"Dale could-- could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. 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 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're gonna do it his way. That is how we honour Dale."

That was the speech Rick gave the next morning when they buried Dale beside Sophia under the trees. It was a quiet event, and somehow sadder than when they'd found the little girl in the barn. Probably because each felt guilty for Dale's death in their own way. It could have been avoided if they'd all listened to him and he hadn't stormed off all upset. If he hadn't been alone, the walker wouldn't have got to him and killed him.

The speech also had Jupiter thinking about her decision to kill Shane. What would Dale have thought of it? For some reason she doubted he would have been happy about it, even if the two men had hated each other, and that was making her doubt if her choice was truly right for the group. They'd already lost Dale, and if she killed Shane, that meant they lost another two people, and it would weaken the group further, and she'd end up being the danger to the group she tried to avoid by killing Shane. So she knew she couldn't go through with it. Not then. She'd just have to keep a close eye on him and make sure he wasn't a threat to the group's survival.

When the service was over, Jupiter, Shane, T-Dog, Andrea, and Daryl split off from the others, having decided that morning to secure the perimeter again, checking the fences and surrounding area to be secure. After the walker had got Dale the night before, Hershel had told Rick's group that they'd be moving into the house in the morning as it was too dangerous to be sleeping in tents now. The walkers would find it easier to get onto the farm now as the creeks were drying up and the swamps hardening, meaning they weren't gonna get stuck in the mud anymore.

So the five of them would secure the land, while the others moved into the house and boarded up the windows just in case.

Jupiter had barely said a word to anyone all morning, too lost in her own thoughts and guilt, not even to Daryl, who had helped her dig Dale's grave that morning and then stood beside her at the funeral, close enough to touch, but neither of them did. Daryl could see that she was troubled, sitting between him and T-Dog in the truck bed, staring at the coil of barbed wire by her feet. He wanted to ask her what she was thinking about so hard, and help her if he could, but he knew that she liked to work through things alone unless she asked otherwise, so he didn't ask. Still, he wanted to offer some comfort.

No one but Rick knew that the two of them were together yet as they'd not really told anyone, and never really shown that much affection in front of the others. Daryl wasn't sure if Jupiter wanted to keep it quiet, so he took her hand in the space between their legs so no one else could see, squeezing her fingers reassuringly. She snapped out of her daze at his touch, her fingers entwining with his out of instinct as she gave him a smile. It was a real smile, and not a fake one to please everyone, so even if she was shaken, Daryl knew she was going to be all right. When she leaned her head on his shoulder, he was slightly surprised, but didn't question it and instead let go of her hand so he could put his arm around her.

T-Dog looked at them with a small smile, but said nothing as he turned back to watching the trees pass them by, and neither Daryl or Jupiter felt the need to explain themselves to anyone, and instead just enjoyed being close to each other for a few moments longer until the truck started to slow and then come to a stop. Jupiter pulled away and stood up, jumping out of the truck ahead of Daryl and waiting for the others to join her before they set off walking, Shane pulling on the fence every now and again to check it would hold up. Andrea carried the barbed wire, T-Dog held the tools, and Daryl and Jupiter brought up the back, on the lookout for walkers.

They mostly walked in silence, but once they hit the woods, Daryl spoke quietly to them when he found a trail, showing that walkers had been through and gone up to the farm fields. So the five of them went back to the truck and Shane drove them to the field where the walkers were, eating a cow and wandering around.

Jupiter used her bat, killing two of the walkers while the others took the others down. Once they were dead, they carried the bodies into a pile and then burnt them, not hanging around to watch them burn as they still had the perimeter to check, and any other walkers to kill.

It was afternoon when they finally returned to the house, seeing that most of the downstairs windows had been boarded up, but a few still needed to be done, and the group was still moving their things into the house, so they all jumped out to help, stacking things in the truck bed they'd just vacated. The whole camp was quiet as they worked, but soon enough they had everything done and the truck was driving towards the house, the others walking behind it or heading off to do other tasks.

