Daryl had arrived back at Alexandria later that night, just in time to witness the giant shit show. Rick had wandered into the meeting, covered in blood. Walkers had gotten in due to the gate being left open. It was a mistake that could have cost more people their lives if Rick and the group hadn't been there; that was something Rick was right about. Jessie's husband, who Rick had gotten into the brawl with earlier, had killed Reg. It had all happened so fast Juliana swore she blinked and Deanna was telling Rick to pull the trigger on Jessie's husband. He didn't hesitate.

Aaron, Daryl, and a new man, who Juliana later found out was named Morgan, and who had helped Rick at the beginning, had arrived just in time to see the man's brains splatter across the concrete. While the group wasn't shock from the gore, Alexandrians tremble and turned away from the sight. It was all too much from them. The thing that had been most shocking, was Rick not hesitating.

When things began to settle down, she was finally able to find Daryl in the aftermath. He had been talking with Rick until Juliana caught his eye as she was walking towards him and he wandered away from Rick.

"Hey," Daryl mumbled, shifting the crossbow on his back, "Rick told me what happened."

"Did he mention the part where he lost his fuckin' mind again?" she spat, still irritated with Rick's actions.

"Watch your mouth," Daryl scolded, pointing a finger at her, "I know he ain't your favorite person-"

"That's sayin' a lot," she muttered under her breath, turning her head away from.

"Hey," he reached out, gently grabbing underneath her chin and turned her face back towards him, "Me and Rick didn't get along at first either. Fact I'm sure we probably wanted each other dead. Things changed. People changed." His eyes traveled up and down her body before landing back on her face and their eyes locked. Juliana melted.

"You were always good, though, Daryl. Whether you wanna admit it or not."

**

They had discovered a huge quarry not too far from Alexandria that was filled with walkers. Unfortunately, those walkers were bound to escape any day, so Rick and company had devised a plan to draw them all away. Juliana was glad to be back outside of the walls, and with a gun strapped to her back and a knife on her hip, she felt more herself than in Alexandria.

Rick had paired her, Daryl, Sasha and Abraham up to lead the walkers away with a car and the motorcycle Daryl had fixed up out of Aaron's garage. Things happened quickly though, and they had to move out a lot sooner than was expected with one of the old semis that had been used as a barrier for the walkers, fell off the crumbling embankment and into the quarry itself.

They'd been leading them for a while now, and at 20 miles, Sasha came over on the walkie while Daryl was on the bike with Juliana behind him, her arms wrapped around his midsection, "Alright," she started.

Daryl reached up with his right hand, clicking the button to talk, "That's 20?"

"It will be. Mile 642 is up ahead. We gotta put some distance between us and them before the turn off."

Abraham's voice came over the walkie next, "So floor it." He said. Juliana turned her head to the side to look at the two through the car's rolled down windows to see him grinning.

Lifting his arm again, Daryl clicked the dial, "All right, try to keep up." He told them before revving the motorcycle and turned the throttle, kicking it up into a faster gear. Juliana gripped around his waist tighter, her fingers tugging slightly at the fabric of his shirt as she did so.

They rounded the corner at the intersection of 642, and soon after slowed as they came into a small town. It looked like it had been an older town before everything went to shit, and with even more decay it was almost a wasteland. Brick building were crumbling onto half standing fences. Cars were smashed into the sides of houses with some left on the side of the road with their doors and trunks wide open, a thin layer of dust covering the windows. It had been a long time since anybody had been around here.

As Juliana straightened up behind Daryl to look around, the sound of a bullet banging off the side of the car Sasha and Abraham were driving bang off behind them. Juliana and Daryl both ducked instantly, and Juliana cursed loudly, reaching behind her back awkwardly as she tried to get a handle on her gun.

A few more shots rang out, this time hitting the back of the car's rear window, shattering the glass. Just before Juliana had managed to swing the gun around just enough to get a decent handle on it, a burning sensation ripped through the front of her shoulder, followed by a sharp sting. She felt as if the air had been knocked out of her, and the awkward position she was now in as Daryl took off in the direction she was not expecting cause Juliana to fall sideways off of the bike.

She hit the ground hard, pieces of small rock and gravel biting into the palm of her hands and the side of her face from the fall. She could still hear the sound of gun fire and blinked quickly, trying to regain her senses. The sound of the bike skidding across the dirt was what she heard next, followed by Daryl screaming her name. With her arm that wasn't in pain, she pushed herself up the best she could, lifting her head in the direction where Daryl was. He looked frantic and he grabbed at his bike, yanking it up. He had started towards her, but hesitated, looking unsure, and Juliana knew why.

Behind her the squealing sound of car tires coming to a stop pierced through the chaos. "Get the fuck outta here!" she shouted at Daryl. He continued to come towards her, "Daryl, please!" she pleaded. He ducked as more shots rang out around him.

The car doors opened and she managed to turn herself around, propping herself up on one elbow as she turned to face at least two of the people who were shooting at them. She didn't want to look back as the sound of Daryl's bike starting up met her ears. She would never be angry at him for getting away, after all, he was good, and what was still good in this world needed to survive.

The two men were pointing their weapons down at her, scowls on their faces, "Man," one of them started, "Hopefully Negan isn't too pissed we only managed to get one person."

"The fuck is Negan?" Juliana spat, her eyes fluttering, trying to stay awake as she began to have trouble focusing.

With a smirk, one of the men lowering himself so he was crouching above her, "I am," he whispered harshly before whipping his gun around and smacking it on Juliana's forehead. Her body fell limp as she blacked out from the impact, and the two men drug her by her ankles to the back of the car, shoving her carelessly into the back seat before slamming the door shut.