Rick Grimes adjusted the large backpack he was carrying. The weight had started to make him regret packing so much. He looked over his shoulder at the group behind him. Lori's was the first face he saw. She had her head tilted down but he could see her eyes were locked on Carl who was to her right. T-Dog was right behind Lori with a shotgun resting on one shoulder and a duffel bag hanging from the other. Next to T-Dog, Glenn half walked/half jogged to keep pace with everyone. Dale and Shane were on the wings of the smaller group within the group made up by Carol, Sofia, and Andrea. That left Daryl bringing up the rear carrying just a small pack, his crossbow, and extra arrows.

Since leaving the CDC they had made their way west. When the last of the gas dried up they decided to go on foot but stick to back roads. Rick figured there was less traffic so there would be less walkers to deal with. In the two days they had been traveling on foot they had only seen three walkers. Rick had no idea where they were or where they were going. They just kept walking. Tied up in his thoughts he almost didn't hear the twig snap to his left.

"Don't shoot." A muted voice hissed from the trees. Everyone had whatever weapon on hand raised and ready. Rick's eyes tried to search out the source of the voice. But so many days of staring at the same trees and forest floor had taken a toll on his eyesight. "I'm coming out. Don't shoot at me." The voice was definitely male and didn't sound desperate or scared like Rick would expect. Slowly a young man appeared from behind the trees. He was dressed in hunting camouflage overalls and a brown long-sleeved shirt. Rick's eyes honed in on the heavy shot-gun slung over the man's shoulder and the smaller rifle in his hands. As Rick's eyes moved up he could see the man had a beefy muscular build that had seen it's fair share of exercise. Bright blue eyes stared at Rick with an expressionless gaze. Short dark-blond hair topped his head and Rick could tell he had recently cut it from the tan line on his forehead.

Before Rick could open his mouth Shane beat him to it.

"Who are you?" Shane stepped away from Carol and kept his gun raised. The man glanced once at Shane's rifle then looked him in the eyes.

"Name's James, and I ain't bit or nuthin so you can lower that cannon." Shane paled for a second realizing he was the only one with a weapon still raised. He lowered his hands in a jerky motion as if not sure he really wanted to.

"You all by yourself?" Rick asked, suddenly finding his voice.

"Out here, yeah. Saw your group passing by. I was all for letting you pass by but…" He paused and looked away for a second. "My softie sister spoke up for ya. She said bandits wouldn't care much for traveling with kids. So she asked me to invite ya over." He paused again. "And then some in our group recognized you."

"Who?" Shane asked.

"Let's talk on the move. I don't like being out of Casey's sights for too long." He motioned them to follow and started walking briskly.

"So who's Casey?" Rick asked keeping pace with James.

"My sister. She may be a softie but she's got the best shot I've ever seen. We patrol on the roof 24/7. That's how we found the others. The one's who knew you."

"And they are?"

"A guy named Morales and his wife and kids. A few weeks ago we saw them trying to get gas from the cars in the parking lot." James broke off abruptly when the radio on his belt crackled to life.

"I see you." A female said. "Keep your pace." James grabbed the radio and put it to his face.

"You see something else?"

"Just behind you. Don't stop and you'll lead it right to me. Can't get it yet, outta range." Rick and everyone started looking around but James just kept looking ahead.

"You heard her, keep walking. She'll get it before you can find it." Just then it clicked in Rick's head what James had said about being out of his sister's "sights." He had meant gun sights. "Is it just one?" He was talking into the radio again.

"For now. It's probably been following them for a while. I can get it when you get to the highway" A shudder passed through Rick. How long had it been following them? Would it have caught up the next time they stopped for a break? Were there more behind it?

"Her shot." Rick suddenly blurted. "It'll attract more." James shook his head.

"Her rifle has a silencer. Just keep walking." James' confidence assured Rick a little. It wasn't long before Rick heard the unmistakable moan behind him. He almost stopped but James shoved him forward.

Rick saw a break through the trees and beyond it he could see what was left of the highway. The group started jogging until they reached the guard rail. He and James made sure everyone was safely over before crossing the highway. It was then that Rick saw where they were headed. Around him he could see the remnants of a small town. Just on the edge of town and isolated on a small bump of a hill was a Wal Mart super-center. The parking lot alone was bigger than two football fields. There were only ten or so cars scattered around the lot. As they got closer Rick turned and watched the walker behind them stumble up to the guard rail. It stood there looking back at him for a second before it's head exploded.

"Got it." Casey said through the radio. "You're all clear as far as I can see." James smiled but didn't reply.

"How secure is this place?" Shane asked as they cut through the grass on the other side of the highway. Rick wanted to tell him to stop being an ass but he held it in.

