We tried the Center for Disease Control, and found nothing. Jacqui was killed there, and we lost Jim on the way to the CDC. Now, we've decided that we'll try for Fort Benning. Daryl and I lead the caravan that now consists of Dale's RV, Carol's Cherokee, and Merle's motorcycle. Daryl's truck ran out of gas, so he started driving Merle's motorcycle, which is now his since Merle's most likely dead.

We come to an area on a highway that's barricaded by abandoned and overturned cars. Daryl and I circle back around, turning back the way we came. We stop next to Dale's RV, and Dale looks out the window. "See a way through?"

Daryl gestures for him to follow us, and we turn around. We lead the caravan around an overturned tractor and trailer, and through other cars. I look over my shoulder when I hear an engine sputtering, and see steam rising from Dale's RV. We stop, and I follow Daryl to the rest of the group. "Okay, that was dumb," Dale says.

"What was dumb?" I ask.

"I was getting ready to say we were in the middle of nowhere with no hope of getting a new hose."

Daryl walks over to one of the cars, examining whatever he finds. "If you can't find a radiator hose here," Shane says.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we could find," Daryl says.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start," T-Dog says, walking forward with a gas can in one hand and a hose in the other.

"Maybe some food or water," I suggest.

"This is a graveyard," Lori says. "I don't know how I feel about this."

Shane sends us off to gather what we can, and Lori, Carol, Sophia, Carl and I walk away from the RV. Normally, I'd stay close to Daryl, but I trust Dale. I trust him enough that I leave my crossbow on Daryl's motorcycle. Carol picks up a red v-neck t-shirt, and holds it to her chest. Lori looks at her, and Carol gives her a small smile. "Ed never let me wear nice things like this."

"Keep it," I say. "It looks good on you. Red's a good color on you."

Her smile widens at that. I climb up on the roof of a nearby Ford truck and look around. I see Rick aiming his rifle at something, then he turns and runs toward us. I slide off the roof and hit the ground. "Carl, Sophia, Clary, get under the cars," Rick whispers, but his tone says that if he could yell, he would.

I pull Sophia under the truck I was standing on, and Carl hides under the car next to us. Sophia clutches her doll, breathing hard as Rick dives under the car next to Carl. I tap her shoulder, and she looks at me. I use my hand to tell her to breathe slowly, and show her how she needs to slow her breathing. She breathes with me, slow and steady. Walkers stumble past us, walking forward. I know it only takes a few minutes, but it feels like hours. Once they finally pass, Carl looks over at us and smiles. He looks over at Rick hiding under the other car. Sophia and I check each side for walkers, and I don't see any. Sophia gives a surprised and scared gasp when a walker starts growling. I look back over and see a walker laying down on the ground, trying to reach Sophia. We scoot the way I looked, and I come out from under the truck first. I jump over the guard rail and land on my feet, and I yelp in surprise as the ground under me gives way. I tumble down the hill, sticks scratching my face and arms. Sophia crawls under the railing, and slides down the hill. We scramble to our feet as two walkers come down the hill after us.

"C'mon!" I cry, and take off running, pulling the younger girl behind me. She still carries her doll, even though I would have dropped it by now. We keep running, and I can hear the walkers behind us. Sophia trips, and I fall over her. We scramble to our feet again, when something catches Sophia by the waist. I reach for my crossbow, then remember I don't have it. It's probably a good thing, too, or else I would have accidentally killed Rick. Sophia grabs for his gun. "Shoot them!"

"No, no," Rick says. "Those walkers on the road would hear it. Then, there wouldn't be two, there'd be hundreds."

"Rick," I ask, "where's Daryl? Is he okay?"

"I–I don't know. I came after you two right away. Now, come on."

Rick stands, and picks Sophia up. He carries her to a riverbank, and I follow them, glancing over my shoulder for the walkers. Rick sets Sophia down, then jumps in the water. He catches her when she jumps, and I jump into the water after him. We hurry over to a fallen tree, and the roots form a small cage. "You need to do exactly as I say," Rick says, and points to the cluster of roots. "Hide in there. I'll draw them away from you."

