You opened your eyes and noticed that it was early in the morning. Outside, the light began to illuminate the houses and the deserted streets. Daryl, in the chair, still had his eyes closed and his hands crossed in his lap. You got up quietly and took a few steps to stretch your legs and get back to mobility. Upstairs, the bedrooms were completely messy. The bathroom, on the other hand, did not appear to have been considered; But still, you took everything you thought was useful: plasters, bandages, a bottle of disinfectant, some expired aspirin. As you packed, you almost mistakenly saw your reflection in the mirror above the sink. You were scared and absolutely not expecting to see another person in the room; The early morning light turned to cloudiness, allowing you to see mainly a form and features: Your face was terribly thin and sunken. The eyes betrayed everything you’ve spent this past year; Finally, your hair, which was once so shiny and soft, was reduced to a felted and dry mass. You thought about how such moments would most likely never return, so without realizing it, you took the machete and started cutting your hair down to your chest, cutting it to the shoulders. The scissors that someone left distracted on the sink helped you finish it. You were sure it looked like a disaster, but it does not matter. You don’t have to satisfy anyone in this fucked up world anymore. A short time later, you went downstairs again and found Daryl in the kitchen, which was about to collect as many resources as possible, especially food and water. When you entered the room, he stopped to look at you.

“What’s going on?”, you asked him.

He still remained silent, looked away and started plundering the shelves. “Ya’ look good, yer hair I mean.”

To hear this compliment surprised you for a second, but out of timidity you immediately changed the subject. “I found this in a room.”, you said, pulling a map of Georgia out of your pocket and laying it on the table. “We have to decide where to go once and for all.”

“Any idea?”

“To the north, to the Appalachians, maybe the Walkers aren’t so easily hustling into the higher forests and you’re an excellent hunter, while I could adapt well to live in the forest, it’s all about finding a good refuge and to strengthen us properly.”

The man stopped again for a while to look at you. “Or?”

“Or to the southeast.”, you showed on the map to the coast around Savannah. “Some time ago I heard that Michonne talked about it, she said it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go to the sea because one side was always covered by the ocean.”

You smiled thinking back to that day. “That’s what she said, and besides, it would be ideal to find an island to take refuge in.”

Even Daryl smiled, but ironically. “Bullshit, ‘nd then, if ya’ found the island, how will ya’ survive when the food supplies com’ to an end?”

You squinted, offended by his brash ways. “Maybe I’ll cut you to pieces and I’ll cook you.”

“If I don’t do it first.” For the first time you heard him joke and it surprised you.

“You’re right.”, you commented. “I wouldn’t stand to live alone with you on an island, I would end up going crazy.”

“Maybe ya’ would learn to love silence.”

You supported his defiant look and ignored his words and how he tried to read you. “You haven’t told me your opinion yet.”

He surveyed the map for a few seconds and then nodded. “Let’s go north.”

“And what do we do with the rest of our group?”, you asked.

Daryl remained silent. You noticed how he had to pull himself together in his own thoughts. He looked away and shook his head slightly. He too doesn’t know what to do. Then he talked. “They could be dead…”

You declined that statement. “And what if they are not, we can not just walk away like that, Daryl!”

He thought for a moment and then answered. “Let’s go through the prison for few days, lookin’ for footprints, if we don’t find anythin’, we’ll go north.”

You nodded, hoping that you made the best decision. Before you left the house permanently, you left a series of clues in every room that only Rick understood. Daryl said you were wasting time, but you were confident that these hints could be useful for you to find. In addition, you wrote for security but still a few notes and put them in every room. You wrote the same on all notes:

❝September:

Rick, Carl, Michonne, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Sasha, Tyreese and to all of our family. We are searching you. If you read this message after September, it means that we didn’t find you and that we went north, hoping that the Appalachians are safer. We’re fine.

Y/N and Daryl❞

“No one will read this message.”, your travel companion discouraged you.

You, at the bottom of your heart, hoped he was wrong.

»Tell me the truth: Did you ever kill a Walker?« You stayed quiet. You knew they would find out sooner or later. »I knew it.«

»You can not accuse me of lying.«, you replied in your defense. »And who’s that person? Ya’ don’t want to tell me that ya’ did it seriously, ya’ couldn’t even kill someone who’s already dead!«, Daryl burst out laughing. You only knew him for a few minutes at the time and you already felt that you hated him with all your strength. »I am not a liar.« The man came up to you, a bit too close, to your liking. He had a contentious and arrogant attitude. »Then tell me how it was 'nd who!«, he hissed to your ear. Raising this memory was like reopening a wound that needed time to heal. »That doesn’t concern you.« You surprised him. He did not expect you to answer. After a while, he found all his presumption and brought his face back to yours, examining you accusingly. »If ya’ somehow endanger my friends, my family, be aware that I ain’t hesitate to shoot an arrow between yer eyes.«

