"How's Daryl?" Carol asked, sitting next to Parker, who was leaning on the tire of the truck they were driving.

"As well as can be expected," Parker said with a sigh. "It's been difficult for him. He loved Beth."

"You just have to be there for him."

"I'm trying to be there for him," Parker told her defensively, shifting her weight. "Sorry." She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, shaking her head. "But it feels like he's pulling away. Like he did on the farm after-" She cut herself off once she realized who she was talking to and whose name she was about to say. Sophia. Carol felt the missing name and frowned, but nonetheless continued as if the words hadn't sparked a wave of pain.

"I think he's afraid of losing you, too," She reasoned with her, her hands resting on her knees. "Rick told him everything. He knows you were in that room. Just make sure he knows you're not going anywhere." The only thing she could think about after hearing Carol's advice was how Dale had given her the exact same words of advice the night he died. The rest of the group returned without anything. They were hungry, thirsty, tired, and defeated, so as they gathered around their truck, the only vehicle they had left, they waited for Daryl, Maggie, and Sasha to return. Parker was not doing too well, she was on the verge of passing out, and just like everyone else, she was hungry. The little food they had been able to get had resulted in both Glenn and Daryl giving half of their share to Parker, no matter how much she tried to deny their offers. It reminded her of how insistent she was on everyone having a share of her food when they were stuck on the road before they had found the prison. Once the three arrived with nothing, they were on the move again, piled into the back of the truck. They made it a couple of miles before the truck ran out of gas.

"We're out. Just like the other one." Abraham let out a frustrated sigh as the truck engine sputtered.

"So we walk." Rick declared, pushing open his door. Which is exactly what they did. They all climbed out of the truck and began slowly walking down the road. Parker walked close to Daryl, who had distanced himself from the rest of the group, walking a bit ahead of the rest. She wrapped an arm around his waist as they walked, feeling him place his arm on her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Parker asked almost silently.

"Gotta be." Daryl nodded, but from what she heard, he was far from okay.

"You know you don't have to be. No one expects you to just be okay after going through that."

"I don't know," He muttered, looking down at the road.

"I know," She'd been in the same place as him before. "I know, and that's fine. But I just... I can't stand the idea that you're not okay, and I'm not able to do anything about it."

"I'll be alright."

"Until then, please, talk to me." Parker pleaded with him. "That's what I'm here for. This isn't something you can get through on your own. I bet Beth would have loved how terrible we looked up there when we got married. She always supported our awkwardness." Daryl let out a quiet laugh.

"Ain't that the truth." She smiled, glad to have been able to make him laugh.

"God, I'm tired." She groaned, dragging her feet.

"Me too."

"No, not just physically tired," She clarified. "I'm tired. I just want everything and everybody to be okay. I'm tired of burying people. I'm tired of saying goodbye. I'm... so tired."

"We have to be okay," Daryl looked back over his shoulder. There was a herd of walkers trailing behind them, but not a single one of them seemed bothered by their presence. In any case, the only purpose they served was to force them to keep moving, which became more and more difficult the further they walked. The distant snarls and moans of the walkers behind them were becoming fainter, but they could still hear them. They would always be able to hear them.

"We're not at our strongest," Rick said, noticing the way everyone shuffled along with exhaustion. The Virginian heat being of no help. "We'll get 'em when it's best. High ground, something like that. They're not going anywhere."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Parker nodded from the back, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"It's been three weeks since Atlanta," Rick tried to seem like he was talking to the two of them but his main focus was Daryl as he walked alongside the two of them. "I know you lost something back there."

"Come here, Judith," Parker whispered with a faint smile, taking her niece from Rick.

"She's hungry," Daryl pointed out right as Judith began to fuss in Parker's arms.

"She's okay." Rick stated firmly. "She's going to be okay."

"We need to find water... food." Daryl continued, glancing at the woods.

"We'll hit something in the road," Rick assured him, looking at the sky. "It's going to rain sooner or later ."

"I'm gonna head out," Daryl announced, picking up his pace. "See what I can find."

"Hey, don't be too long," Rick warned him, taking the gun Daryl was offering him.

"I'll go with you." Parker offered, although it was more of a statement than an offer.

"I got it." She shook her head and passed Judith back to Rick.

"I'm going with you." Parker followed Daryl through the forest, searching for anything worthwhile. Daryl kept his eyes on the ground, looking for tracks to follow while Parker silently trailed behind him not knowing what to say. She wanted to help him, but when he was hurt he closed himself off and made it difficult to get through the walls he built. "Anything?" Parker finally asked, looking for a way to start a conversation.

"Nah, too dry," Daryl replied. "There ain't nothin' here."