"No, don't leave," Sophia says.

"Sophia," I say, looking into her green eyes. "I'll stay with you. Rick will come back for us. Now, c'mon. We don't have time for chit-chat."

I push Sophia into the cluster of roots, and climb in after her. Rick stands back, and I can hear the walkers getting closer. He looks at us. "If I don't make it back, run back to the highway. The way we came, and keep the sun on your left shoulder. Clary, take care of her."

The walkers have found Rick. He splashes water at them. "Come on! You ugly son of a bitch! Come on!"

Rick backs up as one walkers falls into the creek. The walker ignores us, his attention on Rick. He leads the two walkers away, and the forest soon grows quiet. A minute later, I can hear faint rustling. I look at Sophia. "Listen to me," I whisper. "More walkers are coming. I'll draw them away, and you stay here."

I scramble out of the cluster of roots as the rustling gets louder. I glance from the riverbank to Sophia, over and over. "Remember what Rick said, okay? If I don't make it back, go back the way we came and keep the sun on your left shoulder. Stay here, Sophia. I'll be back."

The rustling stops—the walkers have found me. I look up to see three walkers standing at the bank, looking at me like a lion looks at its prey. "My day just keeps getting better and better," I mutter, then splash water at the walkers. "Come on! You ugly bitches! Fresh meat!"

I back up as the first two walkers fall into the creek. I turn and run, taunting the two walkers in the creek. The third one follows on the riverbank. I trip and fall into the water, cursing under my breath. I get back on my feet and keep running. I make it out of the creek, on the side opposite of the walker on dry land, and keep running. I run past a place that had once been a camp, but had since been overrun. Luckily, there aren't any walkers there. I trip over a root, and see a screwdriver. I pick it up as I scramble to my feet, not bothering to wonder how it got there. I run and hide behind a tree, and wait for the walkers. I hear one, and turn. I drive the screwdriver into its eye socket, and push it to the ground. I pull the screwdriver out and stab it in the head again, ignoring all the blood that's spraying on me. I get to my feet again as the second walker appears. I do the same to it as I did to the first, once again ignoring all the blood. I drop the screwdriver, now too bloody to hold, and pick up a rock.

The third walker stumbles into the clearing, and I throw the rock at it. It hit its head, and the walker goes down. I pick up the rock again, and stand over the walker. I slam the rock into the walker's head, crushing its skull on impact. I get back up and hurry back to the creek, to find that Sophia's gone, and Rick's back. "Rick!" I cry, and run to him.

"Clary!" Rick says, and catches me from falling into the creek. He leads the way back to the highway, where there's no sign of Sophia. Daryl runs over to me as soon as I climb over the guard rail. He wraps his arms around me, and we fall to our knees. "Oh, God, Clary!" Daryl says into my hair. "Don't ever do that again, dammit! You scared the shit out of me."

He pulls back and looks at me, and notices that my once white shirt is now covered in blood, and so is my face. My hair is matted with walker blood in the front. My face and arms are covered in scratches from rolling down the hill and tripping when I was running. "Clary, what the hell happened to you?"

"I had to kill three walkers, and I didn't have my crossbow or knife." I glance down at the blood. "It's not mine." Before Carol can say anything, I hastily add, "Or Sophia's."

Rick assembles a group consisting of himself, Daryl, Shane, Glenn and I to go back and look for Sophia. I go get my crossbow and knife, and follow the others to where Sophia and I were hiding. Daryl examines it. "You sure this is the spot?"

"We left her right here," Rick says, and points the way he ran. "I drew the walkers off in that direction."

I point in the opposite direction. "That's the way I drew my three. She was gone by the time we got back. I think I speak for Rick when I say that we figured she took off and ran back to the group."

Rick nods, and points to the way we first came. "I told her to go that way, and keep the sun on her left shoulder."

Daryl walks over and looks at where a trail left by Sophia. I study it with him, and realize Glenn is standing on the trail. Daryl realizes it as well. "Hey, Short Round, you mind standing off to one side? You're mucking up the trail."

