldn't last us another full day. I glanced up at the sun that was beating down overhead. In this heat we wouldn't last two days without water. 

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Daryl

I was walking on the lead with Rick. I had decided to stick close to the group today. We started to pick up some trailers that morning and I wasn't willing to leave them unprotected. Rick held Lil Ass Kicker in his arms. The baby was chewing on one of her fists and smiling beautifully. I glanced over my shoulder and frowned when I saw the herd trailing us had grown.

Rick followed my gaze and shrugged. "We're not at our strongest. We'll get them when it's best. High ground, something like that. They're not going anywhere," he turned back to the road in front of us. After a bit he cleared his throat and glanced over at me uncomfortably. "It's been three weeks since Atlanta. I know you lost something back there..." he drew off, not looking at me now. "But brother," he said drawing me attention to him. "you don't want to lose what you got here." 

It felt like he had kicked me in the chest. I sucked in a breath and scowled as he words went over me. I looked back again. Jo was traveling on the edge of the group, her eyes ranging over the tree line. She had been moving better this week and she looked like she was almost back to normal. Yesterday afternoon she had twisted in a way that hurt her, but other than that it had been a while since she looked hurt. All the cuts and bruises had healed on her face. There were still a few faint ones visible on her bare arms. Rick was wrong, Jo was just fine. 

Lil Ass Kicker started fussing. I glanced down at her in Rick's arms. "She's hungry," I observed quietly. 

Rick bounced her lightly and she quieted. "She's okay. She's gonna be okay." 

"We need to find water, food," my voice rasped with lack of use. I hadn't been talking much over the last few weeks I guess. I had turned my whole focus to taking care of the group and trying to find water. We seemed to be in drought though and even the hunting had dried up. 

Rick nodded calmly. "We'll find something on the road," he glanced up at the building clouds over head. "And it will rain sooner or later." 

"I'm gonna head out," I said jerking my chin towards the woods. I needed to get out of here for a while and clear my mind. "See what I can find." I handed Rick my rifle and brought my crossbow down into my hands.  

"Don't be too long," Rick called after me as I stepped down into the ditch. 

Jo stepped forward. "I'll come with you." 

I glanced once at her and quickly looked away. "I got it," I snarled at her trying to scare her off. She needed to stay with the group where it was safe. 

She snorted, not taking me seriously. "You gonna stop me?" she challenged playfully. 

I glared at her but it didn't do any good. She followed me into the woods anyway. 

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Jo

He was pissed I was here, but there was no going back on it now. I was pissed too. I was pissed that he let this go on as long as he did. I was pissed that he thought he could just push me aside like what we had was nothing. I was also pissed that I was pissed. I shouldn't be angry with him. He was grieving and hurting, but dammit that didn't mean he had to hurt me in the process. It was what he knew, what he always did. When something hurt he pushed away. 

We moved through the trees silently. I watched him hunt for nearly an hour, but there was nothing to find. He led the way through the forest into a clearing that looked like low ground. We both walked with our eyes on our feet, digging our toes into the soft dirt, trying to find water. 

"Anything?" I called ahead to him. He had walked halfway across the clearing away from me. Still working on keeping distance between us. It seemed like it wasn't long ago that he would be tense if I wasn't close enough to him, now he was purposefully keeping his distance. 

"No it's too dry. Ain't nothing here," he said in disgust. 

I glanced up at the sun and then back at  the trees behind us. "Maybe we should head back," I finally said. I don't know why I thought my forcing my way along with him would help. It obviously didn't matter to him if I was here or not. 

"You go," he growled out angrily. 

I sucked in a deep breath before I spoke, knowing my words had the potential to set him off, but I didn't care anymore. Anything was better than this impasse. I was tired of being ignored. "I think she saved my life," I called to him. 

He froze, his shoulders tightening, but he didn't turn to face me. 

"In the hospital," I clarified. "I don't think that doctor would have helped me without her. He said he owed her...She saved your life too right?" I wasn't sure if it was physical or emotional, but I knew without a doubt Beth had made sure Daryl got back to me after what happened in the prison. Looking at him now and how he was dealing with her death I couldn't imagine how it was when he thought I was dead. 

I sucked in a breath and walked towards him. I pulled Beth's knife in it's sheath off of my harness. 