"Maybe we should just go back," She suggested, pointing back towards the road.

"You go ahead," He mumbled, scanning the bushes.

"No," She responded, shaking her head. "I'm not ditching you. Even if you know the woods like the back of your hand." While speaking, Parker looked down at her stomach. From what she can go off, she estimated she was at least two months pregnant, maybe a bit less. But between her lack of nutrition and weight loss, it was easy to see where the small bump was. She was worried that the lack of food she was getting wasn't enough for the baby. She didn't want to lose the baby, not if everyone was infected. If this baby died inside her, no matter how precious it was, it would tear her apart from the inside out. Everyone else had had that thought at least once, so they were all careful when it came to Parker. Protecting her and making sure she didn't overexert herself. It was clear in Daryl's eyes that no matter what happened, he wasn't going to let Parker die for the baby, no matter how much she begged him to save the baby over her.

"Just go back to the group," Daryl insisted, not even bothering to look at her.

"No."

"Just go!" He spun around, anger written all over his face.

"No!" She matched his energy. "I promised you I would never leave you and that includes now."

"Leave me be." He turned away, storming off.

"Daryl, stop," Parker called after him, grabbing his arm. He tried to push her away but she only tightened her grip. "Stop pushing me away. We all loved Beth. And I know how you feel about everything. You forget that I know you, Daryl. You have to let yourself feel it before you can make peace with it. Don't distance yourself from everyone."

"I'm sorry," Daryl murmured, his back still turned to her.

"It's not your fault," She whispered, hugging him from behind. "I'm here, okay? And I'm not going anywhere. We're still alive," She whispered. "We're not dead. We get to keep going for the people who can't." Daryl turned around, placing his hand over her stomach.

"We're still alive." It wasn't until they got back to the road that Parker and Daryl realized that their group was in trouble. The walkers who had been following them finally caught up, and what Rick thought would be a well-executed plan was quickly ruined by Sasha, who was still recovering from Tyreese and Bob's deaths. She had strayed from formation and embarked on a killing spree, breaking ranks and endangering not only herself but everyone else around her. 

When Parker saw a walker grab Rick's arm, snapping its jaws at him, she pulled her knife from its sheath and stabbed the walker through the back of the head, looking at him with wide eyes. She caught a walker in her peripheral view and spun on her heel, kicking its leg and causing it to snap. The walker snarled as it crawled at her from the ground and she stomped down on its skull, blood, and brains covering the ground around her. She saw Glenn fighting off two walkers and threw her knife into the head of one since she knew she wouldn't be able to get over to him fast enough to help. "Shit!" She panicked, feeling a walker grab the back of her shirt, she pulled out her gun going to bash it into its head but when she turned around, she saw the walker get tossed to the ground before an arrow was embedded into its eye. Everyone looked around, breathing heavily and exhausted, some passed pissed-off glares Sasha's way without saying a word before walking away from the bridge. Carl was the first one to break the long-lasting silence that took over the large miserable group.

"Dad, look." On the other side of the hill, there was a row of abandoned vehicles in the middle of the road. Parker sighed in relief when she noticed them, thinking that maybe, just maybe, their luck was changing. That this was the saving grace they needed. Daryl turned to Rick, nodding his head towards the woods.

"I'm gonna head into the woods. Circle back." He started walking off when Carol stopped him.

"May I come with?" Carol asked him and he looked back at her over his shoulder.

"No. No, just me." He walked away and Parker raised a questioning eyebrow when she saw Rick watching her.

"What? Did I do something?" She pointed at herself.

"Are you two good?" She nodded at his question.

"Yeah? We're fine." She pointed in the direction Daryl had walked off. "I went after him once before. I'm giving him space for a moment."

"I was just checking," Rick chuckled.

"Always are." She countered jokingly, as she walked backward, sending him a sarcastic smile. Parker walked over to a dust-covered car. What used to be a a family van, probably used for giant family vacations or getaways was now just sat rusting away on the side of the road. She ran her hand over the dust-covered window, and she lowered her face, shielding the window so she could see into the car. From the looks of it, there weren't any walkers in there, but there also wasn't anything of use in there that she could see. She walked over to the trunk, and it was already popped open, lifting it up she was met with another disappointing find. Absolutely nothing. "Damn." She muttered, rocking back on the balls of her feet as she walked away.

"Did you find anything?" Glenn asked, sneaking up on her.

"Jesus!" She jumped, turning around, her hand over her chest. "Nope. That van was just as empty as our last car's gas tank." She laughed, trying to at least seem happy. Or pretend to be.

"Sounds about right with how our luck has been." He nodded with a sigh.