Glenn moves. "That is assuming she knows her left from her right," Shane says.

"Shane, she's twelve. She knows her left and right," I say. "She understood us fine."

"Kid's tired and scared. She had her a close call with two walkers, which reminds me, you weren't too scared."

I look up at him. "I don't scare easily. I wanted to get Sophia some place safe, then kill the walkers. Then, Rick showed up."

"Anyway," Shane says, waving off what I said, "you gotta wonder how much of what both of you said stuck."

"Got clear prints right here," I say, pointing to the trail.

"Yeah, she did like you said. She headed back to the highway," Daryl says. "Let's spread out. She couldn't have gotten far."

Shane pulls Daryl up the bank, and I take Glenn's hand. He pulls me up, and I reach back to help Rick up. He takes my hand, and I help him up the slippery bank. "We'll find her. She'll be hiding in a bush somewhere. You and me, we'll be the ones to find her. We're the ones that lost her."

Rick nods and gives me a small smile. I turn and follow Daryl, who's still following the trail. He kneels, studying it. "She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to so was keep going." Daryl looks at me. "Verdict?"

I kneel, studying the trail, and point to my right. "She veered off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asks.

I look up at him. "Something scared her off. Hopefully not, but a walker would be a good bet. Something spooked her for sure, and made her run. The weird thing is, there's no other footprints. There's just her prints. She might have thought she heard a walker, and ran."

"So what do we do?" Shane asks. "All of us press on?"

"No, better if you and Glenn get back to the highway. People are gonna start panicking," Rick says. "You let them know we're on her trail, doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm."

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied. Come on."

I hug my knees to my chest, and close my eyes for a minute. I feel guilty about leaving Sophia by herself, and now she's missing. I open my eyes as Shane turns to go back to the highway, and Glenn follows him. As he walks past, Daryl catches his arm. He pulls him down and whispers something in his ear. Glenn nods, and stands up. He offers me his hand, and I look at Daryl. He nods once, telling me to take Glenn's outstretched hand. I take it, and follow Glenn back to the highway. He climbs over the guard rail, and I start to slide back down the hill, but he grabs my hand and pulls me over the guard rail. I nod my thanks, and walk over to Daryl's motorcycle. Lori follows me over, watching as I dig out a clean t-shirt. "How about I help you get cleaned up?" she asks.

I nod once, and she leads me to the RV, and I keep my eyes down as I walk past Carol. I follow Lori inside, and see blood on the floor. "What happened?" I ask.

"Andrea killed a walker when that... group passed."

"Glenn called it a herd."

"Yeah, I heard him say that. Sit down."

I sit on one of the seats at the table, and Lori kneels in front of me. She opens a bottle of water she took from the refrigerator and pours it onto a cloth. She wipes the cloth on my face and hair until most of the blood is gone. I thank her, and she leaves as I change my shirt. I walk out of the RV and see Carl studying a truck on the other side of the highway. I walk over as he looks in the passenger side window. "What'd you find?" I ask.

"I think I found an arsenal," Carl says, glancing over his shoulder. I look inside, but find that I'm just a bit too short to see. "I think I'm too short to see," I say.

I flinch when I feel hands on my waist, lifting me up. When I realize that it's just Carl, I relax a bit. I glance inside and see a rolled up collection of weapons next to a dead man's corpse. "Thanks, Carl," I say.

"Clary, no," he says, realizing I was referencing Patrick Stump and the "Thanks, Pete" quote. I turn to look at him as he sets me down. "You understood that?"

"Afraid so," Carl replies. We walk around the other side, and he puts his hand on the door latch. Carl opens the door, and the man's hand hangs limply at his side. Carl glances back at me, and I nod. He carefully leans in the truck, reaching for the collection of weapons. He reaches across the dead man, and grabs the arsenal. It doesn't move, and Carl pulls harder. It still doesn't budge, and Carl climbs into the truck. He reaches for the weapons again, grunting as they slowly move. Suddenly, the corpse moves, and Carl and I shriek. He falls backwards out of the truck, and I land on my back, Carl on top of me. The corpse doesn't move again, and I realize it moved because Carl bumped it. Carl looks up at me, and we start laughing as he realizes the same thing. He gets to his feet and reaches down to help me up. I take his hand and he pulls me up. We hurry across the road. "Shane!" Carl calls.

