— NATE KNEW THAT THE SECOND Daryl opened the front door to the stranded house, that something didn't seem right, that something was wrong about the place, and it had bad vibes the second you walked in. The man waited with Beth on his back as Daryl whistled, also knocking on the door to create a noise for any walkers that may be inside of the place; but the way she hallway was completely clean, like the outbreak had never happened, the house looked even.. New, and the whole thing made Nate feel uneasy, like they shouldn't be here at all. The floor was spotless, and the wallpaper was still stuck on the walls like someone had been keeping up with keeping the place clean — he didn't know why somebody, or people, would try and keep this house so clean and tidy, since nothing like that truly mattered anymore, but whatever the reason, he didn't like it, and he felt the hairs on his skin rise up at the thought of it all. No walkers came when Daryl knocked and whistled to get their attention, and it just made him feel even more uneasy, that this neat and clean house was completely rid of any walkers, and any people. None of it made sense to him, or Daryl, for that matter.

Setting Beth down gently to the ground, Nate let her walk in first before he followed behind the two of them, the eyeing the hallway suspiciously, not liking how the whole place looked and felt. When Daryl stopped in front of the staircase, Nate stopped too, all three of them looking around the place with different opinions on the matter. "This place is clean." Beth finally spoke up, breaking the silence between the three of them. As she spoke, her voice echoed, because of how big and empty this house was, not a single mess in sight.

"Yeah. Maybe a little too clean." Nate mumbled, making sure to keep his eyes peeled for anything that seemed strange or out of place. Obviously, the place was tended to when walkers weren't roaming around, but the fact that it was still being tended to, seemed strange, and anyone who did this was surely not right; that, or they didn't have to worry about survival and merely lived, which was even more strange, considering the way people have to live now in the world.

"Someone's been tending to it." Daryl spoke up, as if reading Nate's thoughts as he also kept his eye out, "May still be around." He added. When Daryl walked into the room to the left, Nate followed behind him with his own weapon raised, just in case someone was in there, waiting to jump out at them — when he saw no one there, he sighed relief, lowering his crossbow sightly as Daryl stopped in front of a coffin; he followed behind his brother, looking down in disgust when he saw a dead body lying in there, dead flowers all around it, and the room in general. It looked like a funeral had taken place, and it just made it all stranger, and creepier, too.

Daryl pushed his fingers across the dead man's face, only to see that his skin had completely sunken in from it, "Gross." Nate spoke up, cringing at the sight of the dead body; he couldn't understand how or why somebody would just leave the body lying here like this. Having a ceremony during this day wasn't exactly strange itself, because the group had buried their own in the past out of respect, but just to leave the body here, was out of the question — if the person cared this much about the dead person to preserve him like this, then why leave him here and go elsewhere? It made no sense to him to do so.

They left the room mere seconds after finding the dead body, walking further into the house only to find yet another two dead bodies lying on two separate tables, decaying after having been left to basically rot. Daryl and Nate didn't exactly pay much attention to the two bodies like Beth did, since all they had on their minds, were finding the small girl something she could wrap her ankle up with — they needed her ankle to get better as soon as possible so she would be able to protect herself properly, because whilst she had that injured ankle, Beth couldn't really do anything. Nate didn't like this large house, either, the whole place giving him the creeps, so Daryl pulled out a packet of bandages and walked back over to the other two, noticing Beth staring down at the two dead bodies and Nate still keeping an eye on the door, "Looks like somebody ran out of dolls to dress up." The man stated causally, as he began opening up the bandages.

"It's beautiful." Beth was quick to deny Daryl's words, Nate raising a brow in surprise at how the girl always managed to find a light in whatever situation they were in, "Whoever did this, cared. They wanted these people to get a funeral. They remembered these things were people. Before all of this. They didn't let it change them in the end. Don't you think that's beautiful?" She asked the Dixon brothers, looking up at them as they merely watched her as she spoke. Nate didn't agree with the girl, but he wasn't going to disagree with her, either, as he didn't want to hurt her feelings, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Nate sighed as Daryl crouched down and gently pulled the girls ankle towards him so he could begin to wrap it up; the two of them didn't reply to Beth's words, knowing that the girl wouldn't have liked their answer. Nate wasn't the most religious person due to his upbringing with his father and brothers, and he didn't think he ever would be, but he was staying silent for Beth's sake, and her sake alone — she was a good person, and Nate knew that he would always try to keep her happy, because she deserved at least that. "I'm gonna go see if there's any food for us in this shit hole." He eventually spoke up as Daryl began wrapping up Beth's ankle.