Rick had ordered watch posts to be built in the barn loft and on the windmill, so Shane and Daryl got on that while the others carried stuff into the house. Jupiter claimed a corner of the living room for herself, unsure of if she should leave Daryl's stuff there too. She stood there for a few moments before deciding what the hell and dumped his stuff with hers, figuring the worst that could happen would be that he moved it when he came in. When she turned away, she found Carol watching her, a small smile on her face. Jupiter blushed deeply, but Carol just laughed and put her hand on Jupiter's arm. "I'm happy for you," she insisted before turning back to her own tasks.

Jupiter returned her smile a little shyly before walking out of the house to gather the rest of everyone's things. When they were done, Jupiter decided to help Jimmy with the last few windows, and then they were done. Daryl had finished with the barn and Shane was almost done with the windmill, so Daryl and Rick were on the porch, looking at a map and talking quietly about their plan to release Randall, as they'd decided against killing him the night before. Daryl saw Jupiter standing by the side of the porch and nodded at her with a flash of a smile before returning to his conversation with Rick. Though when he noticed Shane walking towards Rick, he dumped the map and stood up.

"I'm gonna take a piss," he excused himself, heading towards Jupiter, jogging down the steps and following her around the side of the house, about to ask her what was up when she suddenly turned around and pushed him so his back was against the house, stretching onto her tiptoes to press her lips against his. For a moment he was too surprised to do anything, but then he relaxed and wound his arms around her waist, keeping her close while he leaned into her, their mouths moving together seemingly fast and slow all at the same time.

His lips were soft, and he tasted like strawberry and cigarettes, even though Jupiter hadn't seen him smoking for a few days, but she quickly stopped caring when Daryl suddenly turned them so her back was against the wall and he was leaning over her. Her hands were wound in his jacket, not letting go even when Daryl pulled back for a breath, his eyes dancing with a mix of emotions. Both of them were breathing heavily and smiling a little, but then Daryl ran his fingertips down Jupiter's bare arms and rested his forehead against hers. "What was that for?" He asked with a faint smile in his voice.

Jupiter sighed and released his jacket, instead running her hands up his front and then around to either side of his neck, where she ran her thumbs over his jaw and met his gaze, the smile gone from her own face as she remembered what she was going to tell him. "Because I wanted to kiss you one last time before I told you something. Something about me that isn't so great..."

Daryl frowned and reached up to take her hands, holding them in the space between them as he took a step back, his eyes darkening. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Jupiter looked down for a second while she organised her thoughts, looking back up into Daryl's worried and expectant face as she answered. "I was going to kill Shane." He didn't react, other than blinking, so Jupiter kept talking. "After talking to you, I went for a walk in the woods to think about Randall and how he was going to be killed for being a threat to the group, when that's exactly what Shane is. Rick won't do anything about it, but I couldn't stand the thought of you or any of the others getting killed because of him, so I decided to take matters into my own hands, and I was going to kill him last night... The only reason I didn't was-"

"Dale," Daryl guessed, and Jupiter nodded, looking down at the ground again, waiting for Daryl to pull away from her, or yell at her for thinking about killing someone, but as per usual, he remained silent, which was almost worse. After a moment though, he dropped her hands and reached for her face, tilting her head back so she had to look at him. She did so, seeing that he was staring at her with an intensity that made her stomach churn. She tried to look away, put he didn't let her. "Hey." She forced herself to look at him, and he moved his hand to the side of her neck. "You were trying to keep the group safe. I ain't ever gonna hate you for that. Not ever," he whispered as he pulled her into a hug, and she sighed in relief and disbelief as she put her arms around him.

They stayed that way for a few long seconds, but then Daryl spoke again and released her. "I take it you changed your mind?" He asked, and Jupiter nodded.

"Yeah. With Dale gone, I'd only be weakening the group if I killed Shane, as Rick'd make me leave too... I mean I'd deserve it, but the group needs it's numbers, and if I killed Shane, it would lose three..."

"Four," Daryl corrected, his hands tightening on Jupiter, and she realised what he meant. Her heart swelled some, knowing that he would come with her if she was banished, even if it would never happen now. It was still heart warming to know he had her back no matter what.