"Carl!" Lori cries, running over. "Clary! What happened?"

"We found something cool." Carl unrolls the arsenal on the ground in front of the light green Hyundai Shane's working on. "Shane, check it out. It's an arsenal."

I kneel next to the arsenal and pull out a long knife curved at the end of the blade, examining it. "That's cool, bud," Shane says without looking up. "Go take 'em to Dale."

Carl pulls out a hatchet. "Check this one out. It's a hatchet."

"Careful, Carl, don't play with those," Lori says.

"This guy knew what was happening," I say. "These are seriously sharp."

"Hey, Clary, that goes for you, too."

I look up at Lori. "I know how to use these, Lori. Daryl taught me."

Lori raises her eyebrows, but before she can say anything, Carl speaks. "Hey, Mom, can I keep one?"

"What did I just say? Are you crazy?"

Carl looks up at his mother. "No way. Mom, I'm fourteen! I think I can be trusted."

"I said no."

"Shane, tell her to let me keep one."

"Go give 'em to Dale. Now. Clary, you can't keep one either."

Carl and I sigh, irritated, and I put the knife back. Carl rolls the arsenal up and takes it to Dale. I follow him, then stop when I hear a radio broadcast. Glenn, Dale, Andrea and I go back to the Hyundai. "What is that?" Glenn asks.

"Is that a local signal?" I ask.

"It's gotta be within fifty miles of here," Dale says.

The broadcast starts to repeat, and Shane turns it off. "Asshole. Okay, let's get back to work."

I turn and walk back to the RV, and take watch. I keep watch until sunset, when I see Daryl and Rick come out of the woods. "They're back," I call, and climb down the ladder.

I walk over to the guard rail, where everyone gathers as Rick climbs over the railing. "You didn't find her?" Carol asks, since Sophia's not with them.

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light," Rick explains.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods."

"Out in the dark's no good," Daryl says. "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people getting lost."

"But she's twelve. She can't be out there alone. You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard," Rick says. "But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there."

"And we tracked her for a while," Daryl adds.

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl and Clary know the woods better than anybody. I've asked Daryl to oversee this, and I want Clary to help him."

Carol looks at Daryl's jeans. "Is that blood?"

"We took down a walker."

"Walker? Oh my God."

"Don't worry, there was no sign it was near Sophia," Daryl says. "We cut the thing open, made sure. Had a woodchuck for lunch."

Carol sits on the guard rail, and Lori quickly joins her. Carol looks from Rick to me, and back again. "How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you leave her?" Carol asks.

"Those two walkers were on us," I say. "Rick drew them off to protect us. Then, three more came, and I couldn't take all of them at once in that creek. I didn't want one of them seeing Sophia hiding, and going after her. I drew them off to protect her. It was her best chance."

"Sounds like they didn't have a choice, Carol," Shane says.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own?" Carol asks. "She's just a child."

"It was our only option," Rick says softly, kneeling in front of Carol. "The only choice we could make."

"I'm sure nobody doubts that," Shane says.

Carol's quiet for a moment, looking at all of us in turn. "My little girl got left in the woods."

Rick walks off as Carol begin to cry. I wrap my arms around her. "I never should have left her alone. It's my fault, and I'm going to find Sophia. And she'll be perfectly fine." I pull back and look at Carol. "I'm going to find her."

I turn and walk away before I can see her reaction. I climb up on top of the Ford truck again and look around. Something taps my ankle, and I shriek and jump back, startled. I trip over my own feet and fall on my back, and end up falling off of the Ford. I get to my feet and look across the truck, a knife in my hand, to find a familiar face with dark eyes, and thick, dark hair hidden under a baseball cap looking at me. "Jesus, Glenn! You scared me! Don't do that again!"