Daryl paused, turning and giving his brother a nod, "Give us a shout if you need anything, brother." He told Nate, who nodded before heading off further into the house to look around.

Beth watched him go as Daryl turned back to her ankle and continued to wrap it up, "He's doing a little better." The girl spoke up, as Daryl didn't look up.

"I never thanked you." Daryl mumbled, hating thanking anyone for anything, "For what you gave him and what you said. It's really changed the way he views things." He continued, as Beth smiled at his words.

"I just pushed him into the right direction, is all." Beth told him, cringing as her ankle was worked on, "We're gonna find them, we're gonna find them all.. Alive. I can feel it." The girl carried on, never letting her faith drop at wether or not their family were alive, and out there somewhere, looking for them, too. Her sister and Glenn were out there, and she knew that she was going to see them again.

They found food, lots of it, all in one cupboard in the kitchen, tinned food, drinks, boxes and tubs of food sat clean and u touched in the cupboard, and as much as Nate didn't trust this place one bit, he also didn't waste any time grabbing the first thing he saw and stuffing his face, his hungry slowly fading as he did so. They didn't take it all, though, just in case the person whom owned this place came back for their stash, but they took a few things from their place and set up joist traps for any walker that wanted to enter the house — Nate took the back door to set up, whilst Daryl took the front, and before they knew it, it had begun to darken outside.. Beth was singing when the brothers entered the house again, but neither of them could bring themselves to interrupt her; to Nate, hearing Beth sing reminded him of the groups says on the road just after the farm was overrun, and being with them all, brought a comfort that the man never thought he would have ever had. He missed them all greatly.

But just like that, Daryl spoke up, interrupting the singing, "This place is nailed up right." The man announced as Beth turned to face them, embarrassed that they heard her singing. "The only way in is through the front and back doors." He said, as Nate sighed, taking a seat on the small sofa as Daryl jumped into the coffin; Nate scoffed at the sight, before leaning back and getting comfortable, resting his arm behind his head.

"What are you doing?" Beth asked, amusement written all over her face at Daryl's actions.

"This is the comfiest bed I've had in years." Daryl told the girl, kicking his legs back in the coffin and lying back; Nate couldn't help but agree with him, since it did look comfortable in there, their dad made them sleep on the floors when they lived with him, as he couldn't even afford a mattress due to all the money he spent on drugs and alcohol — Nate could truly sleep on any surface, as he had grown up sleeping on a literal floor.

When silence hit them all again, Nate didn't exactly like it, he didn't want to have to lie in silence no remember everything they lost because of the Governor; that man had taken everything from them all, and Nate was just pissed that he didn't get to end the son of a bitch's life himself for what he did to Zoe. He knew that Michonne killed the man to get him off of Rick, and he knew how much Michonne needed that because of what happened to Andrea; but all the same, he wished it was himself who ended the devil. Just the thought of that man, however, made Nate want to pull his own hair out of his head, so he sat up again. "You should play some more on that piano." He suggested, knowing that it would also make her happy.

Beth gave him a small smile and turned to Daryl with a questionable look, wondering if he would mind if she sung, and he nodded, "I thought my singing annoyed you." She stated, remembering when he was shouting at her the other day when they had been drinking Moonshine.

"Well, there ain't a jukebox, so.." Daryl shrugged, getting comfortable in his coffin.

Nate couldn't hold back the smile on his face when Beth turned around and faced the piano again, beginning to play for the two brothers; it instantly relaxed Nate when he heard the girls voice echo throughout the room along with the piano. Even Daryl seemed relaxed with the song, and before they all knew it, the night came, and they all fell asleep peacefully, for the first time in a long time..

