We trudged through the woods after dark, the moon our only source of light; we had gone on a two day run in search for supplies and possible residents. A biter snarled ahead of us, Daryl shooting it. He went to retrieve his arrow.

"There's more of them around here than there used to be," Aaron observed. "I don't even know if anyone—"

"Hey." Daryl interrupted Aaron, pointing to a small glimmer of light in the distance. "Someone must be out here." We quietly walked towards the light, it suddenly disappearing when we reached a patch of trees.

"What the hell," I whispered to myself, confused. "Where did it go?"

"Means it's late, probably should head back," Daryl suddenly declared. Aaron and I agreed with him, turning around and heading back to Aaron's car which was where we had been sleeping at night. Daryl climbed in the back with me close behind him, Aaron in the driver's seat just in case we needed to get the fuck outta here at any given moment. He locked the car while I laid my head on Daryl's chest. He placed his hand on my back, rubbing it gently to help me fall asleep. Hours went by before I woke up from someone whispering in my ear.

"Aften," they said. I sat up and glanced over at Daryl groggily. He was fast asleep. "Aften," it whispered again.

"Aaron? Is that you" I mumbled quietly. I was responded to with silence. I carefully leaned forward to check on him. He was sleeping peacefully.

"Aften," the voice grumbled rather impatiently. A chill ran down my spine as my eyes nervously scanned the car.

"Who the hell is talking," I growled, my heart beating faster. A deep chuckle rang out in response. Goosebumps instantly covered my body, my eyes growing wide. Daryl's hand gently touched my leg. I jumped. My chest heaved up and down from the scare, my breathing shaky.

"You okay," Daryl whispered sleepily.

"I kept hearing someone say my name," I muttered, baffled as I scanned the car again. Daryl gently pulled me back down to his chest.

"It was nothin'. You're okay," he told me softly, closing his eyes to fall back asleep. I believed him and quickly shook the nonsense out of my mind.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as we started on our journey the next morning, searching for any people to hopefully bring back to Alexandria. With hours of searching, we had no luck. The three of us entered a specific section of the forest, a vile smell becoming apparent. I scrunched up my nose in disgust. On the ground ahead, severed limbs were tossed about the dirt.

"Oh my god," I whispered, my stomach churning. I covered my face with my arm.

"Whoever did this took whatever was left with 'em." Daryl examined the mess closer. "This just happened," he concluded before trekking forward. Aaron gripped his gun tight in his hands while Daryl held his crossbow up just in case someone else was out here with us. We cautiously made our way towards a tree that had something held up on it: a naked girl was tied to the tree, her limp head hanging down. Her stomach was ripped open, her intestines gone from her body. Flies buzzed around her corpse. I immediately tore my eyes away from the scene, burying my head into Daryl's shoulder while Aaron examined her.

"They ate her, tore her apart," he observed in disbelief. "How the hell did this happen?" He lifted up the girl's head by her tattered blonde hair. A 'W' was carved into the skin of her forehead. She opened her dead eyes, hissing at us. She snapped her jaw at Aaron a few times before he stabbed her in the head. I turned around to face away from everything, my body shaking.

"You okay," Daryl whispered in my ear, grabbing my wrist. I shook him off and began moving back to Aaron's car.

"I'm going back now," I stated, severely haunted by what I'd just seen. I successfully navigated my way back to Aaron's car, getting there a little after dusk. I curled up in the backseat, slamming the door shut while Aaron put a fire together outside. The door opened just as a tear trailed down my cheek.

"Move," Daryl's gruff voice told me. I moved momentarily, Daryl sitting down. I laid my head in his lap as he closed the door. "What happened back there?"

"She was so young," I whispered shakily, my voice cracking. Daryl rubbed my arm to calm me down as another tear rolled down my cheek. "That could've been me." She looked like she was about my age. She used to have a whole life, a whole life that was taken from her savagely; that could've happened to me by all the people I've encountered after I escaped from Woodbury.

"Hey," Daryl cooed. "We ain't ashes. You're safe with me, with us." He brushed his thumb over my cheek, wiping away a stray tear. "You'll feel better if you come out and sit with us at the fire for a little bit."

"I'm gonna stay in here for now," I muttered. Daryl sighed before running his hand over my head and going back out to the fire, leaving me alone in the silence. I brought my knees to my chest and burst into tears, crying myself to sleep.

Someone tapped on the window. I sat up, gazing outside. It was a black, starless night. A small figure stood a few feet away, shrouded in darkness and motioning for me to come to them.