"Being smack dab in the middle of tornado alley finally had a few perks." James laughed as he spoke. "All the glass doors have metal tornado-proof doors you can lower in front of them. The other doors are all metal too so it wasn't hard to weld them shut."

"How many people are there?" Rick asked once they got to the parking lot.

"Me and Casey, Morales and his family…" James paused and smiled. "Then there's Sylvie, Casey's best friend. Peter and Tanner are friends I grew up with. Summer was a shift manager here. That's how we found out about the tornado doors. Summer has been friends with Sylvie and Casey for a few years. When all this shit started happening Summer was on an over night shift. The store manager called her and told her to get everyone out and lock down the store. He knew there would be looters. Summer did what he said but not before calling and warning Casey. So we got there before anyone else did. After we had it shut up nice and tight, we spray painted the doors with "don't enter, all dead inside" and not many people have bothered us since."

"If everything is so locked up, how do we get in?" Daryl finally spoke up from the back.

"There are garage doors in the auto department. They are thick enough that a group of walkers couldn't bang em open. We keep a couple of trucks in there with extra supplies in case we need a quick getaway."

James led them around the building's east end where the outdoor garden center was. There was an iron fence surrounding the whole outdoor area as tall as the rest of the building. The one narrow gate leading out had four chains all securely padlocked. Through the narrow slits in the fence Rick could just make out a shadow moving among the plants. He stopped for a second took a second look.

"It's just Summer." James said still walking. "We started planting some vegetables and small fruit trees in the big planting pots. Summer likes it in there."

"Hurry up." Casey's voice was clearer than before now that they were so close. "I'm hungry and it's my lunch break." James looked up towards the roof. Rick followed his gaze and saw a woman waving her arm. Long brown hair whipped around her face in the breeze. "Tell Tanner to get his ass up here." James smirked and saluted her.

Once they were in the garage the door was lowered back down and locked. Rick let his eyes adjust to the darkness around him. The high windows in the garage offered little light. Rick barely had time to take it all in before he saw Morales come at him grinning. As the two shook hands Rick felt like a weight had been lifted off him. He had never felt right after parting ways with this man and his family. Lately he had been doing a lot of things he didn't feel right about.

"Come one, man," Morales said. "Let's get you guys some lunch. Everyone is getting ready to eat." As they walked into the main part of the store they passed a young man with dark hair and a wiry build who introduced himself as Tanner. Rick thought he looked like a troublemaker but he just smiled and nodded. At the front of the store were several smaller stores, a bank branch, a nail and hair boutique, and a small café. It was in the café that everyone was sitting around eating sandwiches.

When they sat down Rick started introducing everyone in his group. Just as he started he saw Casey walk in and make herself a plate. She sat down next to her brother in a booth table. After a very edited account of what happened at the CDC Rick quieted down.

"Damn man, I guess we didn't miss much did we." Morales tried to lighten the mood.

"Didn't find anything in Birmingham?" Rick asked.

"No." He shook his head slowly. "It's a good thing we stuck to the back roads though. We'd have never found this place. When Casey spotted us she yelled down. We might have never known people were even in here." He smiled again.

"And your Casey?" Daryl asked pointing at the woman beside James. Rick took the time to get a good look at her after she nodded at her name. She was very small; only 5'5'' with a slight build. Her long wavy hair covered most of her face but Rick could see she had the same bright blue eyes as her brother. She looked only twenty or so but Rick could tell she was older. He tore his eyes off her as James began introducing the rest of the group.

Sylvie was the woman across from James. She had dark tan skin, and a more curvy shape than Casey. Her hair fell in spiral curls just past her shoulders. Rick got the feeling there was something going on between her and James by the way her brown eyes stayed on him.

The other woman was Summer who was Sylvie's opposite with straight blond hair to her chin and a slender figure. Summer was next to Peter who could well have been her brother with the same shade of blond hair. But where Summer had an elfish shaped face, Peter had broad features and a bigger build. They all seemed so young to Rick. But the group had held together this long so they apparently knew what they were doing. As if reading his thoughts Lori spoke up.

"No disrespect but you all seem kinda young." Lori directed her statement more towards James.

"Well, Casey is actually the oldest." James said. "She's 27. Summer and Sylvie are 26. Me, Tanner, and Peter are 24." Rick was surprised. He was sure James would be the older one.

"Well, technically Duke is the oldest." Casey added.

"Duke?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I forgot about him." James looked over his shoulder and gave a short whistle. A white and tan medium sized dog came out from under the next table wagging his tail. "He's only four years old. But that's like how many dog years? He's Casey's originally but I think he likes me better." James teased. Casey shot back a rebuttal saying Duke slept with her. As Rick watched the two of them banter back and forth he couldn't help but feel… Almost like he was home.