When night fell, Rick decided we couldn't go any further so we made a small camp next to a broken down car with a few things we found along the tracks.

Rick made a fire. The night was colder than usual and I was shivering. Daryl had given me his leather angel-wing vest to wear over my jacket earlier in attempts to help keep me warm, but it wasn't working that well. Other than the cold, it had been a nice quiet evening.

Rick and Michonne sat next to each other, Daryl and I across from them. The four of us traded stories on and off, Daryl staying his quiet self. Carl was already off sleeping in the car and I kind of wished I was asleep too. I was growing tired listening to the soothing crackle of the fire, my eyes struggling to stay open while Rick was talking about the days before this.

"Oh deary me," a random unfamiliar voice interrupted us. My eyes flew open to see who had spoke: an old man with short gray hair had a gun to Rick's head. He chuckled to himself. "You screwed up, asshole!"

A small group of men suddenly emerged from the woods armed with knives and guns. Three of them ripped Daryl away from me and threw him to the ground. Someone yanked me up off the log and put a knife to my neck, ready to slit it at any given moment. My breath hitched in my throat, my body restrained.

"Today's a day of restitution: a balancing of the whole goddamn universe." He paused to laugh. "And, hell, I was thinking of turning in on New Year's Eve! Who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Ten Mississippi! Nine Mississippi! Eight Mississippi!"

"Joe," Daryl hissed from the ground.

"You bastard, you're stopping me on eight," Joe growled at him.

"Just hold up," he pleaded. I watched him nervously. What the hell was he thinking? How did he know this guy's name? Joe rolled his eyes. Daryl slowly stood up, rocking back and forth in his place anxiously. "Ye're gonna let them go. They're good people."

"Now I think Lou would have to disagree with you on that. I'll obviously have to speak for him and all because your friend, here, strangled him in the bathroom back at our place." Joe cocked his head to the side, staring at Rick.

"Daryl," Rick spoke up. "You know these people?" Joe nudged the gun harder into Rick's temple.

"Ran into 'em on a run a while back," Daryl answered, glancing back up at Joe. "You want blood?" He held out his arms. "Take it from me." I went to speak, but I was silenced as the man behind me sensed my movement and pressed the blade harder against my skin.

"Hush now, Princess," he whispered in my ear, his fingers brushing my hair. A sickening chill ran down my spine.

"You say these are good people and that right there is a filthy lie," Joe snarled as a cue for a few of the guys to all hit Daryl in the stomach with the butt of their guns. He fell to the ground. They towered over him, stomping and kicking him repeatedly. The car door creaked open, a distressed and frightened Carl crying out; someone had him in their mitts.

"Leave him be," Rick hollered while attempting to stand up, Joe immediately slamming him back down on the log he was sitting on. Carl cried loudly behind me and I squeezed my eyes shut in fear; I was terrified of what was gonna happen to me. Was I gonna die? I wanted to cover my ears. The cries and sounds of struggle from people I loved were too much for me. "Listen, it was me! It was just me!"

"That's right! We can settle this like reasonable men, then. First, we're gonna beat Daryl to death, then we'll have the girls, then the boy, then I'll shoot you and we'll be square," Joe snickered maniacally. Carl was thrown to the ground into a pile of leaves. They crunched beneath his body.

"Let him go," Rick demanded through gritted teeth, his whole body shaking with anger. With no response or action taken, he threw his head back suddenly causing gun to fire. I jumped at the loud crack, all of us seeming to freeze as it echoed through the cold night sky. Joe stumbled back, holding his nose which was now bloodied. Rick stood up and punched him square in the face, Joe fighting back and Rick falling to the ground. Michonne sat there frozen with a gun to her head, being forced to watch everything. The man who held me began to drag me backwards, away from the scene. I started to scream in fear and agony with my heart thundering in my chest. He quickly stifled my scream, slapping his hand over my mouth and putting me in a tighter headlock. I tried to dig my heels into the dirt to slow us down but it was no use.

I caught a glance of Rick who was wrapped up in the arms of Joe. In one swift motion, Rick leaned down and ripped his throat out with his teeth. He spit it out to the side as Joe sputtered, blood squirting out of his neck. Joe fell to the ground, barely clinging to life. I was in disbelief at what I'd just witnessed, my eyes wide. How in the fuck did he do that?

Everything seemed to freeze like before then broke back into chaos. Michonne snapped and grabbed the man's gun who held her captive, shooting him down. She swiveled her body and shot each of the men that possessed Daryl. I elbowed the man behind me in the ribcage as hard as I could. He drew back from me to groan in pain. Michonne turned to me and fired at him. He folded in half and bled out onto the dirt.

"I'll kill him," a man shouted. "I'll kill him!" I glanced at over at the scene; the man had Carl, a knife to his neck like I'd just had on me.

"Let the boy go," Michonne demanded, pointing the gun at him. Rick sauntered over to the man without a care, muttering something under his breath. The man quickly released him and begged for forgiveness once he realized what was about to happen to him. Rick didn't give a single shit about what he had to say. He stabbed the man in the stomach over and over while Michonne held Carl in her arms, him watching his dad kill his perpetrator. Daryl rushed over to me, wrapping his arms around me when he noticed I was shaking. He had turned me away from the scene so I wasn't watching. I had seen and experienced enough at this point.

When all was quiet, Daryl took me to the car and sat me in the backseat. He crawled in after me, shutting the door behind him. My lip began to tremble as I stared out the window at the darkness that shrouded us. Daryl took me back into his arms. I laid there and cried against him, my tears soaking the sleeves of his jacket. He ran his thumb across my skin to try and calm me down. All I did was cry.

It was early in the morning when I woke up and noticed that Daryl was no longer by my side. Carl had taken his place, pressed up against the other door on the opposite side of the car. Michonne laid back in the passenger seat, her eyes still closed. I sat up, listening to the conversation between Rick and Daryl that was happening outside the car.

"I didn't know what they were," Daryl muttered. "Didn't know what they could do."

"It's not on you. You being with us, here, that's everything," Rick said. "You're my brother." By the tone of his voice, I could tell he truly meant it. I didn't know what they went through or how long they knew each other before I came into the picture, but by their bond I could tell it was a long while. There was a short pause before the silence was broken.

"What you did last night," Daryl began. "Anyone would've done that."

"No. Not that."

"Somethin' happened... that ain't you."

"You saw what I did to Tyreese; that's me. That's why I'm here now, that's why Carl is. I wanna keep him safe," Rick stated confidently. "I know you'd do the same for Aften." My eyes flickered over to Carl who was now awake. His eyes met with mine. Inside them, I could see the struggle of a severely wounded kid, just like Merle claimed me to be. We didn't speak to each other, we just tore our eyes away from one another.

The passenger door quietly opened and Rick peeked his head inside. He saw I was awake and nodded in greeting. I nodded back, studying his face. It was stained with Joe's blood, although some of it had been washed off. Rick woke Michonne up and helped her out of the car. When he shut the door, Daryl approached my side and opened it. He swept the hair away from my tear-stained face.

"You alright," he asked. I nodded in response. Daryl's eyes flickered over my face. He knew I was lying. He grabbed my hand and helped me out of the car, making me feel safe. He handed me my sword and I took it from him. He lightly ran his thumb over the top of my hand. "We ain't ashes," he reassured me quietly before sweeping the hair away from my face again.