Glenn laughs, and climbs up on the Ford. He reaches down to help me back up. "What happened to—" he imitates my voice, "'—I don't scare easily?'"

I take his hand and climb back up on the Ford. "I don't sound like that, Short Round, and you caught me off guard."

"Yeah, right."

I elbow him in the ribs, shaking my head and grinning. He's such an idiot.

The next day, the group gathers around one of the parked cars. Rick unrolls the arsenal on the hood of the car. "Everybody takes a weapon."

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," Andrea argues. "What about the guns?"

"We've been over that," Shane says. "Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about."

"Say somebody happens to fire at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. Then, it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it."

Glenn examines the long knife with the curved end that I looked at yesterday. "The idea is to take the creek about five miles, then turn around and come back down the other side," Daryl says.

"Chances are she'll be by the creek," I explain. "It's her only landmark. Stay quiet, and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other."

"Everybody assemble your packs," Shane commands.

"Dale," Rick says, turning to face the other man, "keep on those repairs. We've gotta get this RV ready to move."

"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to," Dale assures him. "Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."

I turn and follow Daryl over the guard rail and down the hill. The rest of the group, excluding Dale and T-Dog, follow a minute later. Daryl leads the single file line, and I stay behind Glenn. I keep my eyes peeled for a trail, or anything that would show that Sophia has been here. Daryl holds up his hand, telling us to stop. I look past him and see a green tent in a small clearing. "She could be in there," Shane says.

"Could be a lotta things in there," Daryl says. He starts forward, and Shane and Rick follow him. Daryl holds up his hand, telling them to stop, and pulls out his knife, then continues forward while Shane and Rick stay back. He drops his crossbow outside the tent, and examines it. Rick turns to us. "Carol, Clary."

We hurry forward. "Carol, call out softly. If she's in there, your voice should be the first she hears," Rick softly explains. "Clary, wait a minute, then call out. Your voice was the last one she heard."

We nod. "Sophia, sweetie," Carol softly calls. "Sophia, it's Mommy. Sophia, we're all here."

She looks at me, and nods. I take a small step forward. "Sophia, it's Clary. Are you in there? Come out, we're all out here. Sophia?"

"Sophia, it's Mommy," Carol calls. Rick and Shane walk forward as Daryl slowly unzips the tent. He steps inside, letting the tent flap close behind him. "Daryl?" Carol calls after a minute.

He steps outside, and motions me forward. I meet him, and he holds something out, a small revolver. I look at him, and he nods. I take it, and turn, tucking it under the waistband of my jeans. I cover it using my t-shirt, and Daryl faces the rest of the group. "It ain't her."

"What's in there?" Andrea asks.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out." Daryl swings his crossbow over his shoulder. "Ain't that what he called it?"

It's then that church bells start to ring. We look around, trying to decide where it's coming from. I point one way, and take off running. They follow me, and we come to a large clearing as the bells stop. There's a graveyard, and a large white church. "That can't be it," Shane says. "Got no steeple, no bells."

Rick pushes past me and runs down through the cemetery. I follow him. Shane calls after us. "Rick, Clary!"

Shane, Glenn and Daryl fall into step beside Rick and I as we reach the front of the church. Daryl puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls me behind him as Rick runs up the steps to the door. I stand back as Shane, Glenn and Daryl follow Rick up the steps. Carol and I stand at the base of the steps as Rick opens the door. I look past them, and see three walkers turning to face the door. I pass a machete from Lori to Rick as Shane walks inside. Rick follows him, and Glenn gives Daryl his knife as Daryl gives Glenn his crossbow. The three men bash the walkers's heads in until they can't anymore. Rick walks through the church, opening doors. "Sophia!"

I take Daryl's crossbow from Glenn and walk up the isle. I meet Daryl at the statue of Jesus on the cross, and give him his crossbow back. "Yo, J.C.," Daryl says, looking at the statue. "You taking requests?"

