((I realized now that I didn't say this before. I don't own any part of The Walking Dead in any way, shape or form. Just having fun.))

((No Daryl yet in this chapter, but next chapter. Promise.))

I could hear a high pitched wailing, it sounded a lot like a siren. I was sitting on an upside down bucket next to the RV in the shade, I looked up as I heard Shane say, 'Talk to me Dale.'

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to the only road that led to the quarry. I put down the clothes that I was stitching, I think they were Merles…maybe Daryl's. I was the only one Merle deemed worthy enough to fix their clothes. I didn't volunteer, they were dropped in my lap. I figured maybe if I fixed these, he would leave me alone. But when I looked up at him, he just winked me. Couldn't hurt to try though.

'Can't tell yet.', Dale called down to us from his perch on the RV. The campers were gathering, wanting to know if the siren was a threat.

'Is it them? Are they back?', A frightened blonde girl asked, I think her name was Amy.

I heard Dale mumble something and Amy must have too, 'What is it?', She asked.

'A stolen car is my guess.', Dale responded.

Lori had her arm around her son Carl, as the bright red sports car pulled up next to the other vehicles. The blaring noise coming from this car. Shane and a few others walked up to the car as a smiling Glenn stepped out.

'Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!', Dale yelled down at Glenn. Knowing the noise would bring unwanted attention.

'I don't know how!', Glenn yelled back with his arms up in confusion.

Shane and Amy started talking to him at the same time, Shane telling him to pop the hood and Amy looking for her older sister.

'What? Okay, okay, okay! Yeah, yeah, yeah!' Glenn was getting frustrated, he opened the car again to pop the hood as Amy continued with her questions.

'She's okay! She's okay!', Glenn was trying to calm her down and stop her yelling at him.

'Is she coming back?', Amy asked, not convinced.

'Yes!' Glenn was walking away from her as Dale had gotten down off the RV and walked towards them.

'Why isn't she with you?!', Amy asked, 'Where is she? She's okay?'

I got up and leaned against the RV, watching the situation unfold. Poor Glenn, though I do understand Amy's worry for her sister, but Glenn already said she was fine.

'Yes. Yeah, fine, everybody is.' Glenn said, standing behind the car door, trying to put a barrier between himself and Amy. By now Shane had pulled something from the sporty car and stopped the alarm. It was quiet now, thank goodness.

'Well, Merle not so much.' Glenn blurt out. I stood off the RV and wondered what the hell happened. Merle was capable of taking care of himself, out of everyone being okay, how is he not?

Shane was leaning on the car, the hood still propped open when he started talking to Glenn, 'Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles.?'

'I think we're okay.', Dale said with a quick look around, his gun slung over his right shoulder incase danger would appear any second, which it easily could have.

'You call being stupid okay?', Shane said while looking over his shoulder at the older man.

'Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills, hard to pinpoint the source.', Dale said as Shane stood up and started walking towards him, 'I'm not arguing, I'm just saying.'

'It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?', Dale pointed a finger at Glenn.

'Sorry.', Glenn apologized, 'I got a cool car.'

I couldn't help but smile. Always looking at the brighter side of things, Glenn was.

Then a big moving truck pulled up next, parking behind one of the other vehicles. The doors opened and Andrea came out, running to Amy. They met in a crying hug, I looked down at the ground and kicked the dirt with my boot. Morales' family went running to him, he bent down picking up his children to join his wife. Lori grabbed Carl and led him away from the happy family's reuniting.

Shane stood and watched Carl and Lori with the gun resting on his shoulder, Dale and Morales hugged and talked. I picked up the clothes and got back to work, they wouldn't get done by themselves. Even if Merle wasn't coming back.

'How'd y'all get out of there anyway?', Shane questioned Glenn, who was reluctant to leave his new toy.

'New guy, he got us out.', the Korean responded.

'New guy?', Shane asked.

Morales chimed in, ' Yeah, crazy vato just got into town. Hey Helicopter boy! Come say hello!'

The man that got out of the driver seat was thin and tall with dark brown hair, wearing a Sherriff's uniform.

'The guy's a cop like you.', Morales said, his arms around his family.

Shane looked at the new man, and took a couple of unsteady steps. The Sherriff pointed and put his arm back down to his side, he looked ready to cry. I was trying to figure out what was going on, did Shane and him know each other? Did they work together?

The new man started walking quickly into the camp when I heard a small voice cry out, 'Dad! Dad!'. I turned and looked to see Carl and Lori running towards him.