"Let's keep moving." Rick rounded everyone up, nodding at the path ahead of them. "Find someplace to rest for a minute."

"Isn't here good enough?" Parker questioned, from the looks of it, no one had been there in a while. Which meant nobody was going to come looking for anything. Not like there was anything of use here anyway.

"No, we have to keep moving." Everyone's feet dragged in exhaustion as they walked for a good ten minutes before Rick decided to let them all rest. They all gathered together on the side of the toad, hidden underneath the shade given to them by the trees.

"Didn't think you'd follow me." Daryl cracked a slight joke as he walked out of the woods with nothing but his crossbow.

"Really? I didn't think you'd be so easy to follow," Parker countered as she caught her breath, her arms lazily crossed over her knees. She scooted over, giving him a spot beside her as he walked over to the lounging group.

"Find anything?" She asked quietly, not wanting to get anyone hopes up.

"No, nothin'." He shook his head as he sat down beside her.

"We're a team, remember? Or did you forget when you made that promise too?" She sent him a smile, nudging him with her elbow when he rolled his eyes at her.

"At the farm," He responded matter of factly. "Right before I started treatin' you like shit."

"Oh, the good ol' days." She pulled her knife out at the sound of twigs snapping., slowly setting it down on the ground beside her. "I just don't like the idea of you being out there alone in the woods. Especially now when we all look like shit. We literally could be walkers at this point." Daryl looked back at her, an almost smile on his face.

"I can take care of myself."

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to," Parker stated. They used that phrase a lot recently, reminding anyone who needed to hear it that they were no longer alone. There was something about the way the world had fallen apart that made them bond in the best way possible. Finding unity in the arms of strangers and comfort in their friends. Daryl took Parker's hand in his, holding it in his lap. Abraham pulled out a bottle of whiskey from his pack and Tara looked around with a confused look, checking to make sure everyone else was seeing the same thing.

"So all we found was booze?" She asked, almost disgusted at the idea of someone drinking right now.

"Yeah." Rosita answered, her voice sharp, always quick to jump to Abraham's defense.

"It's not gonna help," Tara shook her head disapprovingly as Abraham drank from the bottle.

"He knows that," Rosita told her, answering for him.

"It's gonna make it worse," Tara continued, constantly glancing at him.

"Yes, it is."

"He's a grown man," Eugene argued for him, cutting into a conversation that didn't involve him whatsoever. "And I truly do not know if things can get worse."

"They can." Rosita heaved a sigh.

"For a smart guy, you're awfully fucking stupid," Parker muttered, tightening her ponytail. Not even a minute after she had said that, low animal growls filled the silence and they all turned to see a pack of wild dogs baring their teeth at them, barking loudly. Daryl pulled out his knife, slightly bent over, ready to defend himself and Parker if necessary. Before anyone could react, Sasha was on her feet, shooting each dog in the head. Looking at the dead dogs on the ground with wide eyes, Parker looked around at the group. "I guess.. we got some... food?"

"What if they were eating walkers?" Maggie asked hesitantly.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Abraham shrugged as he pushed himself onto his feet. Rick stepped into the woods, found a branch, and walked into the center of everyone, breaking it into pieces to start a fire. Parker pushed herself up, walked over to the dead dogs, and started dragging one over.

"Food is food." She muttered at the disgusted looks Gabriel, Eugene, Noah, and Tara had on their faces. The next morning they were once again on the move, but this time they had a lot more energy than before. Parker walked beside Carl, flipping her knife in her hands as she walked. There really wasn't much to say to stop them from thinking about the shit situation they were in, Even Parker had thought about giving up, she had to watch one of the people she cared about most tear themselves apart over a death none of them could have stopped. Seeing someone like Daryl start to fall apart was disheartening. Before Beth, Daryl seemed like a whole different person, but now, when she looked at him, she wondered if all he was seeing was ghosts. Parker had been through a lot, more than she cared to admit, but seeing someone as strong as Daryl, seeing him so completely defeated worried her. Glenn slowed to match pace with Daryl and offered him a half-empty bottle of water.

"Daryl." He held the bottle out for him.

"No, I'm alright."

"Daryl." He tried again.

"Don't."

"Hey, we can make it together," Glenn said, speeding up a bit to offer Parker the bottle. "But we can only make it together." Parker handed the bottle back after taking the smallest sip possible.

"Thank you. Also, you're right." She nodded at Glenn.

"Tell them I went lookin' for water," Daryl grumbled, squeezing Parker's shoulder before walking away into the trees. Abraham who was walking behind them, watched him walk away and then jogged to catch up to Parker and Glenn.

"Are you planning on going after him?"