Nate wake up with sore muscles all over due to sleeping over the singular chairs; since he gave Beth the sofa to sleep on, he headed over to the chairs and laid across them all to fall asleep, he didn't mind, since he was used to sleeping on harsh surfaces throughout his childhood, so it was never an issue for him. But waking up the next morning was always a pain. When the man did wake up, he had instantly grabbed his weapon and checked the front and back door for any signs that someone had tried to get in, but when he saw that it was all clear, even from the walkers, he headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, leaving Daryl and Beth to lie in. It wasn't until later, did Daryl come in with Beth in his arms bridal style, the girl still unable to walk due to her ankle; Nate swallowed his food and looked up at his brother as he headed in with Beth, "I checked the front and back.. All clear." He said, as Daryl lowered Beth into the chair opposite him, the girl in a good mood and smiling widely at Daryl carrying her around.

That was, until they all heard the tins rattling by the front door, indicating that something or someone was there; both of the Dixon brothers sprung up to check. "Stay here." Daryl ordered Beth, before following after Nate towards the front door. However, reaching the door and peeking out, Nate sighed and opened it up, revealing a one eyed dog standing there and looking up at them both, "It's just a damn dog." Daryl called out to Beth, Nate watching as the man crouched down to stroke the dog, only for it to run away completely out of fear at the two large men looking down at him.

Nate let out a low chuckle as he watched the dog sprint away from them both, "You scared it away." He told his brother, patting him on the back as the older man stood up, sending his brother a glare as Beth limped into the room behind them both.

"Did it want to come in?" The girl asked the Dixon's, looking around for the dog, only to see it nowhere in sight.

"I told you to stay out." Daryl scolded the girl, knowing that she shouldn't be putting pressure on her foot if she wanted it to get better, she needed to rest it so they could get on the road again.

"Yeah, but you said there was a dog." Beth defended herself, knowing that there was no way she could have stayed put if a dog was at the door.

Nate sighed at the look of disappointment on the girls face, knowing that she was clearly excited to see the dog and seeing that it wasn't here, hurt her feelings. "I'm sure it'll come back. Daryl scared him off." Nate eventually told Beth, letting the girl use him as support back to the kitchen.

"How do you know that you didn't scare him off with your scolding look?" Daryl retorted, knowing that the dog was probably looking up at his brother before it ran away from them both.

"We both know that ain't true." Nate grunted, knowing that he had made a girl fall in love with him from this 'scolding' look. There ain't no way the dog ran away because of him.
And as the two brothers argued about who scared the dog away, Beth laughed and smiled, knowing that she was glad at being stuck with them both, because she knew for a fact that these two tried to cover up their kindness, but she could see through it. And she loved them both like her own brothers.

——

Nighttime came quickly yet again for the three survivors, whom had been mostly hanging about in the kitchen and eating all of the food they could, knowing that they couldn't stay here forever; it was nice, to be able to eat some food other than dead snakes and the occasional squirrel, but Nate didn't get too used to it, knowing that it wouldn't last. They had mostly been sitting in silence as they ate, with it being peaceful day with them all, just hanging around and talking about mindless things, actually smiling at each others words and laughing; things were starting to feel normal again, and even if they hadn't found Zoe or any of the others, yet, Nate still felt a tiny bit of happiness that he was still with his brother, and Beth.

Nate was stuck in his own thoughts as he relished in the taste of Cola, when the dog started whining and crying outside of the house again, the cans rattling as it tried to get in again.. Nate didn't know if the dog belonged to the person who currently lived here, but he had a feeling it did, or the animal wouldn't keep coming back. "Gimmie some peanut butter. I'm gonna see if the dog wants to come in." Nate told Daryl, as he was passed the jar, the man taking it happily before he headed towards the front door, this time without his crossbow in his hands. He knew for sure, that Zoe would love this dog, so he wanted to keep the animal for when he finds her again — he held a small smile on his face when he imagined what he may be able to call the small dog, but the second he opened up the door, it faded once he saw what was on the other side. Nate couldn't tell how many walkers were standing there, but he knew that it was way too many for them to fight off; he slammed the door shut against and pressed his back against it, feeling the walkers already pushing and banging on it. "Daryl, Daryl!" He shouted for his brother, using all of his energy to keep this door shut, waiting for his brothers help.