I take Glenn's knife, walk back down the isle, and give the knife back to Glenn. Shane faces Rick and I. "I'm telling you, this is the wrong church. It's got no steeple," he says.

The bells start ringing again, and Glenn and I are the first ones to react. We push past the rest of the group, and run outside, Daryl close on our heels. We run around the side of the church, and I look up. There's a speaker making the ringing. Glenn unplugs it, sighing. "A timer. It's on a timer," I say, and face the rest of the group. "It's on a timer."

Carol looks down. "I'm gonna go back in for a bit."

She turns and walks back inside the church, and most of the group follows her. I walk around the other side of the church, and hug my knees to my chest. I put my head in my hands. "I thought we found her, I thought we found her," I mutter. "I thought we found her."

"Clary?" comes a new voice. I look up to see Carl standing at the corner. I wipe my eyes. "Yeah?"

He kneels in front of me. "You okay?"

"Honestly, no. I left Sophia by herself and she ran off. It's my fault that she's missing."

"Clary, you can't possibly mean that."

"But I do mean it, Carl! I could have stayed quiet, and not walked out into the creek! The walkers could have just walked past, ignored us. But I left Sophia by herself, and she ran. I—" my voice cracks, "—I left Sophia by herself. I left her, and I promised I'd stay with her."

I put my head in my hands again, sobbing, and I feel Carl sit down beside me. After a second, he awkwardly slides his arm around my shoulders, unsure if he should. I lean into him, and he wraps his other arm around me. "It's okay, Clary. We'll find her, don't worry. We'll find her, and she'll be okay."

After a moment, I stop sobbing and pull back. "You really think that?"

"No," Carl says. "I know that."

I smile, and he gets to his feet. Carl holds his hand out, and I take it. We walk back to the front of the church and sit on the steps in silence. After a while, the rest of the group walks out of the church. Rick and Shane stand off to one side, and Carl walks over to Daryl. As they talk, they glance at me. Shane walks back over. "Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back. Daryl, you're in charge. Clary, Rick and I are gonna hang back, search this area another hour just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up, taking my sister with you. You sure?" Daryl asks as I walk over and stand next to Rick.

"We'll catch up to you."

"I want to stay, to," Carl says. "I'm her friend."

Rick's quiet. "Just be careful, okay?" Lori says.

"I will."

Rick offers Lori his gun. "Here, take this. Remember how to use it?"

She shakes her head. "I'm not taking it and leaving you unarmed."

Daryl offers her a gun, one that he must have gotten from the tent. "Here, I got a spare."

Lori takes it, and Andrea sighs, irritated. The group leaves as Carl walks over to us. "Give me a minute?" Rick asks.

Shane nods, and Rick goes inside the church. Carl, Shane and I sit on the steps and wait. After a while, Rick walks out. "Get what you needed?" Shane asks.

"Guess I'll find out," Rick says, walking off. We get up and follow him. Rick and I lead the way through the woods, Shane and Carl behind us. I hear branches snapping, and hold my hand up. The others stop. "Branches," I whisper, barely audible. "Keep your eyes and ears open."

They nod, and we continue. After another minute, I can see a deer in the woods ahead of us. I look at them over my shoulder. "Buck," I whisper in the same quiet tone.

I raise my crossbow to the deer as it wonders into a clearing in front if us. "Clary," Rick whispers.

I look to my right, and see Carl slowly walking past me. I lower my crossbow at he continues. He glances over his shoulder at us, and we smile, urging him on. Carl keeps walking, and softly snaps a branch. The deer looks at him, but doesn't run. Instead, the deer and Carl study each other. The deer lets him continue, and by now they're ten feet away from each other. They're five feet away, and Carl reaches out. Then, a gunshot rings out, and the deer drops to the ground. Carl falls backwards, his eyes closed, a bullet in his torso. I drop my crossbow and cover my mouth with my hands to stifle a scream, but a small one still escapes. "No!" Rick cries.

"Carl!" I cry. Shane, Rick and I run over, kneeling next to him as the blood stain on his shirt grows.