A bump in the road woke Beth with an uncomfortable jolt. It was pitch-black and she could feel the jeep rolling to a stop. From the sleepy, yet anxious expressions on the faces around her, she suspected that they were stopping for a bathroom break. There were enough of them and they had enough fuel that they weren't planning to stop more than they absolutely needed to. Sleeping in the crowded back of the jeep was rough, but they would power-through as long as they could stand it.

She'd fallen asleep in Daryl's arms. Across from them, Maggie was holding onto Glenn as he fought the fever. It had been two days. As far as anyone could remember, they'd never seen someone last this long. He didn't seem as out-of-it as bite-victims usually were. He still walked around and could carry on conversations. She'd even heard him make a joke yesterday. It gave everyone hope. During one of their previous breaks, Bob had admitted to Beth that he had initially reassured everyone that Glenn might survive only to compel them to keep moving, he hadn't really believed it. Glenn's immune system had already taken a bad hit, just a matter of weeks earlier, but he'd surprised the doctor.

Still, everyone was tense. They didn't talk much. Each one was wrapped in their own thoughts and since there was little better to do, half the group was almost always at least trying to fall asleep. With the winding road underneath them, mounds of stolen supplies around them and their heads full of horror, it wasn't easy, but Beth had finally managed to snag a few precious hours.

Carol and Tyreese sat with Sophie between them. It turned out that when she wasn't transformed into a bundle of nerves by constant threat, Sophie was actually a sweet and talkative girl. Beth was pretty sure that Carl, Tara and maybe a few others found her to be pretty obnoxious. She asked a lot of questions and interrupted the answers, but it was clear that Tyreese and Carol had adopted her. She was part of their group now.

For two days, Daryl had been pretty quiet, but one thing she had managed to get out of him was that he thought Sophie would be good for Carol. "She needs someone to show her how to be." She could have asked him, but instead Beth had thought about every possible meaning of that statement, until she couldn't think anymore; too tired and drained she'd drifted into real sleep, not induced by drugs or her brain just shutting off and deciding it was done with consciousness, but real rest that helped her body wake up a little stronger.

She climbed down out of the jeep after Rick and Carl, watching them for a moment and wondering, not for the first time in the last few days, what precisely had passed between the two groups before they parted ways. Rick and the others hadn't been very far behind them. It seemed like they'd simply made sure that the girls were in good (or at least not cannibalistic hands) with Father Gabriel, Randall and Brock as the new leaders of what would never be called Terminus again.

In the dark of midnight, no one dared wander too far from the jeep. Beth stretched her legs, holding onto Daryl's hand and dragging him along.

"How're you feelin'?"

She nodded, "I'm okay. How about you?"

"Who the hell cares?" grumbled Daryl.

"I do," she reminded him.

He spared her a glance, but couldn't seem to meet her eyes. "Just worried 'bout you."

When Daryl pulled Franco off her and soundly beat him into the ground in a matter of seconds, she couldn't pick an emotion. She was relieved that she was saved, terrified that she might already be dead, that she'd left her body and was just watching Daryl act as an avenging angel. She'd been scared that Franco might get the upper-hand, or that a stray bullet might end everything. She'd been upset by the rage in Daryl's face; the murderous spirit that shown out of him like an inner fire. During Franco's last seconds she'd been hurled through an eternity of possible ruin.

Trials were a part of life, but this one had almost finished both of them. That thought still ate at her. What could have happened haunted her, until now. Two days later, she was starting to give credit to the precious things, and the peace in the chaos. "I had a dream," she realized too late that she'd let the silence last too long.

His face was already twisted in concern. "Nightmare?"

"No," she said quickly, touching his cheek to brush aside a smudge of dust from the road. "It was a dream. I saw a little boy with messy brown hair and blue eyes… Could've been you as a toddler. He was all unsteady, tryin' to run to me on legs that barely knew how to walk. I bent down and scooped him up with my arm and held him right close to me. He was so warm and perfect. It wasn't hard at all to hold him, even without lefty." She smiled. "I could carry him with one arm."

Finally, he was looking into her face. She could still see the shame in his sad blue eyes, but there was a spark of light. "'Corse you could," he murmured, "You got this, Greene. You're gettin' stronger every day."

Her heart sank as his gaze dropped away from her again. "Hey, look at me," she tipped his face up, sliding her thumb along his jaw and feeling his steady pulse under her hand, "You gotta tell me what's wrong. I'm scared," she said simply. "We're alright? Aren't we alright?"

"You're what you've always been. Me too, I guess. I'm a piece of shit."

She shook her head and opened her mouth to protest but he wasn't done talking.

He grumbled, "I let it happen. I couldn't keep you safe."

"You didn't let nothin' happen. It just happened," she argued, letting her voice get fierce for just an instant before she softened, "And you did protect me."

"Too late," he shook his head.

"I'm not talking about when you came flyin' in like Superman and ground Franco into the dirt—that was great, but I mean before that," she glanced down at her arm. "All this time, you've been protecting me. My dad. Rick. You. Maybe you didn't realize that any of it stuck. Remember, Mr. Dixon—I was with my dad every day after he lost his leg. I helped him go through that. I watched him and I learned every day."

The smallest, sorrowful smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, mostly hidden but the hairs of his goatee, but she caught it before it flickered away, "Tough as nails, your old man."