A Walker jumped out suddenly, as if intentionally planning this ambush. You two ran again into a lonely house, a few hundred meters from the interstate. It looked like an old English stone house with a large green area surrounding the entire perimeter. You preferred to stop for the night, even in the afternoon, because you did not know if you could find another shelter before it gets dark. The area seemed to be quiet and you could focus on the safety of the house before night fell. You entered the main door from which a long corridor led to the rooms; the first room, on your left, comprises the kitchen and the living room, the other rooms, all three on the right, were the bedrooms. After checking the room on the left, you followed Daryl down the hall. When the man went through the second door, a Walker came out of the room. Surprisingly, this was behind Daryl and in such a narrow radius of action, he couldn’t fix the crossbow on his head. He barely managed to keep him at bay when you killed him without hesitation with the sharp blade of the machete. At this point, Daryl released his grip and collapsed his body on the ground.

“Everything okay?”, you asked him. “Did he bit you?”

“No.”, he replies. Then he turned to the lifeless body. “Fuckin’ asshole!”

You shook your head. “Let us take him out.”

In the garden were already two small crosses, which are planted in the ground. Since the beginning of the extinction of humanity, almost all gardens and every house have been turned into cemeteries: bodies lying on the floor, resting in living rooms or resting on the armchairs in the bedrooms have been buried. Those who died together held hands. Those who had the courage to leave this world alone held a pistol or a revolver. But on your journey you have also found much humanity where at least a dignified burial was given to those who couldn’t make it in this house. Something was hanging on one of the two crosses; As you approached, you saw a pair of shoes fastened with the laces on one arm of the cross. You couldn’t stop looking at what was left of a broken life. You thought that sooner or later death would have no effect on you, but you denied it every time. Daryl just passed you and looked at the graves, then put a hand on your shoulder. Something that still had the taste of hope inside.

You swallowed the saliva bitterly and looked away. “The windows and doors need to be strengthened before it gets dark.”, you said.

“We’re checkin’ the tool shed, maybe there’s somethin’ useful inside.”

You collected all the material that could be put in front of the windows, especially wooden planks for the outside and sheets and blankets that could be hung inside. Within an hour, you nailed the boards to four of the six windows of the house and left the other rooms without reinforcement. “There ain’t need to barricade the windows of the rooms where we’ll not be, it’ll be enough to close the doors.”, said Daryl. “Let’s focus more on the kitchen 'nd the living room.”

The night came quickly, but you were calm because the reinforcements were sturdy and you finally relaxed a bit. This time, Daryl let you light some candles, sat down on the floor, and chewed some dried fruit you found in a cupboard.

“I ain’t thanked ya’ yet.”, he said suddenly.

You smiled. “These experiences change us all, you saved me many times, or better, you saved us.”

He shook his head and said in a low voice, “Yer wrong, I couldn’ save the others.”

He was referring to the prison. “You’ve done everything possible, don’t hold yourself responsible for something you can not control, we’re divided now, but I’m sure we’ll find the group sooner or later.”

“Ya’ talk without knowin’ the truth.”

“What truth do you mean exactly?”

Daryl did not answer. You knelt in front of him and turned his attention back to you. “What don’t I know, Daryl?”, you whispered.

“The children ’s example?”

There were several small children in prison. Before you were attacked by the Governor, you had welcomed many people. And you were among these people. The man finally looked up. The shimmering eyes of coming tears reflected in the flames of the candles on the floor. “Judith, I couldn’ save her, I couldn’ save anyone.”

You wouldn’t dare ask anything else if the girl in question wasn’t Rick’s daughter. The symbol of hope, the reason that has made you all fight for a better world. “What happened?”, you asked in a whisper.

Daryl swallowed and wiped a tear from his face with the back of his hand. His voice trembled almost imperceptibly. “B'fore I found ya’ surrounded by this group of Walkers, I went aroun’ the prison to make sure nobody ’s in danger or had other problems, I ’s relieved that I hadn’ found anyone who ’s hurt 'nd I moved away from the chaos, when I found Judith’s bed, it ’s empty 'nd soaked with blood…”

“Daryl…” You didn’t know what else to say. Your cheeks were now covered with tears.

“I couldn’ save her, Y/N…”

You approached him and leaned on his shoulder. You held each other, both shaken by sobs. You tried to comfort him, though there was no consolation when the weakest died. “It’s not your fault…”, you whispered.

“I didn’ make it…”

The dark night swallowed you both and your hope faded more and more…