Moving forward she kissed him again, this time slower and lightly, interrupted by Rick when he came in search of Daryl, needing to finish planning. The two of them separated, and Rick apologised and walked away again, but Daryl just smiled and gave Jupiter another quick peck on the lips before heading after Rick.

Jupiter watched him go, a smile on her face as she waved him off. "I'll see you in a few hours," She called, and he nodded before turning the corner. When he was out of sight, Jupiter continued smiling, but then realised she had nothing to do until Daryl and Rick got back as everything was done. Making sure she had her knife, she decided to go for a walk in the woods to kill some time and probably walkers.

She'd made it a few miles when she was surprised to hear human voices ahead. Knowing better than to be seen, she ducked down and peered around the tree in front of her, unbelieving of what she saw. Shane and Randall, walking together away from the farm. Rick and Daryl were supposed to be taking Randall far away, so what the hell was Shane doing? Her answer became apparent a moment later when Shane moved quickly behind the bound guy, wrapping his arms around his neck and giving a huge jerk, breaking his neck.

Jupiter couldn't help it as she gasped and shot to her feet, needing to do something. Only it was too late, and now Shane had saw her. He quickly got off the ground and took a step towards her, his dark eyes watching her for any hint of what she was going to do. She debated running, knowing how deadly his aim was though, she didn't want to risk it. So instead she moved closer, her hand on her knife, casually unclipping the strap that made sure it didn't fall out, making it easier for her to grab it quickly if she needed to.

"What are you doing?" She asked, and Shane held his hands up, his eyes wide.

"He got loose. I chased him and tried to catch him, but he came at me... I had to kill him, it was self defence..." He was such a good liar that Jupiter might have been tempted to believe him if it hadn't been for the fact that she'd just seen him attack Randall from behind, while the other guy was completely unaware.

She said nothing though until she was right in front of him, her hand still resting on her knife handle.

"Bullshit," she said at last, watching as the innocent look faded from Shane's face and was replaced with a crazy smile, and he lowered his hands slowly.

"Well, well. Jupiter finally got up the nerve to confront me? All alone I see? Now for a smart girl like you, that was a real dumb move," he taunted, reaching for his gun, but then Jupiter's knife was in her hand and she was pointing it at Shane.

"Showing your hand so soon? You know for such a shit hot cop, that was a real rookie move," she mocked, and Shane's eyes glinted with humour, despite the fact she had a hunting knife pointed at him, and she was more than ready to use it on him. His hand had froze, and she took advantage of her weapon to step closer to him. "Try anything and I will stab you in the face," she threatened as she reached for the front of his pants for his gun. Her eyes never left his, and she grabbed the gun and threw it to the side, leaving her with the only weapon. "Get on your knees," she gestured with her knife, and Shane nodded and slowly sank down.

Faster than she thought possible, his hands reached for her, smacking the knife from her hand and meaning to grab her, but her reactions let her move away in time, even if she had lost the knife.

Now that it was more of an even fight, Jupiter knew she would have to act quickly and get Shane down as fast as she could. He wasn't playing around, and she knew that if he got the chance, he would kill her. So as he came at her, she ducked aside, grabbing his arm and helping him -face first- into the tree behind her. He hit it hard, and for a second she thought he was going down, but then he turned to her with a mouth full of blood, and a broken nose, and the same menacing grin from before.

"That all you got?!" He roared as he came at her again, this time knowing how fast she was and managing to graze the side of her head with a punch that would have knocked her out if she hadn't turned her head in time. It just dazed her for a couple of seconds, but that was enough and Shane punched her again, knocking her to the ground, where she fought to stay conscious. She felt Shane doing something to her hands, and when she looked down, she saw that he had tied her hands up in front of her.

"What, no clever remarks now?" He spat as he leant over her, straightening to kick her in the side, hard enough that she wondered if her still healing ribs were going to puncture her lungs. She curled up on the ground, taking another two kicks off Shane before he grabbed her roughly by the hair and pulled her up. She screamed and grabbed his hand, struggling to get her feet under her as her scalp screamed in pain. He dragged her up so her back was to a tree and then threw her down hard enough that she cried out against her will.

