You and Daryl had been out for a few days before finding Rick and the others with the rest of the group. Once again they were looking for a safe place. “How long do we have to keep going?”, Carl asked suddenly. “Dad?”

“As long as necessary, the places we’ve seen so far are not suitable, too many Walkers.”

“And those damn bastards always find a way in.”,Daryl said. Michonne stared at Rick for a few moments. “We should turn back, we can’t control all the places from here to the West Coast.” The man stopped and bit his lower lip. His eyes seemed lost but focused and his mind worked feverishly. “We can’t go back, what about Judith, for example?”

“Dad, Judith needs to get to know the world out there, too.”, Carl said. “She was born in a prison, it was a safe place, it’s been months since we even went around as we left Alexandria.” It was quiet and Michonne resumed the speech, perhaps more to break the silence than to take stock of the situation. “We’re going too far, we don’t know if the others need us, they could be in trouble.”

“There’s Glenn and Carol, they can get along very well, you should know that.”, Rick answered. “We could choose another location to look for shelter.”,Daryl said. “We come from the east and we go west, we look north or south.”

“But first we go back to the base to see how the others are doing.”, Michonne clarified. Rick thought for a moment, but he had to admit to himself that the search was disappointing so far. They had found nothing. “Okay, I agree, but we’ll come back and we’ll try it again somewhere else.”The group turned and began, slightly disappointed, to march in the direction they had come from. You reached Carl and approached him at his pace. “Where is your base?”

“In an old kindergarten, it’s not far from where we met back then.”

“Then I think, I’ll annoy you a bit longer… After that, I’ll go. I promise.”, you smiled as Carl looked at you in surprise. Daryl barely turned his head in front of you two, but at the last moment he resisted the temptation to turn completely around and engage in the conversation. “Do you really want to go?”, Carl asked. “I have to find my group…”

“But… maybe we’ll find them on the way, if you stay with us you have more chances.” You shook your head. “Your father is very careful and has many other things to think about, things that are more important, he will not waste time looking for a group that isn’t his own and he will never want to endanger you and your sister by doing that. I mean taking risks just to meet strangers.”

“It’s not long ago that we know each other, that’s true, but you also helped us in this time, you helped Daryl, you helped Michonne, all of us.”

You sighed. “I don’t want to get Rick and all of your family in trouble, don’t worry about me, I’ll do it, I don’t rule out that we’ll meet again and I’ll find my group faster than I think, you will not be far away, I know where to look.” Carl didn’t seem convinced, but you wanted to end the conversation at this point, so you smiled and walked away to go on your own. If the ground had been paved, or if there had been a road, a path, if only a gutter, you all wouldn’t have taken so long. The bushes slowed you and scratched your clothes, the roots of the trees made you all stumble, in some places the vegetation was so dense that you had to get around a bit. The group around Rick Grimes was tired and they wanted to look around to make sure everything was alright and you agreed. Daryl spent most of his time hunting. He didn’t speak to anyone, and the only time you could hear his voice was when he complained ’about that damn asshole of a cactus’. It was clear that the man had a reason for his bad temper, and the evening after the conversation between Carl and you everything was even clearer. You had stopped and after several failed attempts because of the humidity of the wood, you lit a fire. Daryl had killed a big bird, or something that at least looked very similar.

“How is your group?”, Carl suddenly asked as the others waited for the dinner to be cooked. “Have you had many survivors in your group?” Rick tensed his ears slightly. He had become used to you, you were a good person and he didn’t think you would betray his group. But knowing more about your own group couldn’t hurt. They had to be clever people to survive here. “Well… we’ve been more people before…”, you said, as a fleeting answer to the question. “Have you been together from the beginning?”

