The two of them made it-very slowly- out of the water and back to where they'd found Sophia's doll. Before they could even think about trying to get out of there, they had to deal with their injuries, so Daryl cut off the sleeves of his shirt and tied them around his middle, leaving the arrow in. Jupiter watched him, holding her own top shirt against her head, trying to stop the bleeding while breathing carefully, trying to ignore the pain in her chest.

It wasn't going well, but she hadn't passed out again yet, so she was trying to focus on that, and making sure she stayed conscious so she and Daryl could get out of there alive. First thing first though. Daryl was done binding his wound, so Jupiter called out to him as loud as she could, and when he looked up, she pulled a face, knowing that what she was about to ask was gonna hurt like hell, but she couldn't do it herself.

Holding up her hand, she showed him the broken finger and breathed out quickly, regretting it as pain exploded in her chest. "I can't set it myself," she gasped, looking at Daryl through watering eyes.

He knew what she was asking, and why, but he didn't look happy about it. Jupiter wasn't best impressed either, but they both knew it had to be done if they stood a chance of managing to climb out of the ravine. She moved closer to Daryl, and he took her shaking hand in his calloused ones and shook his head. "I'm sorry," was the only thing he said before he quickly jerked her finger back into place and she had to bite back a scream, made only worse when her ribs flared up again.

She yanked her hand back and tried to calm her rapid breathing, knowing each breath was hurting more and more. She had to calm down. After a few more moments she had managed to do so, and looked up at Daryl once more, finding him watching her still.

"Thanks," she gasped, looking down at the bolt in his side again before meeting his gaze. "We need to get the hell out of here."

Right on cue, the bushes around them started rustling and the two of them stood up and looked to the source of the sound. Nothing had appeared just yet, and it might only be an animal, but neither of them was willing to take the risk. Daryl reached for his crossbow, only then realising that he'd lost it somewhere, probably in the water. While he went in search of it, Jupiter stayed where she was, her knife drawn and praying nothing was going to come out of the bush that wanted to eat them.

Still nothing had came by the time Daryl returned with his crossbow, so the two of them shared a look and then looked up at the climb ahead of them. Jupiter wanted to cry, knowing that the climb would be difficult at full strength, but neither of them were, and every inch of the climb was going to hurt like a motherfucker. Knowing they had no other choice, they approached the bottom and started to climb.

Usually her pride would have stopped her from making any sort of noise to show she was in pain, but today she just didn't care, and every move was accompanied by a grunt from her. Not that Daryl was any different. Neither of them were in any shape to be climbing. Even if that wasn't the case though, she wouldn't have cared about looking weak in front of Daryl. He was her friend, and she knew he wouldn't give a damn anyway. He knew she could hold her own and wasn't going to think any less of her for being injured.

Their progress was slow, and it took them half an hour to reach half way, at which point both of them had to stop for a breather. Daryl looked down and then back up, seemingly cheered up by the fact they were half way up, but Jupiter was the opposite, and wasn't sure she had another half hour left in her. Her ribs were excruciatingly painful, and the hard exercise she was doing was making her breathe faster, which was a never ending cycle.

She heard Daryl tell himself to stop being a pussy, so she took his advice too and started climbing again, determined to make it to the top so she could lie down for a bit before they had to hike back through the woods and to the farm. The journey which wasn't exactly making her jump for joy. Though at least it was flat and she wouldn't have to do any more god damn climbing.

She was a little ahead of Daryl so didn't see that he was falling until he swore, and she turned back as his feet started to slide from under him. Acting on instinct, she reached for him, holding onto a sapling with her other hand, and Daryl grabbed her, his hand holding hers tightly.

Neither of them could even register that he was safe before Jupiter cried out, Daryl's weight on her arm pulling into her chest and ribs, feeling like her chest was being torn in half. She couldn't let go of him though, she wouldn't let him fall. So she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain and held on tight, feeling him scramble for something to hold so he could let her go. He couldn't move fast enough, and her hand slipped from her own handhold, sending them both back into the ravine.

This time when Jupiter hit the ground, she didn't blackout from the pain and felt the full force of it, the scream escaping her lips before she could stop it.

She didn't know how long she lay there, fighting to stay conscious, Daryl unconscious or dead beside her, but she couldn't move to find out. She could feel herself slipping away when Daryl spoke, and she felt the ghost of a relieved smile cross her face. He was alive. His voice was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness again.

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Jupiter... Jupe... Get up. Jupe!"

She opened her eyes slowly, feeling like she was late for school or something, but when she opened her eyes, Daryl was leaning over her, not her mother, and she was laying on the bottom of a ravine, not her bedroom from years ago. Daryl's mouth was bloody, and for a second she thought he might be a walker, but then he spoke again and she snapped back to reality.

"We gotta go," Daryl stated when he saw that her eyes were open, offering her a hand up, which she accepted after a second, thankful that he let her up slowly, sparing her any additional pain. If her ribs hadn't been broken before, they were now... On the brightside however, Daryl's crossbow bolt was no longer in his side, and was instead loaded in his crossbow. She realised why after a second, seeing the two dead walker bodies on the ground.