He pulled her into a sitting position and smirked in her face. Before he could say anything though, she spat in his face and snarled at him. "Daryl is going to kill you!" And he would. Jupiter could be sure of that as she held her head high and stared her death in the face. He would track them into the woods and when he found them, he would know what happened. "He's gonna put a bolt in your head," she bit, but Shane just looked amused.

"Wait, you and the hunter? That just makes this all the sweeter! That prick has been getting under my skin since the moment he first opened his smart mouth back in our first camp! Watching him suffer is going to be great!" He smirked, his breath washing over Jupiter's face, reeking of blood and making her want to gag. "But you know what? I don't think your precious boyfriend is gonna kill me. Because I'm gonna tell him that Randall did it. That he came at me first, and then took you... By the time they find you, you'll already be walker fodder," he gloated.

Jupiter didn't point out the fact that Daryl already didn't trust Shane, and he'd never believe the two of them had been alone together when something conveniently happened to her. Daryl would never fall for it, and even if she was going to die, Jupiter just hoped that Daryl killed him before he could hurt anyone else. So she said nothing, and just glared at Shane, channelling all the hatred and defiance she could as she waited for him to finally do it.

He retrieved his gun, but when he came back to her, he had tucked it into his pants again, and she frowned.

"Aren't you going to shoot me?" She demanded, but Shane just laughed and shook his head before kneeling in front of her again.

"Of course not. Walkers prefer live bait," he smirked, and before she could say anything, pulled his fist back and punched her in the face, rendering her unconscious before she even hit the ground.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Daryl knew something was up as soon as Shane came running back towards the barn, his face bloody and screaming about getting jumped by the kid, who had then stole his gun. Something didn't add up about it, but he managed to keep his mouth shut until Shane was leading them back into the woods to where he'd apparently seen the kid run off to.

Of course there were no tracks, and Daryl frowned as he listened to Shane explain what had happened to Daryl, Glenn and Rick. He wanted them to believe that an injured guy who probably weighed the same as Jupiter managed to get the jump on him? Speaking of Jupiter...

"Hey, anyone seen Jupiter at all? She was with me, but I haven't seen her in a while and she wasn't at the house..."

The others shook their heads, but something about the look Shane gave him made him want to punch his teeth down his throat.

"I saw her head into the woods a few minutes before the kid jumped me," he confessed, and Daryl's heart stopped for a second. If Shane was telling the truth, then Randall could have Jupiter and be dragging her back to his camp.

"We've got to find her," he started, speaking to Rick, who nodded, asking him if he could track them, but Daryl shook his head. "There ain't no tracks here..."

Shane jumped in, shaking his head. "Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way. We need to pair up. We spread out, we just chase him down. That's it."

Suddenly Daryl couldn't bite his tongue any more and whirled on Shane. "Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?" He snarled, and Shane narrowed his eyes, spouting some bullshit about a rock evening the odds, but before Daryl could say anything else, Rick told them to shut up and split into two pairs to find Randall and Jupiter.

Deciding not to waste any more time with arguing, Daryl growled and led Glenn along the opposite flank to Rick and Shane, praying they found them before it got dark, which it would be doing very soon.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Jupiter woke, it was dark out, and she was alone, her hands bound still and her whole face aching from where Shane had hit her, but she was alive, and hadn't been found by any walkers yet, which was obviously great news. She just had to get back to the farm and expose Shane to the others for what he'd done to her and for killing Randall.

Speaking of... She looked around the tree she was laying in front of, expecting to see Randall where Shane had left him, only... He wasn't there. She blinked a few times, wondering what the hell was going on. Why would Shane bother moving Randall after dragging him out there and killing him there? Maybe he hadn't killed Randall, and he'd woken up and ran off? Stranger things had happened.

Deciding to put it out of her mind for a little while, Jupiter sat up and tried to get out of the ropes that held her hands together, not liking the thought of attempting to get back to the farm with her hands tied and with no weapon. But the ropes wouldn't move, and after a few moments of struggling, her wrists were raw and bloody, almost too sore to move. She knew she'd have to soon though. It was lucky no walkers had found her yet, and he luck was unlikely to hold, so she carefully got to her feet and took a step forward, looking down when her foot touched something.