"Come on," it cried. The light voice sounded familiar. "Come on!" I grabbed my sword and cautiously leaned forward to unlock the car. I opened my door, looking back to see if anyone was awake. Daryl stirred but remained asleep, Aaron the same. I climbed out of the car, quietly shutting the door behind me. I pulled my sword out of its sheath and turned towards the figure. It ran off without warning.

"Wait!" I was taken by surprise, stumbling after it. I could barely see where I was going, a blood curdling scream ahead of me almost causing me to trip over a rather large branch in front of me. I almost fell flat on my face. The figure stopped, turning around to face me. "Penny," I gasped at the sight of her.

"Look." She pointed to a tree; the naked girl was tied to it, everything the exact same like earlier today. I turned away out of fear but Penny's voice grew demonic. "Look," she boomed. I quickly looked back at the dead girl out of fear. Her blonde hair was changing, darkness taking over at her roots and creeping down to the ends. The color seemed to drip off onto her chest. I carefully approached her, every inch of my body covered in goosebumps. I was terrified of what was to come. I stared at her up close. The color had made her hair red, blood red. The liquid continued to trail down her body, leaving red streaks behind on her skin. She snapped her head up, gasping for breath like she was being resurrected. My eyes went wide and I stumbled back, falling to the ground. My sword fell from my hands and into the leaves the surrounded my body. My face went pale as her eyes locked with mine. A bloody 'G' was carved into her forehead.

"Help me," she begged, my voice coming out of her mouth. "Help me, please!" She thrashed against her restraints as she began to cry. I backed up away from her on my elbows, too frozen to leap to my feet and run. "I don't wanna die!" As I backed up even more, her voice became louder and more urgent. "Help me, please! Don't leave me here!"

"No... no," I whispered to myself frantically. "Wake up! Please, wake up!" I begged, squeezing my eyes shut. The deep chuckle I heard from the night before rang out from in front of me. I opened my eyes to see the girl was now gone.

"It's been a while," the voice whispered while the wind rustled the leaves in the trees. "You were so eager to find out who was talking to you last night, weren't you," it chuckled. I backed up all the way into a tree, shakily standing myself up against it. My hands trembled against the bark, patting it to make sure I was balanced.

"Dad," I asked nervously, my eyes shifting around the woods. No one was in sight.

"Who else would it be: the queer or the hick," he quietly laughed.

"You son of a bitch, don't talk about them like that," I cussed at him, a tear staining my skin. All he did was laugh, the wind blowing even harder. I braced myself against the tree then everything just stopped, the wind and all. My heavy breathing was all I could hear. I took a step away from the tree, nervously scanning them again. I was suddenly knocked to the ground, the leaves crunching underneath my body. I let out a compressed scream as my dad pinned me to the ground. I thrashed beneath him. "Get off me," I shrieked. He whipped out a knife and waved it around in my face.

"Hold still, Aften, you're gonna look great," he smiled, lowering the knife at an agonizingly slow pace towards my skin. My eyes were fixed on the blade as it was about to make contact with me. I reached for my sword that laid inches away from me. I inched my fingers across the dirt over to the handle. My dad dragged the tip of his knife down my scarred cheek, making sure to take his time and reopen the wound. I screamed out in pain, my eyes squeezed shut. I could feel the blood dripping down the side of my face, warm and sticky. My dad laughed at my agony. I grabbed my sword and began to raise it. A foot stomped down on my wrist and knocked it back out of my hand, crushing my arm beneath it.

"Aften, wake up," a voice hollered, shaking me. "Wake up!" I stared at Daryl with wide eyes, my chest heaving up and down erratically. "The hell are you doin' out here," he asked angrily. I had no time to respond before Aaron started to speak with urgency.

"We have to get her back to the car as quickly as possible," he instructed, lifting his foot off my wrist. "God knows how many roamers she attracted screaming like that." Daryl lifted me up off the ground. "You can put her in my car and get a head start on your motorcycle. Get a bed ready for her once you get back." Daryl nodded and hurried with me back to Aaron's car in his arms. He gently laid me down in the back seat.

"You're okay. You're alright. We're gonna take you back to Alexandria, okay," Daryl reassured me before frantically tucking my hair behind my ear and closing the door. My whole mind swirled with the confusing blend of dreams and reality; what was I really experiencing? I heard Daryl's motorcycle rolling away, Aaron starting his car and following after him.