Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead, I'm just visiting around with them.

Removed and re-posted for rewrite. I hope you enjoy it and I'm sorry for the angst.

Warning: AU character death.

Cover made by Mimi Fera.

He frantically tried to put pressure on the wound as her breathing began to shake.

"Yer gonna be fine, Beth. Just look at me."

Daryl tried to keep his voice calm, but he could tell that the stray bullet that had hit her in the roadside skirmish had caused more damaged than he had at first imagined.

As he knelt on the roadside, he cradled her thin body, supporting her head and shoulders with his left arm as he tried to stop the bleeding from her side with his right hand. Her blood rushed through his fingers and soaked into the pavement.

"It's, it's okay, Daryl," she whispered. Her voice shook with pain and it was muffled by the blood in her throat.

He angrily blinked the tears from his eyes. He should never have taken her out on the run. He should have been better prepared for this, for the men scavenging like wolves on the road. He gathered her to his chest and staggered to his feet, pulling her closer to him and holding on for dear life, her loud gasp of pain twisting a knife of fear in his gut.

"Not gonna to happen, girl," he replied gruffly. "It's only a couple of miles to the prison and we can make it."

She clutched his vest and buried her face into his shirt. "I don't think so," she sighed, the life already leaving her voice. "Not this time."

He kept walking, trying to ignore what her words actually meant, was afraid to set her down and face them. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not this way. Not to her.

"Set me down, Daryl, please."

"No," he grunted, emotion making his voice thick.

"Please…"

He slowly came to a stop. His boots felt cemented to the pavement as he reluctantly stood to face the consequences of her words, unable to breathe. The trees on both sides of the road were so still it seemed like they also were holding their breath. As he gently lowered himself to road, still cradling her, he made himself look into Beth's eyes. The death he saw in them terrified him.

"It's okay, "she whispered again, trying to comfort him. That was something he always loved about her, her gift of always being the one to stay around and comfort him.

"It's not supposed to be like this," he begged, the fullness of grief finally overtaking him. He didn't even try to fight it now.

"You have to promise me that you won't come after me." Her blue eyes never wavered from his. He knew what she really meant: Don't eat a bullet, Dixon.

"I..." He struggled helplessly to reply, but he couldn't find a way to say yes. He did want go with her.

"You're gonna be okay, Daryl. We all have jobs to do, and yours is to keep living and helping people." Dark lines of red formed at the corners of her mouth as she smiled up at him through tears of pain. "The world would be a darker place without you in it, Daryl Dixon."

Desperation ran through him, creeping up into his throat and tears dropped gently onto her face. "You can't just up and decide to leave, ya know. Don't you leave me too."

She reached up and gently stroked his face, her fingers softly running through his hair. "I'll still be around," her trembling fingers wiped a rebellious tear from his cheek. "You have the memories that I gave you."

He laughed shakily as his mind raced through the memories. He tearfully shook his head as he brushed a strand of golden hair from her face. "Pretty good memories," he whispered roughly.

"Will you stay with me? I'm afraid."

He nodded faintly, knowing what she meant.

"You were always my angel, you know," she said weakly; her breath was becoming shallower, the light in her eyes had started to fade into a dull blue.

"I ain't no angel," he confessed hoarsely. "Even if I was, I'm not supposed to be your death angel."

"Will you tell me a story, just one more time?" she asked. "I just want to hear again what it would be like."

Daryl drew a deep, shuddering breath to steady his mind. He struggled to keep his voice clear, to think of what last dream he would tell her, then his husky voice filled the air. He kept his eyes fixed on hers; he was afraid that he would miss her leave.

"There, was once a man and a woman who loved each other so much that it hurt." Daryl paused slightly; the pain in his chest was killing him, but he forced himself to continue.

"They lived in a little town, in a little yellow house with flowers linin' the driveway."

She smiled softly at his descriptions and he could tell she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"What, what color are the flowers?"

Beth's voice was so fragile he could barely hear her.

"What color do you want them to..."

He froze and his voice trailed off as he felt her last breath leave. He shut his eyes as tears broke the barriers of his lashes and escaped to mix with the blood on Beth's face.

"Blue," he whispered to her. "The flowers are blue."

A sob shook his body and it was followed by another, and then a chorus of them followed. He clutched her body tightly to his chest, not caring if any stray walkers hovered by. One part of him screamed to let her go and another part begged to stay and hold her, knowing that he only had a few minutes left of being with his Beth in her natural form.

He shakily pulled his pistol from his holster. His hand trembled as he positioned her head so that it hovered over the ground, but he would not release his embrace on her.

You have the memories that I gave you.

He leaned forward and slowly closed her eyes. They had never left his face. He softly kissed her forehead.

"Fare thee well, my honey."

He placed the muzzle of the pistol against her forehead and squeezed his eyes shut.

You were always my angel, you know.

It felt like he was the one that died as the world exploded in his hand.

A/N: I have no idea how I managed to write this. I'm so very sorry.

Thoughts and reviews are love.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter.