It was a typical Georgian summer day—hot, muggy, and not a single forgiving breeze to be found. Thank god the windows still worked in this hunk of junk. Otherwise, it'd be even more unbearable, if that was even possible. Savannah rested her left elbow on the windowsill of the Ford Explorer she was driving, propping her chin in the palm of her hand. It had been about a month since she and Sadie, the little ragamuffin passed out in the passenger seat, had begun circling Atlanta. They had spent their time scavenging what they could and looking for a safe place to hole up. So far, no luck. Just the open road and the horribly muggy heat.

"Pretty sure hell is cooler than this fuckin' place," Savannah mumbled, brushing a couple of strands of hair out of her face. "Why couldn't the world go to crap in winter, huh?" The A.C. had busted a few hundred miles back, and neither sister was keen on raiding a garage just for Freon. No, they'd only risk it if there was a bigger prize to be had. It could wait. In the meantime, however, Savannah was the definition of miserable. She glanced over at Sadie, who had been leaning up against the window for the past hour or so, slack jawed and drooling. Savannah smiled. She looked so normal, sitting there with her face smushed up against the window. It was almost as if they were driving to the beach, or to the movie theater, instead of away from their last failed hidey hole. The smile slipped off her face and her eyes flickered back to the road. It had been perfect: a two storied farm house in the middle of a plot of open land. Easy to defend, but easy to see. They couldn't have spent more than a week there before trouble came sniffing around. Sure, the walkers would come by occasionally, but they were easy enough to deal with. The fence confused most of 'em. Those that had managed to make it to the house proper had been met with boarded up windows and doors. But that's where her mistake had been; she hadn't boarded up the second story windows. She stupidly hadn't thought about any threat other than walkers. She hadn't taken into account how desperate people could be.

Savannah's fingers danced over the bandages on her left forearm. They'd been lucky that they'd gotten away with only that much damage. Still, it was bad enough that she had to get Sadie to stitch it up, poor girl. And here she thought that her sewing skills would only come in handy on clothes. The angry gash had scared the crap outta Sadie. Blood had gotten everywhere and they had wasted a lot of gauze and antiseptic on it. Now, their first aid kit was dangerously low and they weren't about to stop to stock up until plenty of distance had been put between them and that particular group of survivors. Savannah's lips set themselves into a stern line. They'd be a lot more careful next time—there was no way that she'd let Sadie get into a situation that dangerous again. She may have acted tough, but she was still a kid and Savannah knew it. It was her job to protect the thirteen year old at all costs, and there were no retries.

Daryl sat on top of the RV, his crossbow resting on his knees. This was stupid. He should have been out hunting, not sitting on top of this old heap, under a gaudy umbrella, babysitting these motherfuckers. His eyebrows furrowed in distaste. Ever since their escape from the CDC, everyone was on edge and the last thing he wanted to do was spend more time in camp than he had to. One more asinine comment and he was going to lose it. He glowered as he watched Shane stomp from one end of the camp to the other, with no apparent purpose. He had been losing it since Rick showed up, but after the explosion, his temper had been on a short fuse and Daryl was plenty willing to ignite it. Shane needed to be knocked down a few pegs, sure, but what did it matter to him if he got on everyone else's nerves? He was tense enough without having to give a fuck about these assholes. What did he owe them anyway? Daryl wiped his brow with a dingy scrap of cloth from his back pocket.

"Fuckin' sun. What I wouldn't give for a good ol' thunderstorm," he grumbled as he shifted in the uncomfortable lawn chair. It was hotter than a whore in church and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. "Figures I'd be stuck up here, playin' the damn babysitter. Not like sumthin' is gonna be movin' fast in this goddamn heat."

As if on cue, he spotted something glinting in the distance. Quickly picking up the binoculars, all his griping forgotten, he leaned forward in the chair and stared in the direction of the old country road. Not many cars had been on it, but what few there were, they had already siphoned all the gas out of them. It was meager at best, but better than nothing. For a moment, he thought that he had just seen a reflection off of one of the old cars, but then he caught sight of it from behind a tree: a green Ford Explorer speeding down the road, weaving around the vehicles and couple of walkers littering the asphalt. This was going to be an interesting watch after all.

