The Place That Remains

Delaney stood with her back to the house, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked out across the field. The sun just risen when Daryl and T-Dog got to work digging a hole next to the other graves that had previously been dug. It had already been over twelve hours, but she hadn't slept a wink since Dale died. She felt guilty for having left him out there alone while she went back to the safety of the camp.

"Hey," someone called from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Daryl walking toward her. He stopped when he reached her but she had already turned her attention back to the trees in the distance. "We're 'bout to bury Dale."

She nodded her head gently and she could feel his eyes boring into the side of her face, but she didn't look at him. He was waiting for an explanation. "I was out there with him. We were talking about Randall. He was supposed to be right behind me. He said he'd be up in a minute. He wasn't supposed to-" She let out a shaky breath, thick teardrops forming in her eyes. "I should've stayed out there with him. Maybe I could've....stopped it before it did so much damage."

"Or it coulda been you we hadda put down," Daryl countered gruffly. "You couldn't 'a done anything." She glanced over at him with glossy eyes and he stared right back, squinting at the sun behind her.

Delaney shook her head, looking back down at her boots. "Doesn't make me feel any less guilty." She turned on her heel and walked back down to where the others were beginning to congregate, leaving Daryl standing by the field.

Dale's body had already been buried by the time she reached them and someone had arranged some rocks all the way around the grave, with a vase of flowers at the top serving as a headstone. Once Daryl joined everyone, Rick began.

He spoke about Dale while the rest of the group crowded around where he had been buried next to the grabes of Sophia, Annette, and Shawn. Delaney stood between Carol and Rick silently as she stared at the fresh dirt. Carol took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly but Delaney couldn't even acknowledge her.

Daryl stood by himself a few feet away from the group, his crossbow slung over his shoulder as always. He found himself constantly glancing over at the woman where she stood with her head down, visibly upset. She had already confessed to him that she felt guilty about Dale's death and the fact that she felt like she could have prevented it. He'd tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault though not in so many words but it was apparent that she hadn't taken his words to heart. She quickly brushed her hand across her cheeks, hoping that no one noticed, but he had.

She stayed there until everyone else had left before she finally mumbled her apology to the ground and followed her uncle back to the house. He was sitting in the living room with Patricia, Beth, and Maggie when she walked inside the house and he motioned for her to join them. "Girls, I want to talk to you about something."

"What is it, Uncle Hershey?" Delaney asked, sliding into the empty chair next to Beth.

"I've made a decision about the group, but I want your input. All of you," he added, looking pointedly at his neice.

Maggie froze as she glanced between Delaney and her father. She was obviously worried that Hershel was going to send the group away and she prayed to herself that that wasn't what he had decided.

"I think the group should stay. And I think we should share the house. What do you all think?"

Delaney gave her uncle a little smile. "I think that's a great idea. The more people we have, the better. This place is already a high risk and it's only going to get worse. We need more people around to help protect us."

Patricia nodded her agreement while Beth reached out to place her hand on his arm. "That'd be really nice, Dad."

Maggie just jumped up from her chair and threw her arms around her father's neck, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Daddy. I love you."

He chuckled as he patted her back. "I love you girls too." Once Maggie had released him from her death grip, he stood up from his chair. "Well, should we go and tell them the good news?"

Beth, Maggie, and Delaney followed Hershel outside to the camp where Rick, Daryl, and Shane were standing by Daryl's old blue pickup truck. The rest of the group were going about their business, doing things around camp. "Rick, I need to talk to you," Hershel announced as he came to a stop in front of the former sheriff.

It was obvious by the look on Rick's face that he was expecting the worst. "What is it, Hershel?" he asked warily.

"The family and I have talked and we made a decision about your group." Delaney glanced over at Daryl where he had frozen to listen to the conversation. "We'd like you to stay."

"Really?" Rick asked surprised.

Hershel nodded his head while Maggie just grinned at Glenn where he had come up to the other side of the truck. "And we're also extending an invitation to share the house."