I held it out to him. "It was hers," I said quietly. 

He took it from me with gentle hands. He looked down at it and ran his hands over the worn leather of the sheath. 

"We're not dead," I said firmly. 

He looked up at me, but he was still fighting to keep his emotions from me. His mouth was drawn in a grim, tight line but his eyes were filled with pain. 

"That's what you said," I reminded him gently. "You're not dead, and I'm not dead," I studied his face unabashedly for the first time in weeks. God I missed him even when he was pissing me off. "I know you," I said quietly, I took a deep breath and let it out. I could feel tears already gathering in my eyes. "We're different. I can't let myself f-" I cleared my throat struggling to maintain my composure while I got the words out. "But you...I know you. You have to let yourself feel it. You can't keep it bottled up like this...that will kill you...and it will kill me." 

I reached towards him and he didn't flinch away from me. I brushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled up at him with gentle understanding. "I'm here," I promised quietly. I reached up and cupped his cheek in my hand. His eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue and I couldn't look away when I was this close. I leaned forward and gently brushed my lips across his cheek. "I won't lose you to this." I said firmly. 

I brushed his hair aside again and smiled at him. He was staring down at the ground, his brows drawn down tight as he thought over my words. I lifted myself up on my toes and kissed his cheek again. I took his hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. I held onto it as long as I could as I turned and walked away, letting my fingers glide gently over his until the last possible moment. 

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Jo

I caught back up to the group as they were stopping at a bridge embankment. The walker herd had doubled in the short time Daryl and I were gone. It was time to do something about it. It looked like this was where we were going to make our stand. 

Rick glanced up at me as I stepped out of the woods. "Are you good for this?" he asked. 

I looked over my shoulder. The walkers were only two hundred yards away now and closing. There were at least twenty. I nodded, wishing I was back to one hundred percent. If I wasn't injured I could take out half the herd for sure by myself. I rolled my neck, cracking it. 

"Jo," Rick said my name with more authority and I turned back to him, mildly annoyed. "I need to know if you can fight or not." 

I licked my lips. "Yes I can." 

He nodded though it didn't look entirely like he thought he could trust me. "Okay, I want two teams, one on each side. We don't engage. We keep it tight and controlled. You lure it in and sent it straight to the bottom," he said motioning to the steep banks on either side of us. "Me, Glenn and Michonne." He looked over the rest of us. "Abraham, Sasha and Jo." His eyes went to Abraham. "Good?" he called to him. 

Everyone else was sent to the other side of the bridge to wait for us and be ready in case any got by us or we had to make a rapid retreat. Abraham nodded to Rick and smiled in excitement flashing me a wink. It had been a long time since we fought anything. 

We lined up single file on our side of the bridge. Abraham then me and then Sasha. When I looked back at the walkers the closest one was only one hundreds away now. I rolled my shoulders and check my knives to make sure I would be able to draw them fast if I needed to. I studied the herd as it drew closer to us and focused. Nothing else mattered, not my fight with Daryl, not the water situation, not the other people on the other side of the bridge. All that mattered were the people around me and the walkers in front of me. 

Rick stepped up towards the first one, drawing it's attention. He led it backwards towards the embankment, at the last minute he stepped aside and the charging Walker slid down into the rocky stream fifty feet below. Rick stepped to the back of his line. I bit back a smile as I thought back to track in high school when we would do Indian runs. The next two went for Abraham. He swept both of them aside easily with his powerful arms, grinning all the while. Then Glenn took his turn. 

I was next. I stepped up and studied the walker in front of my. My brain spun wildly out of control logging all the necessary information but I fought the instinct to engage. I backed up slowly, drawing it with me. It snarled excitedly and at the last minute I spun, dodging around it and slammed my boot into the back of it's knee sending it sprawling down the hill face first. The move was a little showy and it twinged my healing ribs but I ignored it. 

Everything was going just fine. We were all keeping it tight and controlled like Rick said. I felt Rick's eyes on me while I engaged another one, using the same exact maneuver only this time I tightened my ab muscles holding myself a little tighter and there was not pain. I couldn't decide if he was concerned about me because I might lose it and go on a killing rampage or if it was my injuries. Either way I grinned at him, showing him I was alright. A small part of me agreed with Abraham, it had been too long running. I wanted to fight something. 