The man caught his son in his arms, crying and hugging and kissing him. He picked him up and walked over to Lori, hugging her and kissing her too. All of us were stunned to comment on the joy that was happening before our eyes. I looked down at my sewing, not wanting to invade the private life. Though I couldn't hide the smile on my face. I was happy for them. But my smile quickly turned into a frown when I thought of Daryl. He was gonna be so pissed.

{'All this happened…more or less.'}

After finishing my sewing, I put it in front of the Dixon's tent. I didn't dare open it to set it inside, I was scared of what I would find….or smell. It was dark now, and everyone was around the fire, myself included, eating dinner. I'm not a people person, but the fire was comforting. I was sitting between Glenn and T-Dog when Rick started talking about what happened to him after we had finished eating, he held his wife and child close to his chest.

'Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion. All those things but, disoriented comes closest.'

'Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short.', Dale commented as he set down his mug, I nodded. Andrea was sitting next to Dale, Amy rested her head on her sisters shoulder. Thankful to have her back.

'I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped, in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from, ever.', Rick continued.

His son looked up at him and said, 'Mom said you died.'

Rick thought of an answer quickly, 'She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it.'

'When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened.', Lori said. I couldn't help but think that if they had sent him, he would have been killed.

'Well I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun.', Rick said.

Shane commented from across the fire, 'Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, ya know?'

'I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it.'

'There go those words falling short again. Paltry things.', Dale said, I loved his way with words.

We heard some wood being added to the fire next to us, the jackass Ed was being loud. He liked to beat his wife and child. You could see the bruises on them. If he got bit, I would gladly kill him. There is no excuse for a man to treat his family like that.

Shane called out to him, 'Hey Ed. You want to rethink that log?'

Of course Ed had a reply, 'It's cold man.'

I wasn't cold, they wanted cold, go to Minnesota.

'The cold don't change the rules, does it?', Shane used his cop voice, 'Keep our fires low, just embers. So we can't be seen from a distance, right?'

You could tell Ed had been in jail before, 'I said it's cold. You mind your own business for once.'

Shane got up and walked over to Ed and his family. I couldn't hear the conversation but his quiet wife, Carol, got up and pulled the log out. Shane stomping on it to extinguish the fire. After a few more minutes, Shane came back and sat down.

'Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind.', Dale brought up the question of the night. To say Daryl would be upset is an understatement.

'I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me.', I looked over to see T- Dog talking, I learned of the situation earlier. Merle getting out of hand, there only choice to subdue him. Drugs were a nasty business.

''I cuffed him. That makes it mine.', Rick said.

'Guy's, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy.', Glenn piped in.

'I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him.', T- Dogg said.

'We could lie.', Amy suggested. I turned and glared at her. Lying was the last thing Daryl would need.

'Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's.', Andrea said.

'And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?…..Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt.', Dale said, I knew he was right. Daryl will be livid with this information. I would be too. But there is nothing we could do but tell the truth.

'I was scared and I ran, I'm not ashamed of it.', T-Dog admitted.

'We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?', Andrea asked.

'I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that, not that chain, not that padlock….My point, Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us.', T-Dog said, getting up and walking away. I'm glad I got the sewing done than. A small part of me was glad that he might be alive, I wasn't too fond of him, but I never wished death on anyone, especially not like that.

Shortly after that, we decided to go to bed. I padded Glenn on the shoulder and he nodded up at me. I went into my own single tent and sat down on my sleeping bag. I dug through my duffle bag, and in one of my books I brought with me, I found the picture I was looking for.

It was the most recent picture of my family, so about a year old. It was the day my brother was being deployed to Iraq. The picture was taken in front of my Mum's flower garden by our neighbor, I kneeled down in front with my Rottweiler, who was fat and old but a good dog. He died two months after the picture was taken from old age.

Behind me stood my Mum and my baby brother. Our Mum is still very beautiful, always looked young for her age. Tall and thin, blonde hair and blue eyes, always smiling. She gave the best advice. She was always telling me to hold on and that things will be okay. That I just have to be strong.

In the picture, my brother was in his Army uniform, his arm around our Mum, a big smile on his face. He was taller than both of us with blue eyes and blonde hair, he was a heartbreaker, but a gentleman. He was the reason I had come to Georgia, he was back for a visit or something, and that was where the Army was sending him. But I never got to see him. The outbreak happened and I don't now if he was even able to land on U.S. soil, or if they needed him to fight here.

I don't know if our Mum was still alive, or my brother. But I kept hope, kept it tucked away in the back of my heart. So when the day came, it wouldn't hurt so bad. I kissed the picture and put it back in the book, and stowed it back in the bag. I turned off my lantern and laid down just as the thunder and rain started.