"Uh.. I wasn't planning on doing so..?" She said but it came out as more of a question as she looked between Glenn and Abraham. "Why? Should I?"

"I think he needs you now more than ever," Abraham responded. "Even though it sure as hell may not seem like it."

"Tell Rick I went with him," Parker said over her shoulder as she drifted off to the side. "And we'll... probably be back soon." She walked through the forest, following his footsteps. She wasn't as adept at maneuvering through the brush as Daryl, so she managed to break possibly every branch under her feet as she walked. It wasn't long before Daryl realized he was being followed and he spun around with his crossbow raised. Parker raised her hands in the air, an unimpressed look on her face. "I surrender." That moment reminded her of how she felt a couple of years ago when she first met Daryl for the first time in a similar situation to the one they were in now. Him standing with his crossbow aimed at her and Parker with her hands raised in surrender. Except this time she didn't have a bucket of berries that could have most likely killed half their group.

"The hell are you doin'?" Daryl asked, dropping his crossbow to his side.

"Just wanted to look for some water." She shrugged, offering him a smile. 

"I don't need no damn babysitter," Daryl scoffed.

"I'm not trying to be your damn babysitter." Parker countered. "I'm just trying to make sure you know that you have someone. You don't have to go through this alone, and I hate seeing you like this. Do you really think this is what Beth would want?"

"You don't know shit about what she would want." Daryl spat, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder. "It don't matter anyways. She's dead."

"She didn't want people to be destroyed by this world... she saw her own father die and found a way to keep going. I think if she were here she'd be doing the exact same thing I'm doing right now." That's how Beth was, if she saw someone upset, she was always one of the first to see if they were okay. She managed to somehow get along with everyone and was easy to befriend.

"Man, I ain't talkin' about this."

"Daryl," Parker stopped him from walking away. "If there's one thing I've learned since all of this shit happened, it's that you can't keep things to yourself. When Dale died, I was in a dark place. But you were always there for me when I needed you. I never told anyone this, but I was so sure that it was my fault he had died that night that certain ideas had crossed my mind once or twice."

"Why didn't you say anything?" He looked at her, a hurt look in his eyes.

"Because I thought no one would understand," Parker told him. "I didn't think anyone else felt the same way, I sure as hell knew none of them felt the same level of guilt that I was feeling. But now I can assure you that I know exactly how you feel."

"No, you don't."

"No?" Parker asked, her voice rising slightly. "I bet I know you feel that Beth was kidnapped because of you. That you felt responsible for her and you weren't there to protect her. I bet you felt like you had let her down in some way. I bet I know exactly how you are feeling because I've been there. I felt the same way when Dale got ripped open not even twenty feet away from me." Her voice broke as she said it, looking him in the eyes. She knew how it felt to keep how she truly felt inside and to this day she'd never let anyone know how bad things had been for her. "I was there but I was still too late to save him." She was crying at that point, wether it be from stress or the images of Dale dying on repeat in her head. "I didnt mean to make it seem like I was 'babysitting you', so I'm sorry. If being alone is how you want to process this, I'll give you space. But just know I will always be here when you need me.." She turned around, walking back towards the road. "I'm gonna head back to the group, Rick's probably losing his shit." She took maybe two steps before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist, pulling her back. Her back hit Daryls chest and he rested his forehead on her shoulder, letting out a sad sigh.

"Don't ever think that I don't love you," Daryl muttered. "Never think that."

"I just want you to talk to me," She said in a broken voice. "You don't have to go through this alone."

"I know," But that wasn't the only thing on his mind. "I just don't wanna think about it. What if it was you?"

"But it wasn't me," Parker assured him, turning to look at him. "Im still here, and I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long time."

"I dont deserve you," Daryl whispered, guilt lacing his voice. "I've been shit recently. Dissapearing.."

"Don't. Do not finish that sentence, Daryl Dixon." Parker shook her head. "Never fool yourself into thinking that. You're one of the most important people in this group. Everyone in this group loves and cares about you, especially me. You're going through something and that is not something to ever apologise for."

"But I left you."

"And yet you're right here," Parker's voice softened. "And I understand why you left and sure as hell don't blame you. I just don't want you to leave anymore because it's not just me now." She looked down at her stomach. "Now its us, and this baby. And our kid is going to need a dad."

"What if I'm bad at it?" He asked. "I've never had to take care of a kid before. Sure as hell never had a baby.

"I've seen you with Judith. And we'll just have to figure it out the same way. Be the best parents we can be even with the whole world against us."

"I just don't want you to get hurt." He admitted, his hands on her stomach. "Neither of you."

"We'll be fine," Parker promised as his eyes filled with unshed tears. "I love you." She whispered, wrapping her arms around him. "And I always will."