Daryl instantly came running in after hearing his brothers panicked shouts, throwing the man his crossbow and holding his own up, getting ready to take them on, "Beth, run!" He ordered the injured girl, upon hearing her rush up behind him. Beth did as she was told and took off in the opposite direction, knowing that she wouldn't be any good fighting off the walkers with her busted ankle. "Get ready, brother." Daryl said, raising his crossbow up.

Nate nodded, waiting for the go ahead from his brother to let the walkers in, because with the amount of them bashing on the door behind him, he couldn't keep it shut for much longer — his brother held one hand up and the other holding his weapon, until finally, he put his hand back down, indicating for him to finally let the walkers in. Nate pulled himself away from the door and ducked, Daryl shooting an arrow into the first walkers head as Nate ran past, "Beth, open a window and grab your shit, we gotta get out of here!" He shouted out for Beth, knowing that himself and Daryl weren't enough to fight off this many walkers.

Daryl stuck close to his brother as the two men tried to guide the walkers away from Beth, to keep her safe, "I'm not gonna leave you two!" The girl yelled back from the other room, Nate not being able to concentrate on where she even was, due to the groans from the walkers behind them both.

"There's no time to argue! We'll all meet out on the road!" Daryl shouted to the girl, knowing that it was the best option due to the amount of walkers after them both; he knew that splitting up was the best option for him and his brother, so he tapped his brother on the shoulder as they carried on rushing down the hallway, "Split up!" He yelled, as Nate instantly listened, attracting three of the walkers in his direction to make sure that Daryl didn't have too many to work with himself.

The hallways were cramped, and Nate felt it hard to manoeuvre through the house, especially with all of the walkers behind him, he had split up from Daryl, so they had more of a chance to get rid of these walkers, but now that Nate was thinking of it, maybe it wasn't the best idea. With the moonlight shining through the window, it was the only light he had in order to see what he was doing and what was going on around him, but he still had limited visibility, and because of that, he hadn't even realised that he had reached the back of the house, in one of the rooms they hadn't cared much for, so Nate didn't know much about it or how to even get out.. Spinning around, Nate quickly pulled out an arrow from his crossbow and shoved it through the nearest walkers skull, not bothering to take it back as he rushed backwards again, hearing the walkers still following behind him — Nate only had his crossbow on him, and it wasn't the best to have in the darkness, with limited sight. But he didn't have a choice but to try, as he raised his crossbow up, shooting one he thought was level with the walkers head, but just like he suspected, he missed.

Nate pulled out another arrow from his crossbow and widened his eyes when there were way more than three walkers, the man knowing that he wasn't going to be able to kill them all by himself; he was going to have to trap them inside of this room so he could get out of here alive. He didn't know where all of these walkers had come from, but it wasn't good, whatever it was.. Hopping in preparation, Nate readied to defend himself from the walkers, holding his arrow up and shoving it through its skull with all of his strength, before yanking it back out and pushing it into another without wasting any time, hating that he didn't have a knife to get him out of this mess. Looking around frantically, Nate saw a coffin on the opposite side of the room, sitting on a table that he could move around and use to his advantage, so he moved over, dodging the walkers reaching for him and pushing himself towards the table; once he was there, he pushed it into the countless amounts of walkers reaching for him, using his arrow to kill at least three, before it ended up breaking underneath the pressure of using it too often.

He knew that he couldn't keep using his arrows or they would just all break under pressure, so he figured out something quick, pushing the table into the walkers in front of him and shouting in frustration as he pushed them all into the corner of the room, dodging their grabs and scratches as he knew he had to be quick about this. So, he readied himself, taking a few breaths in preparation, before backing up again, and rushing out of the room, dodging two walkers as he did so and rushing into the hallway, pushing the door shut behind him and hearing the walkers banging on it as he rushed out. Nate knew that Daryl had managed to make it out, too, as there were a few other walkers wandering the house, so he didn't waste any time in leaving the house, rushing into the night air as he sighed in relief, already rushing off to the road where Daryl claimed they should all meet.
However, when he finally reached the road, he looked down onto the ground to see Beth's bag, things falling out and lying on the floor like she had dropped it in a hurry, and seeing Daryl sprinting off in the distance shouting the girls name. He didn't waste any time running, too, not slowing his pace as he needed to keep up with his brother, but the one thing that was running through his mind, was the fact that Beth, was gone.