The two vans had run out of gas, leaving us on foot. Daryl and I had gone off to look for food while Maggie and Sasha went for water. Daryl dug through the dirt.

"I hope we're not gonna eat worms or anything like that," I said under my breath, eyeing him up. "I'd rather starve to death."

"Ain't no princess food out here," Daryl said condescendingly. He dropped a worm in his mouth, chewing it. I watched him in disgust as he continued to dig.

"Can't we look for, you know, berries?"

"You can do that."

"I've tried. You're better at finding things, anyway," I mumbled.

"Try harder." Daryl ate another worm. I went back to pushing back bushes until I spotted a small hidden tree of blackberries. I began to eat them, stuffing my face when Daryl spoke up. "Let's go." I trailed behind Daryl, still chewing on the berries. We rounded up Maggie and Sasha; they found nothing. We trekked back to the group in silence.

"How much longer we got," Maggie asked suddenly.

"Six miles," Sasha answered.

"I wasn't talking about that," Maggie muttered. Another van drove up. Abraham jumped out of it, smiling. It was bigger than our other ones. The group piled inside, Daryl and I not talking to each other. I closed my eyes to rest, only opening them when the van rolled to a stop a long while later.

"We're out," Abraham hissed, hitting the steering wheel in frustration.

"So we walk again," Rick sighed. Everyone opened the doors, jumping out of the van. We were quiet while we walked, Rick speaking up. "We're not at our strongest. We'll get it when it's best; high ground, something like that." Judith began to babble.

"She's hungry," Daryl blurted out. "Need to find water, food." Rick gazed up at the sky.

"It's probably gonna rain sooner or later."

"Gonna head out, see what I can find," Daryl ignored him, handing Rick a gun he had slung over his left shoulder.

"I'm going with you," I spoke up.

"I got it." Daryl continued wandering off.

"You gonna stop me," I challenged, following him. We shuffled through fields of tall grass in search of food and water in silence; silence seemed to be our normal form of communication right now, bickering if not that.

"Too dry, ain't nothin' here," Daryl stated, disappointed.

"Maybe we should start heading back," I proposed.

"You go," he said quietly. I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"We can't keep doing this," I bit my lip, shaking my head. "The coldness, the-the..." I trailed off, angry tears welling up in my eyes. "We're not dead: that's what you said. You're not dead. I know you. I know you, Daryl. I know what's happening and I get it. I knew her too, but you have to let yourself feel it." Daryl stood there, staring at the ground in silence. I crept closer to him and planted a kiss on his forehead. I swept some stray hair away from his face before turning around and heading back to the group.

I decided to take a different way, curving back into the woods. I still needed to calm myself down, anger still left in my veins from Daryl blowing me off. I meandered for a while before I realized that I was lost. I had no idea where I was going. I decided to climb up a tree so I could look out over everything. I sat on a steady branch, gazing out into the distance. I grew anxious at the fact that I wasn't able to see shit. I was about to climb back down before I heard the crunch of footsteps coming my way. I stayed silent and still, making sure I was unnoticeable as a biter staggered by. It tripped over various branches that laid in its path.

The sky began to grow dark, my visibility decreasing. I could hear another biter trudging past me, the leaves crunching beneath his feet. There was no way I was gonna climb down now; there must be a small herd near. I stayed put again, watching it drag itself away. It was quiet after, the cicadas the only thing I could hear. I let of a huff, closing my eyes briefly. I stayed awake all night, listening to crickets chirp and running my hand over the scar on my cheek.

When morning rolled around, my eyes burned with sleep. I climbed down from the tree and walked deeper into the woods. I spotted a barn. I knew my body was too heavy to carry on so I sat in front of a tree, closing my eyes and soon falling asleep. My rest only lasted for about what felt like five minutes; I was awoken by rumbles of thunder and light sprinkles of rain. I rubbed my eyes, gazing up at the sky. The sprinkles quickly morphed into drops and pounded down on me, soaking my hair and clothes. I scrambled to my feet and jogged over to the barn. I took out my sword before pushing open the doors. There weren't any biters in sight, but when I flung open the stable, a biter hissed at me. It attempted to crawl over, but I stabbed it in the head before it could get far. I put my sword back and dragged its body outside. I eventually dumped it in the grass and closed myself inside. I sat at the back of the barn, facing the door with my back against the wall. I drifted off to sleep for a while more.

"Aften," someone whispered, jolting me awake. I lifted my head that had drooped over. Rick stood in front of me.

"Daryl," somebody else yelled out. Daryl stomped into the barn, drenched from the storm.

"What," he grumbled. Rick helped me to my feet, squeezing my hand and rubbing my back to comfort me. Daryl's eyes fell on me, relief washing over him as he saw me. He ran to me and engulfed me in his arms. I hugged him, a tired smile on my face. Daryl sniffled, kissing my forehead. The rest of the group poured into the barn as we reunited, settling down. Daryl held my hand tightly after he pulled away from me. Rick began to make a small campfire. Almost everyone was around it, the rest off sleeping. I pulled Daryl into the stable. He pressed his lips against mine, his arms wrapped around my waist. I pulled away to laugh quietly. He placed his forehead against mine. "Thought someone took you," he mumbled.

"Got lost but I'm right here," I whispered. Daryl snatched a blanket down from the shelf and laid it on the ground. We laid down on it, wrapping another blanket over us. Daryl stared at me in silence, his eyes flickering over my features. He ran his thumb over my cheek back and forth softly. I grabbed his hand, kissing it. I noticed a red, raised circle on his hand. He saw me looking at it and pulled away, standing up.

"Be right back." He swung open the door and stepped out into the barn. There was a sudden banging on the doors, growling and hissing behind them. I decided to go check out the noise. I opened the stable door to see Daryl and Maggie struggling to hold the doors closed. I ran over to help, pressing myself up against the doors. Soon enough, everyone was helping. We pushed with all our might, praying the doors wouldn't come crashing down.

I woke up in the stable, exhausted. My eyes flickered around the room. Daryl wasn't by my side. I sighed in sadness and fell back asleep, Daryl entering the stable a few minutes later. He propped his back up against the wall and held me in his arms so my head rested against his chest. He smiled down at me, kissing my head, and fell asleep.