The line of graves still sits beneath the grove of trees, except now, there's one more.

"Dale could get under your skin, but that's only because he was never afraid to say exactly what he was thinking. That kind of honesty is rare and brave," Rick says. Tears roll down my cheeks, and Daryl has his arm around my shoulders. "Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it at one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us. The truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honour him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we do it his way. That is how we honour Dale."

Rick goes silent and we continue to stand. Slowly, one by one, people leave, until I'm alone with Daryl by Dale's grave.

I pull my knife from its sheath, the knife Dale gave me my first night at camp. I look at it closely for the first time. It has a smooth white handle that looks delicate, but isn't. It's blade still shines in some spots, and I breathe deeply. This knife has saved my life numerous times, and although it killed the walker that attacked Dale, I couldn't save him.

The last thing I said to Dale before he died was "Be safe". It feels like the irony is mocking me now.

Dale knew that Daryl had a soft spot for me long before I noticed. He was perceptive like that.

Tears drip off my face and fall to the ground, making dark spots in the freshly laid soil. I should've gotten to know him better.

"That knife..." Daryl says behind me. "Where'd you get it?"

"Dale gave it to me, my first night at the quarry camp. He wanted to make sure I had something to protect myself with..." I answer, my voice thick.

"I just wanted to see how you were holdin' up," he says, looking at the farm house. "Also, a few of us are goin' on a run. We're gonna look for some stray walkers, check the fences, that sorta thin'."

"Okay." I place my knife in its sheath and stand up. "Be careful."

He glances around quickly before placing a hand on my waist and pressing his lips to mine. He breaks away and heads to the blue truck parked a little ways away. Shane, Andrea, and T-dog are already there. He climbs into the back and the truck starts up, moving forwards.

I watch as the truck disappears over the ridge, leaving a cloud of dust.

Carl walks over to me and sits down. He's wearing Rick's hat, like he has been for a while now.

"Hey Carl," I say.

"Hey," he says sadly. "Can I tell you something? Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Of course," I reply.

"I went for a walk in the woods yesterday," he starts. "I found this walker stuck in the mud, and I started throwing rocks at it. Then, it got out and started chasing me, and instead of killing it, I ran back to camp..."

"Ok...what's the point of the story?" I say. Carl stares at me with those big blue eyes. His eyes are watery.

"That was the walker that got Dale. If I had killed it, Dale would be alive...I was gonna shoot it. Right in the head," he says, tears starting to run down his face.

"No Carl. Don't say things like that. It isn't your fault."

"I didn't shoot it. If I had..." he repeats.

"No. It was an accident," I say, pulling him into a hug.

He sniffles and holds onto me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I say, releasing him.

"That's not all I wanted to tell you..."

"Ok. What else?"

He pulls a gun out from under his sweater and hands it to me. "I took it from Daryl's motorcycle bag. If he knew that, he'd kill me."

I take the gun and turn it over in my hands. I hand it back to him. "Here. You keep it. You'll need protection."

Carl backs off, shaking his head. "No. I'm never touching a gun again. Just give it back to Daryl."

Carl runs off. I turn and look back at the road. A little while later, the truck comes back, and everyone climbs out.

"Fences are safe," Shane tells Rick as he walks up. "Took out a couple of walkers, but otherwise we're good."

"Alright. Gather everyone up. We've gotta discuss plans for the winter," he says. Daryl and I head towards camp, rounding everyone up, including the Greenes.

Once that happens, Rick speaks again."We're gonna have 15 people in one house, it's gonna be tight."

"Don't worry about that. With the creek drying up and 50 cattle on the property, it's like we're ringing a damn dinner bell," Maggie says.

"We should've moved you into the house sooner," Hershel says.

"Alright. Let's take all the vehicles and park them by the doors, facing the road. We'll set up lookouts in barn loft and by the windmill, and that should give us sight lines of both sides of the property. T-dog, you take the perimeter around the house, keep track of everyone coming and going," Rick orders as we start moving around.

"What about standing guard?" T-dog asks.

"I'll have you, Daryl, and Hope on triple duty," Rick says as he points to us.

"Gotcha." T-dog heads off.

"I'll stock the basement with enough food and water to survive down there for a few days if we need to," Hershel says, carrying a large bin of stuff.

"What about patrols?" Andrea asks.

"Let's get this area locked down first. After that, Shane will assign shifts while Daryl, Hope, and I take Randall into the woods and cut him loose."

I wait near Daryl's motorcycle, and he comes and joins me. He throws some things into his side bag.

"Hey, I had a gun in here..." he says, moving things around, searching.

I'm about to tell him, but I shut my mouth, remembering my promise to Carl.

Daryl gives up looking and gets on his bike, revving the engine and it moves forward. I jog beside it, my backpack thumping against my shoulders.

While people start unloading their things from the various vehicles, I grab some of Daryl's bags and sling them over my shoulder.

"I'm gonna go to the shed, fix up some stuff," Daryl tells me.

"Be safe," I say, smiling.

"Always am, aren't I?" He looks around, and seeing that no one's watching, sneaks a quick kiss on my cheek before heading towards the shed.