"Gonna be tight, fourteen people in one house," Rick said unsurely.

"Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening and the creek drying up-"

"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringin' a damn dinner bell," Maggie finished.

"She's right," he nodded. "We should've moved you in awhile ago."

Rick immediately agreed and he started to formulate a plan of action. Everyone scattered in different directions as he gave commands. Delaney went over to help Carol pack up some of their things and load them into the back of the truck so it could be driven up to the house and unloaded.

After they had finished, Delaney went the front porch where Jimmy and Beth were boarding up the windows. She grabbed some pieces of wood and the extra hammer that was sitting on the railing and went to work herself, hammering up piece by piece until the window was covered. Having so many windows used to be ideal and Delaney could remember pulling up a chair just to sit and look outside during one of those crazy thunderstorms or a quiet summer night when all the fireflies were out flying. Now those same windows were a hazard if a walker came around.

Beth began to look worn out and as time went on, the slower she worked. Delaney walked over to her and took the hammer from her hands. She tried to protest, insisting that she needed to help, but Delaney just shook her head. "Jimmy and I can finish up. you need to go in and get some rest." After her whole ordeal a few days ago, she wasn't completely back to normal and Delaney didn't want her to exert herself too much. With some urging from Jimmy as well, Beth finally resigned and went into the house to get some water and rest.

Delaney helped Jimmy finish boarding up all the downstairs windows before they finally went back into the house. Beth and Hershel were sitting in the living room with a stack of photo albums on the floor in front of them and one big one spread open in their laps. "What are you guys doing?" she asked, flopping down in the chair across from them.

"Just lookin' at some old family pictures," Beth told her. "Wanna see?" Delaney smiled as she reached forward to take the photo album that Beth had given her. "Those are all you and your family."

Delaney opened the album and began looking at the pictures inside. The first picture was her sitting on the front porch of Hershel's farmhouse when she was just a toddler. There was a picture of her at Christmas dinner with a three year old Maggie and one of her as a preteen holding a newborn Beth. As she flipped through the pages, she came across one of her as a teenager with her mom and brother. It had been taken only a few months after her father died, which probably contributed to the huge smiles on all their faces. "Hey, Uncle Hershey, can I keep this one?"

She showed him the picture she was referring to and he smiled. "Of course. You can have whichever ones you want."

Hershel and Beth both eventually got up to do other things but Delaney was so enraptured in the pictures. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned her head to look just as Andrea sat down on the sofa next to her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Old family photo albums."

"Who's that?" Andrea asked, pointing to one of the pictures on the page.

Delaney smiled as she ran her fingers over it. "That's my mom and Hershel when they were younger."

"Oh my God," Andrea laughed. "What about that one?"

"Me, Maggie, and my brother."

Delaney spent the next hour telling Andrea about each of the pictures in the album. Toward the end, there were even pictures of her and Jake on their wedding day, on vacation in Hawaii, and at Christmas. She removed the photo of them at their wedding and put it with the picture that she'd taken out earlier. The last picture in the album was Delaney standing in front of a small store with her arms in the air and a big smile on her face.

"What's that?"

"My cafe," she answered quietly. "Jake and I just opened it last year." The cafe had been their baby. They had started from scratch, with just an empty building and an idea. Delaney had been the one with the vision for the place and when it opened, she was so happy. Jake had been so proud of her on opening day when everything all came together.

Andrea picked up on the sadness in her tone and the look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said, placing her hand on Delaney's arm. "I know how hard it is to lose the people you love." Delaney nodded softly, remembering someone telling her that Andrea had just lost her younger sister right before they came onto the farm. "But you're lucky to have these. I wish I had pictures."

"I''m sorry about your sister, Andrea. And Dale. I know you were close to him."

Andrea just gave her a small smile and picked up the next photo album, handing it to Delaney. The two women had never gotten along with each other very well ever since they met, but now they were becoming close. Delaney would tell a story about her family with each photo, and then Andrea would tell one about her own family.

They were finally getting along.