She wanted to scream when she realised Shane hadn't took her knife, and it had been a few feet in front of her all along, and she'd cut up her wrists for nothing. Still, she had to get her wrists free so she could run back to the farm and warn the others about Shane...

A noise came from somewhere in front of her, and Jupiter froze, unable to see anything in the dark woods. It could be a walker or Shane, but either way she didn't want to stick around, so she grabbed her knife and carefully started moving away from the noise, making it so far before she just turned and ran, trying to keep the direction she knew the farm was in, on her right.

After a few minutes of stumbling around in the dark, she stopped and used the knife to cut her hands free before standing up. Just then she heard shots and dropped again, her first instinct to get out of the way, but then she realised that they had come from far off and couldn't possibly be meant for her. But then came the realisation, and she dropped to her knees, knowing that Shane had just likely killed one of her friends.

All she could think about was how smug she'd been earlier, when she thought about how Daryl wouldn't fall for Shane's bullshit, but not once had she considered that Shane might draw faster, and kill Daryl before he could shoot him. Daryl might be laying somewhere dying right now, and Jupiter was safe in the woods... That was the thought that infuriated her more than anything, though it would have had a similar effect if she thought of any of her other friends laying bleeding somewhere because she failed to stop Shane. So she got back to her feet and started jogging through the woods towards the gunshot she'd heard. Before she even reached the first gunshot sight, loads more suddenly joined in, back towards the farm.

"Oh no. Please no!" She begged as she started running back towards the farm, her mind going to Randall's group, thinking they'd found the farm.

She ran faster than she ever had, seeing the light up ahead before she heard the groans. She stopped dead in her tracks and ducked down, approaching the tree line very carefully and quietly, seeing that the barn was on fire and hundreds of walkers had swarmed the farm. Jupiter had no idea where the hell they'd came from, but she now understood why she had been hearing so many shots.

A couple hundred meters from where she stood, Jupiter watched as her friends shot at walkers from their cars as they'd clearly been doing for a while now, taking down any that got too close to the house. Jupiter could see it was a wasted effort as there was just too many walkers, and no where near enough ammo. The farm was lost as they had to get the hell out of there.

Clearly whoever was driving the cars had the same idea as soon after, everyone started leaving the farm. At first Jupiter was happy to see her friends escaping with their lives, but then she realised that she was alone, with only a hunting knife to protect herself with, and too many walkers between her and the nearest car. No one knew she was there, so no one was saving her.

She didn't know what to do, but she knew she couldn't hang around there all night. The sun would be rising soon, and the walkers would be able to see her and she'd have no where to go. Right on cue, a walker noticed her and came stumbling towards her, so she quickly killed it with her knife and then decided what she would do.

It was a fair few miles, but she was fast and she was fit. She just had to keep running, and maybe she'd make it out of the woods with her life.

Casting one final look back at the over run farm, she turned and ran.

She ran for what was left of the night, slowing to catch her breath on occasion, but never stopping, and when the sun came up, she recognised where she was and knew there was only a mile or so between her and the highway where they'd left supplies for Sophia.

Her lungs were screaming for air, and tears were streaming from her right eye, which was blackened and swollen thanks to Shane, but she didn't dare stop, knowing that if the survivors of the farm had been her group, they'd have gone back to the highway to regroup, but as they didn't know if she was alive or not, they might not hang around for long, especially as there were so many walkers about. Jupiter had been lucky on her escape and had only had to kill three since the farm.

She had just reached the creek where Rick had first lost Sophia when she slowed to a walk, no longer able to keep running. She was exhausted and in pain, but she didn't allow herself to stop completely, and kept walking, her hand on her side, trying to get rid of the stitch that had developed there. If she stopped, she knew she'd fall asleep and not move for hours, so she kept going, eventually hearing the sound of voices and allowing herself to smile.

"Did anyone see Jupiter?" She heard Daryl call, and she smiled as she slowly started climbing the bank up to the highway. No one answered Daryl, and she heard him swear and then announce that he was going back to look for her, only to be told no by Rick, saying it was too risky. She could almost see Daryl stick his neck out at Rick when he snarled. "I can't just leave her there!"

