~~Daryl's POV~~

It was dark outside, the trees towering high and surrounding us with the sound of crickets chirping. I was staring into the fire, body aching with exhaustion. In front of me was Beth, I ran into her as we both were trying to escape the prison as it burned to a crisp and became a home for the dead. She sat quietly, her knees tucked into her chest as she looked down into the fire as well. She'd watched as her father was killed just a few hours ago...

I kept thinking back to the prison, the governor standing next to his big tank and ranting about how we were just gonna let him have it. Then what he did to Hershel... just took his head off with two swings of Michonne's sword. But the seriousness on his face when he said he'd killed her... killed his own daughter. I couldn't believe she was actually gone. My body almost felt numb inside, like I could just sit here for days and not care if a walker came right up. I hadn't seen anybody else make it out, we were the only ones left.

"We should do something. We aren't the only survivors. Can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out there. Glenn and Maggie could of made it out of A block. They could've. You're a tracker! We can track them," Beth stood up, a glint of hope in her voice. But I didn't look up at her, I just wanted to sit here.

"Fine. If you won't track, I will," she said upset, taking my knife I had planted in the log I was sitting on. She walked into the dark forest on her own, would probably be dead in less then hour if I didn't go with her. Hershel came to mind as I got up, and slowly made my way behind the young girl into the darkness.

~~~~

Soon it was late morning, the sun was up but we could still see a bit of smoke rising from the prison in the distance. Beth led the way, looking down into the dirt trying to find proof of other survivors. She pointed down to two boot sets, that bit of hope still in her eyes. She explained it could be Molly or Lukes's, that it was a sign they were alive.

"No. This just means they were alive four or five hours ago," I grumbled at her. She glared at me, before turning to start picking grapes off a big vine.

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little bit of faith," she told me. This struck a nerve for me.

"Faith? Faith ain't done shit for us! Sure as hell didn't do your father any good," I hissed at her. I know it was a low blow, but I didn't care as she turned to look back at me, eyes angry before she went back to picking grapes.

"They'll be hungry when we find them," she said, pulling a bundle off the vine. I took a breath, pulling a bandana out of my pocket and holding it out for her. She took it, giving a whispered thanks and placing them inside the piece of cloth.

I examined the tracks, coming across a scuffle in the dirt. Beth was behind me, watching as I walked along, finding a plant stained with splattered blood on it. I sighed, it was human blood not walker blood, wasn't dark enough to be.

"Human blood, they left in a hurry," I said, looking at a squished pile of grapes on the ground.

"They fought them off," Beth said surely. I shook my head, scanning the prints further.

"Nah, got walker tracks all up and down here. At least a dozen of them," I told her.

We followed the tracks, coming across a train track and following the foot prints we'd found. Only, what we found at the end of them wasn't what Beth had been expecting. A pile of maybe five or six survivors mixed with dead walkers laid beside the track, all chewed up and bloody. I took a deep slow breath, and started walking down the tracks to leave. But Beth wasn't following, when I turned around she was standing there, sobbing at the pile of dead people.

The people from the prison, especially the ones from Woodsberry, they weren't like us. They couldn't survive out here on their own and god forbid they ever kill a biter in their whole life. They lived behind walls from the very beginning, no survivors instinct, no nothing. This shouldn't be a huge surprise to her, I knew from the start they were dead mans tracks all along.

~~~~

~~Willow's POV~~

I was along the forest line of the prison, my eyes were glued to that tower I used to call home. I couldn't leave, not just yet. Not without knowing for sure... A walker behind me growled, so taking my knife out, I took it down swiftly and tore into its torso, smearing guts and blood all over myself to hide my scent. I nearly gagged at the smell but pushed it all down so I could get going.

Walking through big herds like this was something I used to do a lot way back then. As long as you walk slow and keep a small distance you should be okay. But I still had a nervous feeling picking away in my gut as I walked across the yard at an ever slow pace. The amount of walkers inside the actual building was pretty clear, the place must be pretty closed up still.

I climbed up the stairs and across the cat walk, my hands were a little shaky as I looked at the tower sitting in pieces. But I needed to know... Treading carefully across the broken bits of concrete, I scanned the place over. It was pretty covered up by the debris but I wasn't seeing any blood or anything like that. I couldn't help but let out a small smile, he was alive. Daryl was actually out there still, he knows how to survive I know he's okay. Chances are he thinks I'm dead, which is why I need to find him that much faster.

A neon green arrow caught my attention underneath a piece of concrete. I climbed over and lifted it aside, finding Daryl's spare backpack with a small bundle of extra arrows that I could use. I strapped the bag onto me and hurried back outside, unfortunately my truck from earlier blew a tire leaving me on foot but I'd be alright. I knew how to survive to...

I scavenged some other random supplies I could find and headed back outside and across the yard. I had some clean clothes for later but for now I thought it'd be best to stay hidden from biters. The less of them I had to deal with the faster I could find the others. So I headed down the road in the direction I thought the bus would head down to possibly catch up.

An hour later a few gun shots rang out in the distance, making me go on high alert as I stepped a little closer to the edge of the woods along the road. I was torn between going to see if it was anybody I knew, or being smarter about chasing gun shots. Soon, a truck engine could be heard coming the direction I came from. I scurried off the road and behind a tree, watching as a massive green military looking truck roared past me. It definitely wasn't one of ours, and I didn't recognize the red headed man driving it. The girl in the back though... she was from the other camp, and I'm pretty sure she'd been at the fight. My fist clenched, watching the truck disappear down a bend in the road.

Not to long after that, I found the bus, pulled to the side of the road. As I got closer, I noticed the bodies laying all over ground. They were all dead... The bus had been coated with blood on the inside and the back emergency door had been opened. They were all dead though? Each one had a hole in its head, like somebody was looking for someone to... I checked each body, scanning over all the familiar faces but none I knew names to. It was an odd sense of relief, obviously I didn't want to find these people dead, but that means somebody else is alive.

It was gonna be dark soon, I should probably make camp for the night. I wondered off into the trees for a moment, finding a nice big oak tree and climbing up it slowly. It was a little hard, my stab wound still not at full strength and my arm being a little tore up. But I found a fork in one of the heavy branches and tied a blanket securely to either end into a makeshift hammock. When I was on my own, I used to have an actual one I'd set up when I couldn't find any shelter, but sadly I lost it along the way. It'd be a little chilly with no fire but I'd manage and get an early start tomorrow morning.

Settling into the hammock, I wrapped my arms around me, still dry and flaky from the walker blood. A sudden lonely feeling settled over me. It'd been a long time since I slept on my own, and the reminder of Daryl not being here made me sad. It wasn't something I'd felt a lot but Daryl seemed to always stir up emotions I never felt. It was something I actually really liked about him, and how annoyingly protective he'd get, his fresh pine smell he carried with him, just the feeling of somebody laying besides me... I sighed, taking a breath and closing my eyes. Being alone was something I was good at, hell I'm an expert at it by now. But I didn't want to be alone. Not anymore.