“Not really, I met them after a while, but they’ve been together since it all started, a bit like you.”,you answered and pointed to Glenn, Daryl, Rick and Carl, as well as Carol. You looked desperate, but then you started talking: “There’s Travis and Chris, father and son… Then Madison, she’s the partner of Travis, and Alicia and Nick are her daughter and her son… Just a patchwork family…”You stared blankly at the pistol you held in your hand. “You said seven.” Rick said. You looked up and smiled sadly. “Yes, you’re right, there’s Victor Strand, the captain…”, you mumbled. “You’re one of them, too.”, Michonne said with a reassuring look. “From the way you talk about them, I see that there is affection among you all that you trust.”You smiled, thankful for those words. “You will find them again.” You took a deep breath and looked away again. “I hope so.”, you said, pushing your piece of meat to Carl’s hands. “Take it.” You walked away in slow, bored steps and kicked at the shrubs that protruded from the soft ground. Daryl, who followed every word carefully without intervening, waited until you were far enough away to address Michonne. “You shouldn’t lie to her y'know.”

“What do you mean Daryl?”

“They could be dead and walking around like those fucking living dead bastards! And you know it!”, he said seriously. Carl moved over to Michonne and Daryl. “What if they are still alive?”

“If they are, they would still be wandering around these woods until a herd or a group kills them.”,Rick added with a cough. “What are you suggesting?”, Daryl asked.

“We will not let her go, she’ll come with us, if she gets used to our group, our family, she will want to stay with us, it doesn’t make any difference who she is with.”, Rick replied slightly annoyed.

“What the damn hell? That’s bullshit! You wouldn’t say that if you were in that fucked up situation!”,Daryl snorted angrily.

“Daryl…” Michonne held back a smile, but in her voice one could hear the rare lightness of a woman joking with her friends. “But you have no other reason to want to keep Y/N here. Don’t you?”Daryl avoided her gaze, and for Michonne that was confirmation of her words. She chuckled and looked at Rick, who looked just as amused as she was. Daryl left the leftovers of the food on the ground and watched the two of them grinning. “Tell me when you’re finished with that shit.”

“Especially now that we’ve found out that you have a heart, too?”, Rick teased him. They burst out laughing, at first softly, then louder as Daryl got up in annoyance and walked away. He was careful to see you move in the opposite direction.

The happier you became, the more Daryl became sullen and silent. If Carl asked him from time to time, he would push him to you. This morning, on the way to the base, you seemed to be in a better mood than usual. “Not far from here there should be a distributor along the way, and tomorrow I’ll reach him on foot to get a map.”, you announced, as you all prepared to march on.

“So you will leave us?”

“Yes, Carl, I have to find the others, I bet they’re looking for me, too.” The boy nodded. They set off, and despite your cheerfulness, Carl’s and Daryl’s morals were on the other side of good humor. It wasn’t even noon when you noticed that Daryl had moved away from the group a bit. While the others were ahead, he stayed far behind, peering into the sky and giving the others a nefarious look, as if all this was their fault. You stopped and waited a few moments for the man to reach you. He had watched you in the distance to stop and wait for you to find out how he could avoid talking to you. He certainly couldn’t choose another direction. “What’s going on?”, you asked, moving closer to him. In response, he glared at you and said nothing. “I like you.”, you nudged him jokingly and smiled with a false, knowledgeable look. Daryl stopped. “I don’t think you should go, y'know?”

“What?” You raised an eyebrow and looked at him in confusion. “What does that have to do with it?”

“You don’t know if you will find your group, you will only take unnecessary risks.”

You shook your head. “I will not let them go, they are my family, maybe they are looking for me now, they shouldn’t be far away, the least I can do is to look for them.”

“They’re in a group, you’re alone, if they really value you, they wouldn’t want you to do it on your own, they’d prefer you to be safe, probably even far away from them Y/N.” You shrugged as if you didn’t care. “I will search for them. Sorry.” Then Daryl lost control. “Damn, Y/N! Are you fucking serious or just stupid as fuck? You don’t even know if they’re still alive!”, he shouted and took a few steps toward you. “For fucks sake! They may have been abducted, they may have decided to leave. They could have been attacked! From the living or from the dead! You ain’t that dumb, are you? Risking your life for them now, even you’re here with us, is just a lot of damn fucking bullshit!”