Now she really could see them, but no one had noticed her yet, so when Rick opened his mouth to reply, Jupiter stepped over the barrier and called out. "Leave who where? I've been waiting for you losers to arrive for ages!" She tried for a joke and the others turned to her, disbelief and smiles lighting up their faces. Daryl was the first to move, pushing past Rick and running towards her, wrapping his arms around her and picking her up off her feet. She choked on a laugh, feeling her bruised side complain at how tight her held her, and he quickly let go, onto to take her face between his hands and ask what happened.

"Shane," she explained, and Daryl's face darkened, as did everyone elses on the highway as they heard her answer, seeing the bruises and cuts on her face and the way she held her side. Daryl swore loudly and turned away while he tried to get a grip on his anger.

"That son of a bitch! He's lucky he's dead already!" He snarled and Jupiter frowned. Shane was dead? How had that happened?

From the look on Rick's face, she had her suspicions, but would hold off on questioning him until later, though Lori wanted to question Jupiter right now, about what Shane had done. Gathering her breath, Jupiter explained everything, from the first time she'd seen Shane point a gun at Rick's head, to the last time she'd seen him, when he knocked her out.

Daryl stood by her side for the entirety of the story, his arms crossed while he chewed on his thumb nail and looking ready to murder someone. When she was finally done, the others sat in silence for a moment before Lori walked towards her with a stunned look on her face, and before Jupiter could say anything, she hugged her, thanking her for everything she did to protect Rick and the group. Jupiter just patted her back, not believing she was that deserving of her praise as she'd only done what anyone else would have.

When Lori let her go, Jupiter smiled and then turned back to Daryl, seeing that he had stopped chewing his nails and was now watching her with no small amount of pride and need in his eyes, carefully guarded, but she knew him well enough to read him. The fact that she also needed him right then probably also had something to do with it, so when he gave her a tiny smile, she smirked and grabbed the front of his jacket, pulling him to her and kissing him like they'd never see tomorrow. In that world? Maybe they wouldn't.

Despite the horrors they'd all witnessed that day, the others still managed to laugh and cheer as the two of them kissed, only embarrassing them both enough that they pulled apart. Not too far mind, and the two of them didn't stray from each other's sides for ages, even when the group decided to move on. Even though she was exhausted, Jupiter still climbed on the back of Daryl's bike and put her arms around him, kissing his neck before she sat down and lifted her feet.

Then they were going, everyone piling into the cars and Daryl leading the way out, heading nowhere in particular, just away from the walkers. They drove for a few hours, Jupiter barely staying consciou on the back of Daryl's bike, just drifting off when one of the cars beeped it's horn and she jumped as Daryl pulled over to the side of the road. They both stood up and turned around to see the cars behind them doing the same. Everyone jumped out and so Daryl and Jupiter climbed off, Daryl grabbing his Crossbow as he addressed Rick. "You out?" He asked, and Rick nodded.

"Running on fumes."

Jupiter rubbed her arms and danced from foot to foot, trying to warm up some as she was freezing. Apparently not the only one as Carl complained a moment later and Rick gave him his jacket to wear. Jupiter wished they had the RV so they could all wrap up in the blankets, but it was back at the farm, filled with walkers. Turns out she didn't need it anyway as Daryl saw her shivering and stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her as he held her close, using his own body heat to warm her up. She pulled her hoodie sleeves down to cover her fingers from the cold that nipped at them, and held onto him too, slowly feeling herself warm up.

She was warm enough to begin to fall asleep standing up, still half listening to the conversation, but not bothered by anything until Rick finally said something that had her eyes flying open.

"We're all infected."

Wait, what?

Rick explained about the CDC and what Jenner had told him, and then the group had time to process it that night, camping out in a old structure by the dam. Daryl wouldn't let Jupiter out of his sight, and eventually she passed out from exhaustion, curled up with her back against his chest. Normally Daryl would have stayed up to keep watch, but they were all tired, and he fell asleep soon after Jupiter, his arms around Jupiter and not moving until he woke up. He'd failed to keep her safe from Shane, but never again. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her ever again, and he'd protect her from anything that threatened her safety, be it walker or human. He was not going to lose her like everyone else he'd loved before. She was his.