"Shit! What happened?!"

Daryl explained about waking up to a walker trying to chew through his shoe and how he fought them off, pulling the bolt from his side to get the other one. Jupiter had to admire his strength at being able to pull a bolt from his own body and then fire it at a walker seconds later. Though it might not have been that smart.

"Let me see," she demanded, moving closer to look at the wound on his side and pulling a face at it. "At least it'll be easier to bind now," she sighed, her breath catching at the pain it caused her. "I need your shirt."

He gave it to her and she started to bind his wound properly, trying to ignore the pounding headache that made her want to be sick, and instead asked Daryl to distract them both somehow. He was silent for a moment, but then decided to ask her questions again. She decided not to even ask about the blood on his face and the walker ears worn around his neck.

"Don't take this the wrong way... But are you even gonna explain how you know so much about fixing people up?" He asked, flinching a little as she pulled the strip around him tight.

Jupiter said nothing for a few seconds, just focusing on her work and weighing up her options about telling him. Eventually the guilt won out and she sighed, her hands stilling as she looked up at him and explained.

"When you guys found me, I was on the run, trying to get as far away from Atlanta as I could, because I got taken by some bad people... I told you that much..." She took a deep breath and cried out, feeling like she'd been stabbed in the lung. Remembering the first two months she'd spent in Atlanta, scared and alone, unable to look for her friend, and no way of knowing if everyone she cared about was dead, she got angry but used it to force herself to keep talking. "Well they took me to a hospital... It was still kind of running... But it wasn't as good as they made out. They brought you in and then forced you to work for them to work off your debt that they kept adding to. Mainly it was just helping out the doctor with healing patients that the officers brought in after -most of the time- causing the injuries in the first place. Everyone had to earn their keep, even if they didn't want to be there. Like I said, most of the time it was working with the doctor... But there was this one guy, Officer Gorman, who always wanted a different form of payment from the female residents..." Her words were getting harder and harder to say, but Daryl put his hand on her shoulder, cautiously, remembering how she'd reacted last time, and met her gaze.

"You don't need to tell me. I'm sorry for asking again," he said quietly, his blue eyes full of mixed emotions. But Jupiter just shook her head and gave him a pathetic attempt at a smile.

"It's all right," No it wasn't. "I got out... I survived, and I'm not afraid of him anymore..." Another lie, but it was better than owning up to the reality that she regularly woke up covered in sweat after having another nightmare about her close encounter with him. She was one of the lucky ones, and had only had a few minor encounters with Gorman. She was a fighter, and that was what he liked. At least until the day she escaped, unleashing the anger and hatred she had been harbouring for him for the two months she'd been held prisoner. She smashed his face into a wall and injected him with something she'd found on a work table, hoping it'd kill him, but she didn't stick around to find out. She'd ran and actually made it out, not stopping running until Rick's group found her.

Her ribs were hurting too much to speak any more, but Daryl didn't ask her any more questions anyway, so she finished binding his wound and then stood up slowly. Daryl joined her, his crossbow in hand as they both looked up at the climb they had to make again.

"Race you to the top?" Jupiter joked, and Daryl even managed a small grin as they set off once more. They'd been climbing for around five minutes when Daryl's foot slipped again, but he managed to catch himself this time, much to the relief of Jupiter who glared at her friend. "Daryl, I swear to christ if you fall down again, you are carrying me to the top!" She threatened.

Daryl didn't fall again, and neither did she, though they were both delirious with pain by the time they got to the very top, Daryl even talking to himself and looking ready to fight his imaginary friend. Jupiter was too exhausted to care, and lay on the ground panting, holding onto her ribs.

After a few minutes Daryl seemed to return to a lucid state and told her that they should move, so Jupiter got to her feet and followed Daryl back through the woods. If she was being completely honest, she was so out of it because of the pain that she didn't even know how she made it back to the farm alive, even if she was following Daryl. Yet they made it, and soon enough they were walking onto the fields of Hershel's land.

Daryl was a few steps ahead of her, but she had to stop for a moment, under the cover of trees as she caught her breath, looking up to see others running towards Daryl to help him. It was only when she saw Rick point his gun that she drew in a breath to yell stop, but then Rick put it down as Daryl said something to him. Jupiter relaxed.

Too soon.

There was a shot and then Daryl collapsed to the floor, the others screaming no at whoever had fired the shot. Jupiter didn't care about them though and was too busy running towards Daryl and the others, her heart in her throat. Daryl couldn't be dead. Not him... Not now, after everything they'd been through that day. He couldn't be dead.

She reached them in time to see Daryl get hauled to his feet by Rick and Shane, conscious, but barely. The bullet had scraped his skull.

Jupiter fell to her knees in relief, but they were taking him away, and she wanted to follow and make sure he was all right. However, what little strength she had left had been used up running to Daryl, and she couldn't even get to her feet.

Rick saw and handed Daryl off to T-Dog before returning for her, saying nothing as he scooped her into his arms and started following the others back to the farm. Delirious with pain, Jupiter laughed as she thought about her threat to Daryl back in the ravine. "Tell Daryl he owes you a piggy back..." she sighed as she blacked out for the third time that day.