Sasha stepped up to take her turn and I watched calmly until the very last minute when her shoulders suddenly tensed and she leaned forward. I opened my mouth to yell at her to stick to the plan, but she had already leapt forward and grabbed hold of the walker. 

"Sasha!" I yelled when she drew her knife and stabbed the walker in the skull stepping up towards the other one. Rick stepped forward drawing his machete a look of disgust on his face. "Stay in line," he called. "Flank her. Keep it controlled," both Rick and Glenn jumped forward striking down the next two walkers. 

"Plan just got dicked," Abraham grumbled from beside me. I drew my kukri and another knife. 

Sasha took aggressive steps deeper into the herd. Michonne jumped forward to grab her arm but Sasha whirled on her, her eyes wild. Michonne held her. I jumped forward and killed two walkers that were getting too close to them. "Stop," Michonne snarled. "Just get out of here." 

Sasha glared at her and ripped her arm out of Michonne's grasp taking another step into the herd. I stabbed another one and tried twisting around but pain shot through my ribs so fast and hard it nearly dropped me to the ground. With tears in my eyes I kicked another back, but Sasha had target fixation and she let one by her. I was in a crouch, pulling my kukri out of the skull of the walker I had just killed when it came up behind me, grabbing my arm in it's cold, slimy hands. It pulled my arm to it's mouth dragging me to my feet. I cried out and tried to pull back but it was too late and I wasn't up to my full strength. 

Suddenly Daryl was there. He grabbed the walker by it's hair, pulling its head back away from me. I cried out as it was ripped off of me sending me sprawling to the ground. Daryl pulled the whole top of it's head off in his hand before he turned to stomp what remained of it's skull. He killed another walker that was close and then pulled me roughly to my feet. I struggled to keep my balance and he jerked me protectively against his chest while he lifted his crossbow in one hand. His other arm held me tight against him and I could feel his heart pounding.  

Sasha was still on a rampage. Killing and swinging wildly. She clipped Abraham's arm with one of her knives but rather than stopping she roared and jumped forward again. 

Michonne grabbed her, shoving her down onto the road and killing the remaining walkers with her katana. "I told you to stop," Michonne said angrily. Sasha climbed angrily to her feet, glaring at Michonne as though daring her to do something about it. "You almost got us all killed. You need to pull it together." Michonne yelled after her as Sasha stomped across the bridge. 

I was still gasping for breath while I watched the exchange. The rest of us all shared looks of disbelief before we silently followed. 

We set up camp not far from the bridge that night. We were all exhausted and wired from our encounter with the herd and it was smart of Rick to have people get some rest. Carol and Gabriel were on watch while Rosita sat near the fire with Abraham bandaging his arm. 

I sat a little ways away from everyone and was slowly unwinding the bandage from around my ribs. Daryl suddenly appeared out of the darkness and crouched down near me. "Ya good?" he asked frowning down at me. 

I looked up at him in surprise but nodded as I rolled up the bandage. 

"Ya need a hand?" he asked motioning down to the roll in my hand. 

I looked down at it. I hadn't planned on wrapping my ribs tonight but I wasn't about to turn Daryl away. I nodded and held it out to him. He set his crossbow down and walked over to me. I lifted my shirt and he paused for a second before taking he bandage. His fingers were warm against my cool skin and I felt small tingles whenever he touched me. I was very aware of him leaning in to pass the bandage behind my back. It had been so long since we were this close. When he was done he pinned the bandage in place and laid his hand over the top of the pin in the middle of my torso. I swore I could feel the heat of his hand even through the bandage. He looked me in the eyes then and my heart started to pound. 

Suddenly he pulled back sharply and his mouth set in a grim line. He snatched up his crossbow off the ground. "That was stupid of ya," he snapped angrily and I couldn't tell if he was talking about me or himself. "You're still too hurt to be fighting like that. Ya coulda gotten killed." 

I jerked my shirt down as surprise and hurt flared through me. I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip as a dull throb flared through my chest at my quick movement. "I was fine," I snarled back at him. I was tired and sore and feeling very exposed. I was not in the mood to be yelled at. 

He snorted and shook his head before stomping off into the darkness. I let out a tired breath and went back to the fire. I laid down between Rick and Abraham and Rosita and closed my eyes knowing fully well I was too pissed off to sleep tonight. 

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