I walk into the house, where people are staking out claims in the living and dining rooms. I see that there's a spot behind the couch and throw my bags down. I pull out my bedding and set up beds for Daryl and I. After that, I help the others.

"Hey Hope!" Rick says. I look up, and he motions for me to come join him outside.

I follow him onto the porch, where Daryl is already waiting. Rick pulls out a map.

"We'll take him up to Senoia. Hour there, hour back, give or take. We may lose the light, but we'll be halfway home by then," he says, pointing on the map and dragging his finger along the route.

"This little pain in the ass will be a distant memory soon. Good riddance," Daryl says, sitting down on the porch railing.

"Carol's putting together some provisions for him, enough to last a few days," Rick says.

We all pause as Shane's car pulls into the drive, coming back from the windmill.

"About last night, with Randall," Rick says to Daryl.

Daryl shrugs. "Ain't no reason you should do all the heavy liftin'."

"Are you two ok with all this?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I say. Daryl agrees.

The car door slams, and Shane starts walking towards us. Daryl glances at him, then at me.

"I'm gonna go take a piss," he grumbles, getting up and leaving. I walk the other way, to the other end of the porch, not wanting to be near Shane.

I can hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but I tune it out. Then, something catches my attention.

"Maybe I could ride out with Hope and Daryl. It'd be good for the three of us to spend a little time together," Shane says.

I cringe and wait for Rick's response.

"Nah, I need you here," he says.

"Don't think I'll handle it right, huh?" Shane says.

"I didn't say that," Rick retorts.

"Then what?"

"I don't think putting you in a car with Hope is a good idea."

"You still hung up on that?" Shane scoffs. "I'm over that. I'm not gonna kill her."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna take any chances," Rick says. "You bruised her pretty badly, and sliced her cheek open."

"Whatever man."

The talking continues till I hear gravel crunching and then silence. I walk around the corner and see that Rick is alone.

"What'd Shane want?" I ask.

"He told me about something with Carl," he says.

"About the walker that killed Dale?" I ask.

"Yeah...how'd you know?"

"He told me, I guess he told Shane too." I pull out Daryl's gun and give it to Rick.

He looks at it. "Was this Daryl's?"

I nod. "Carl gave it to me when he told me the story."

"I'll go talk to him. He's in the barn loft." He points, and I can see Carl in the window of the barn.

Rick walks away, and I sit down on the porch rail, watching the sky.

Daryl comes out of the house.

"I'm gonna pull the truck around front."

I wait. Soon enough, the blue truck pulls up, and he climbs out. I go into the house, grabbing some of the provisions Carol set up.

I put them in the truck bed, and Daryl goes into the house and gets more.

"Hey Daryl," T-dog says, handing him a gun. "Crossbows run out of arrows. You should have this."

"Is this Dale's?" he asks, checking the ammo.

"Yeah." T-dog says, walking towards the shed.

"I just wish I knew where the hell mine went," Daryl says.

"Are we ready?" Rick asks. I see that he no longer has Daryl's gun. He must've given it to Carl.

"Yeah. T-dog's going to get Randall," I say, putting a water bottle in the back.

"HEY!" T-dog yells, running towards us. "Randall's gone."

Daryl, Rick, and I run towards the shed. Once inside, we look around. Bloody handcuffs are still lying on the ratty blanket where Randall was, but he's gone.

By now, the whole group has gathered, asking what's going on.

"He must've slipped the cuffs," Rick says, coming out of the shed.

"RICK! RICK!" someone yells. We turn and see Shane running from the forest. His nose and mouth are bloody. "He's armed! He got my gun!"

"Are you ok?" Carl asks.

"I'm fine. The little bastard snuck up behind me and clocked me in the face."

"Alright, Hershel, T-dog, get everyone in the house. Daryl, Hope, and Glenn, come with us," Rick yells.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun," Shane says to T-dog.

"Just let him go! Wasn't that the plan?" Carol asks.

"The plan was to drop him off far away from here unarmed, not on our front steps with a gun!" Shane yells.

"Get everyone back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick yells again.

We head into the woods. I don't even bother with using my knife and pull my gun out. It feels weird in my hands after fighting with a knife for so long. At least this time I know how to shoot it.

"I saw him heading that way before I blacked out," Shane says as we walk.

"Daryl, you think you can track him?" Rick asks.

"I don't see nothin' here," Daryl replies, looking at the ground. His crossbow is armed and ready.

"There's no use tracking him. I saw him go that way, so we just split up and follow him," Shane says, his eyes wide and crazed.

"This guy's got a hurt leg in a forest full of dry crunchy leaves and you're sayin' he got the jump on ya?" Daryl asks, skeptical.

"I don't think that matters right now. Point is, that's what happened," Shane says.

"Knock it off. Daryl and Glenn, start heading up the right flank. Shane, Hope, and I will take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there," Rick says. "Keep an eye out for each other."

I grab Daryl's hand and squeeze lightly. He squeezes back, his eyes assuring me. We break off and head our separate ways.