There were a few cars here and there, and even fewer walkers, which was a very good sign. Savannah checked the odometer—they had to be at least thirty miles away from the farm house and now was as good a time as any to try the CB. Taking the wheel gingerly with her left hand, she reached between the seats, turned up the volume, and grabbed the mouth piece. With a quick breath, she broke the silence.

"Is there anyone out there?" Pause. No answer. Undeterred, she continued. "If anyone is out there, give us a sign." It wouldn't do anyone any favors if she made it sound like there was only two of them, let alone two sisters on their lonesome. That would invite trouble with a capital T. It didn't matter much anyway—no one ever responded to her broadcasts, but that wasn't really the point anymore. She had long since given up on anyone responding and instead used it as a way to keep herself grounded. If she kept a fragment of hope alive, then she would be able to keep it together for Sadie. They had to keep hope alive if they were to find the rest of their family, no matter how long they had been separated. So these broadcasts were a kind of catharsis in an otherwise tough as nails world. The last thing she expected was for the radio to crackle in response.

"Who are ya?" the deep voice demanded in a harsh whisper. In her shock, Savannah swerved to the side of the road, startling Sadie awake. She stood on the brakes and stared at the CB in disbelief. She had been making these broadcasts for a month and not once had someone responded! Now, here she was, sitting in her Explorer in the middle of butt fuck nowhere, and there was someone on the radio. It crackled again. "I said, who the hell are ya?" Savannah snapped out of her daze and scrambled for the mouthpiece as Sadie's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"That's not important. Who are you?" She couldn't let her excitement make her reckless. She couldn't let on that there was only two of them, especially when she didn't know anything about this mysterious radio man. Sadie was inching forward on her seat, as if being a few inches closer would help the answer be any more favorable than it would have been otherwise.

"Nuh uh. That's not how it works, lil' lady. What're ya doing out on the country road?" Savannah started. He could see them? That meant that he was relatively nearby, and that thought in and of itself was disconcerting. At least now she knew that there was someone out there and she would be sure not to let her guard down for a while. She glanced at Sadie, whose complexion had drained of all color. She remembered what happened the last time they met people. Savannah steeled herself.

"You can see us? Where are you?" There was a pregnant silence in the car as both sisters stared at the CB in the console eagerly. Sadie's small hand crept into Savannah's and gripped it tightly. She knew then and there that she wouldn't be making any further contact with whoever was on the radio. She couldn't risk Sadie again.

"Yeah, I can see ya 'nough to tell ya that there are a coupla' walkers on yer ass. I'm in the woods a ways." Sadie's head whipped around to stare at the walkers rapidly approaching through the rearview window. Savannah instead leaned out the window and squinted into the distance, trying to find any evidence of this man on the radio.

Only when Sadie screeched, "Sav, they're right on us!" did she pull her head in and roll up the windows. She kicked the vehicle into reverse and mowed down the walkers. With one last glance into the trees, she slammed the car into drive and sped off down the road, trying to put as much distance as she could between them and the man in the woods. He could only be bad news and Savannah had had enough of that lately.

Daryl watched keenly as a shock of red hair poked out of the driver's side window and a young face seemed to stare directly at him, scrutinizing. He knew that there was no way that she could have seen him from that distance, but it was unnerving nonetheless. Something had caught her attention inside the car, and suddenly it shot backwards, flattening the walkers. Just as quickly, it gunned forwards and tore off down the road like a bat outta hell. Looked like she wasn't going to be taking any chances. He watched the Explorer round a curve in the road and disappear in the tree line.

Leaning down and turning the CB volume back up to normal, Daryl leaned back just in time for Dale to peak over the top of the RV, ready to take the next shift. As Daryl climbed down the ladder, he swung his crossbow over his shoulder and marched confidently into the woods. It was time to go hunting.