"And your brother—I met him. I heard his story from Glenn and then from you. I saw what he did when life took a part of him away." She touched Daryl's lips gently, trying to bring his eyes back up to meet hers, when it worked, she smiled. "And you—you taught me how to fight. You taught me to survive… Remember when I said how I wished I'd never left you, and you said that I didn't? That I was still with you the whole time?" She pressed her hand against his chest. Chewing on her lip for a moment she only managed to mouth the words 'in here' and swallowed, "Well, you never stopped protectin' me. I had your help and your strength. I wasn't alone." She took his arm away from his side and brought it up, so that her heart was inside the hollow of his hand. "If I didn't have you, I couldn't've gotten through it."

Warm and steady, his strong hand worked its way up to her neck, cupping the back of her head. He didn't have the words to reply, but he didn't need them. It was all the reassurance that she needed to just drink in the way that he looked at her. They were a lot better than alright.

"Hey kids, sorry to interrupt," Tara appeared beside them with a fussy Judith wriggling in her arms, the look on her face suggested that she felt just as awkward as she should to walk up to them when they were just staring at each other like idiots. "I think she misses you, but I'm not sure if—" she wore an apologetic grimace as she cocked her head at Beth's injury.

"Let me try," Beth reached out and wrapped Judith up around the waist, steadying the almost-toddler against her hip with Tara's hands still protectively keeping contact with the baby.

"Hey!" Tara's face broke into a smile, "Not even an issue! Pound it," she held out her fist a blush rising to her cheeks, but her smile just got wider as Beth raised her stump and gently bumped it against Tara's knuckles. "That'll have to be our thing."

Judith did seem more content, now that Beth was holding onto her. "Pretty incredible, aren't I?" Beth shot Daryl a smile.

With one arm across her shoulders he leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the head. "Yeah, you are."

"Eugene's working on designs for a prosthetic," said Tara brightly.

Beth raised her eyebrows at that, she'd noticed him scribbling in a notebook all that afternoon, but hadn't been in any position to see what he was drawing. "How's it look?"

"Bizarre, to be honest. You're basically going to be a robot."

Fighting a smile, Beth quietly admitted to herself that it was touching.

"He thinks he can find what he needs in DC," Tara nodded, then shot Judith a smile.

"I keep forgetting to ask," Beth blushed, embarrassed that she'd waited so long, "Why are we even going to DC?" she whispered.

Daryl snorted, stifling laughter. He hid his face in her hair.

Tara's grin broadened. "We're going to save the world."

"Oh."

Abraham was calling for everyone to make their way back. DC was a still a long way's off. If anyone was going to save the world, it should definitely be them.

"We're the right people for the job," Tara agreed with Beth's unuttered though, nodding with an air of perfect self-confidence.

With a few groans and mild protests everyone made their way back. Tara ran to the jeep and was the first one to claim her favorite spot in the back. Beth watched Carol helping Sophie up. Tyreese and Sasha lingered behind them, Sasha leaned her head against her brother's arm, briefly giving away how tired she was. Rick and Michonne were both looking at Carl from opposite sides of the jeep. Bob was playing referee between Eugene and Rosita, who were arguing over whose turn it was to drive. At the back of all of it, Maggie and Glenn were wrapped around one another, speaking with their heads close. Glenn had a smile on his face, a big genuine smile just for his wife that she couldn't help but return. He still looked tired and sick, but in that moment, Beth knew he'd be alright.

At least for now, they were all better than alright.

Daryl stood a little taller than when he'd first stumbled out of the jeep. His gaze was no longer fixed on the dirt. In fact, he was looking at her in the face again, like he never planned to look away again. He took the baby from her so she could climb back into the jeep.

They were back on the road with headlights bright in a matter of seconds.

After letting Carl take his little sister, Daryl resumed his place in the little nest that they had carved out for themselves amidst the collection of weapons, ammunition, food, medical supplies and other survivors. Beth settled in with him, scooting between his legs so she could lean back against his chest.

It was never going to be easy for them, but in a moment of clarity, with Daryl's chin resting against her shoulder and his arms pulling ever tighter around her, Beth knew for certain that she didn't want easy.

He turned her head and slowly pressed his lips into hers, not with the kind of passion that she'd become accustomed to, but rather with an assurance of intimacy that she'd never sensed in him before. They were still in such early days. She hoped they would have so many more.

As difficult as her life was, it made the good things all the sweeter. Everything that she loved was worth all the more to her, because she had to fight for it, every day.

And she would never fight alone.

The End

Just this once... EVERYBODY LIVES!

So, I didn't kill anyone, but I did sever an arm and Glenn can at least be counted as half-dead. I'm sorry, but I'm also not sorry at all. I worked through some rough feelings I was having, stuff that made me terrified for season five, and it spilled all over the page. Self-indulgent or therapeutic? I don't know, but it happened, and it's fanfiction, and that's part of the point is to be self-indulgent and therapeutic, I believe...

The main point though, is fun:) So I hope you guys enjoyed this piece. I had a lot of fun writing it and it was excellent hearing your feedback and talking with some of you about the show. Really, I cannot possibly thank you enough for your support and kinds words.

Peace and Love, Al

Against The Grain – City and Colour