Your cheeks stained with a barely visible blush beneath the light, sun-tanned skin. Your eyebrows had contracted and your mouth tightened your lips. “Thanks for the encouragement, you bastard! What do you expect me to do, what do you lose when I go? These people took me in, we lived together for years, you fucking asshole!”

“I-…” Daryl shook his head.

“What do you expect from me, Dixon, what do you think I should do!”

“I expect you to stay, goddamn it! Ain’t a safe place with our group enough or do you really wanna stay alone in hope to find your people like those rotten ass bastards walking around here!” The statement remained indefinitely between you both and briefly you two remained silent. “Just stay… We’ll be your family, it would be good for me and for the others if you stayed.”, the man said suddenly, his voice low and slow. He avoided your gaze and seemed focused. Nature had never been so interesting as it was right now. You opened your mouth to speak, amazed at the turn the events had taken. Daryl raised his head to look into your eyes, but you pointed to something behind him. The man turned and at the same moment he reached for the crossbow and cursed the thorns that prevented him for the time being. When he finally shivered, you had already reached the Walker who trotted off. You stood in front of it, holding your hands over your mouth, your eyes sparkling with tears. Daryl looked from you to the Walker.

“I knew her… Ofelia…”, you murmured, lowering your hands. There was no sign of great decomposition on her skin, she just looked emaciated and she had those cold and empty eyes… Daryl glanced at you. You had pulled a knife from your belt but didn’t seem to want to use it. Your face was marked by a mixture of sadness and compassion. The man pointed to his crossbow. “Y/N.”, he called. “If you want to do that, it’s time, otherwise I’ll do it.” You seemed to be back in reality from your trance. You blinked, turned the knife in your sweaty hands and nodded briefly. “I will do it.” You approached the Walker, who amplified his groan and reached out to grasp it. Then you killed Ofelia by ramming the blade into her skull as gently as possible. The living dead collapsed instantly. You took her in your arms and gently laid her down, closing her eyes and putting her hands in her lap. Finally, you stroked the woman’s cheek. You seemed relieved to have killed her.

“I’m sorry Y/N…” Daryl stayed with you all the time, like a silent but always present bodyguard. “We should go back…”

You had gotten up and had begun to look around, without bothering Daryl with your eyes. You had a resolute look, as if you had decided to do something that had delayed you too long. “The others should be near.”, Daryl said. Suddenly you put your hands around your mouth and shouted. “Nick!” You began to walk, to look around, to hear and to call again. “Madison! Travis!”

Daryl cursed again and ran to you. “What the hell are you doing! Are you crazy?” He grabbed your arms and pulled your hands away from your face. “Do you want to attract all Walkers here?”

“Leave me alone!”

“Shut the fuck up!”, Daryl said angrily.

The two of you have delivered a small fight. Daryl tried to keep you still, but you fell. Suddenly you had your hands free. You pushed Daryl away to drop again and ran away.

“Alicia, Travis, where are you, it’s me, Y/N, I’m here!”

You scurried through the bush, seemingly untouched by the vegetation, plodding around as if you were in molasses. “Damn it, stop this bullshit!”, Daryl said and followed your gaze and ran after you, while you threw yourself on the ground on the remains of what looked like a camp.

“No… No… No… No… No…” You rummaged on the ground between the charred objects that had remained behind. Despair was seen in your eyes. You found a rope and a pair of shoes. Then you found a jacket. A light beige, worn and old jacket. You lifted the jacket from the ground with trembling hands and your eyes full of tears. At that moment, you collapsed while the rest of the group reached you and Daryl, attracted by the screams. You held the jacket in your hands and wept, pressing the cloth against your body as if protecting the jacket. The others in the group watched silently.

How should they deal now with this situation?