Sorry for the slight delay...my dad erased all the internet icons on my computer for some retarded reason and I don't have the money to get them back...thank God for other relatives. That's all I'm gonna say. Cx

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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I groaned at the sound of voices talking outside in the hallway. Do these people have any idea what time it was? I turned onto my stomach, opening my tired eyes and glaring weakly at the door where all the voices were coming from. It sounded like Sheriff guy, Rick, and his irritating partner with the black hair. I couldn't make out any words, but I knew they were arguing over something important, seeing as how their shadows danced wildly across the door's window. I didn't need three guesses to know just what, or who, they were talking about.

"Why are they up?" Cammy mumbled from her face-down position on the floor. Her arms were firmly planted by her sides and her hair was hanging limply over her face, preventing me from seeing her eyes and the irritated frown that I just knew was on her face. It looked like a very uncomfortable position, but she had been sleeping like that all night and hadn't moved an inch. Then again, now that I thought about it, she hasn't even hit puberty yet, so certain...parts weren't as bothersome to her now as they are for me. Lucky brat...

"They must be getting ready to leave," I said, getting my feet underneath me and standing up slowly. I winced at the flashes of pain that flared up my back and limbs. Cammy turned her head to the side as I hissed at my stretching muscles. I should've moved slower. Save me the energy of being in pain and being unable to move without cringing.

"You're covered in bruises," Cammy commented with a frown, rolling over onto her back and sitting up with her legs crossed in front of her. All up my arms, blue and purple bruises stretched across my skin, many of them thin from me falling onto the table's ledges, but some were as large as a Softball. I had no idea where those could've come from. It hurt to move my arms and my legs trembled under my weight, shaking violently like a leaf caught in a gale. I plopped back down to the ground, unable to continue standing and sighing when the pain eased down to a bearable amount.

It figures that the one time I get hurt, I only managed to crash land onto a wooden table and bruise myself to the point of it hurting to even stand. Complete bullshit, in my opinion. I was pinning the blame on some higher up that was obviously out to get me or something.

"How the hell am I going to get around now?" I grumbled, scratching my head. My eye twitched at the greasy feel in my hair and I pulled my hand away from my head before I was tempted to just pull all of it out by the roots. "I can't even stand, much less run around Atlanta trying to get us out of here."

"Will we have to stay here another night?" Cammy asked.

I shook my head negatively. "We can't. We're dangerously low on supplies and we're more at risk if we stay another night. We have to leave today." Lies. We had plenty of supplies that could last us a couple more days if we used them carefully and sparingly, but Cammy didnt' exactly need to know that. But seeing as how she's the one that organizes and takes stock of what little we have every day, I'm surprised she didn't call me out on the bluff right then and there.

Cammy frowned at me, crossing her arms. She looked like a serious Indian child that was trying to appear tough and callous to a superior. It was so adorable. "I can't carry you." Understatement of the century. I wasn't fat. Far from it, to be honest. I barely passed the hundred pound mark, but compared to Cammy's pitiful frame, it would still be too much for her.

My mind took a sudden turn and Rick's face appeared in my mind. I turned to look at the door. Rick and his friend were gone now, but I could still hear them silently argue down the hall. Would it be possible that Rick would be generous enough to actually help Cammy and I get out of the city with them? Surely they wouldn't leave us here to die. Certain individuals from this group would definitely disagree with me here, but from what I've gathered just in the past night, Rick was the leader of this group. And the other members seemed to accept that and followed whatever it was that he said.

I bit my nail thoughtfully. I could feel Cammy's eyes burn into the side of my head, questioning me in that silent way of hers that never failed to send involuntary shivers down my spine. I've never told her, but that look never fails to make me tense up and almost want to reach for my knives. It was like she was trying to see into my soul, pick apart my defenses bit by bit and see what it was that made me tick. It was like I was standing ass naked in front of her, as awkward as that sounded. I knew she didn't mean it, though. She couldn't help it.

I looked up to meet her blue eyes. They shone brightly with curiosity and she tilted her head imploringly, silently asking me what I was thinking. I had my doubts, but I was starting to seriously believe that Rick would willingly help us. He seemed like a nice guy and looked willing to help any survivor that he comes across that doesn't have harmful intentions. My main worry now, though, was his opinion of Cammy.

He knew our father. He had worked with him for the longest of times and probably knew things about us that had slipped right over our heads that our father had told him. He was a friend. But the hesitation and wariness that was in his gaze last night when he heard about Cammy's...condition...it wasn't reassuring. Not in the long run. It concerned me that this new revelation about my little sister would be the key factor in our survival.

"Let's go talk to Rick."

Cammy, who had been staring at the ground quietly, jumped at my voice and looked shocked at my words. "Why do we need to talk to Rick?"

I climbed back to my feet, twitching when my legs began to tremble again and shuffled over to the door, keeping to the wall for balance as I did so. "Rick can probably help us get out of here in the quickest and easiest way possible. It'll save us a lot of trouble if we ask him and see what he says."

Cammy followed after me on quick footsteps, her bare feet slapping loudly against the floor in what I assumed to be an unconscious action. Cammy never had liked the silence. It put her in the weirdest of moods if she were surrounded in silence for long periods of time and she always did her damned best to make sure there was sound around her to keep her occupied. Though she had to restrain that urge more often than not now. Noise was not a nice thing in this new world and she would have to get used to the silence that would no doubt become our best friend if we wanted to survive this pandemic. "I don't like some of these people, Khendra," She muttered. "They're all...so dark."

I came to an immediate halt. "...Dark?" I inquired. My heart began to pick up speed and I suddenly found that I didn't want to hear what it was that Cammy saw in this group. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my pant legs, hoping she wouldn't misinterpret my anxiety for something else as nervous flutters made my stomach twist and turn uncomfortably.

She ignored my action, steadily staring in the direction that Rick had headed. "Especially around that black-haired guy and Daryl. It's like something's constantly breathing down their necks in the worst ways possible."

I swallowed the lump that had taken up residence in my throat. "You know they aren't there, right, Cammy?" Her eyes locked onto my nervous expression and she forced herself to relax, nodding slowly.

"I know," She said lowly, biting her lip. "I know they aren't there. I just..."

I wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders. She didn't hesitate to latch onto my waist, eyes troubled and wary. I wasn't going to say anything reassuring to her since I knew that it would fly right over her head. She never had liked sympathy. We stood there quietly for a while, both of us concentrating on each other's steady breaths, which completely undermined our racing hearts.

"Oh!" We both looked up to see the Asian-looking man standing at the top of the stairs, a red and white baseball cap being twisted to death in his hands. "You're both up. I wasn't sure if it was alright to come and get you two...

Cammy clutched my shirt tightly, sidling behind me as she hid half of herself from the man's view, keeping just enough of her face out so she could watch him. I rubbed her hand soothingly, sending the man a tiny, barely there smile as he shuffled nervously. "Rick want to see us?"

He nodded slowly, his hands stopping their nervous jitters. "Yea. He's downstairs with Shane and Dale. Just wants to know what your plans are, I guess." I didn't remember Shane or Dale being mentioned at all last night. I was gonna guess on a whim and hope that one of them was the curly-haired man. It irritated me that I hadn't placed a name to him yet. Just as it had irritated me that I couldn't place Daryl's name from the beginning either.

"That's fine. I've been meaning to talk to him, anyway." I made my smile a little bit wider so that he would notice it. I didn't miss the soft flush to his cheeks and the girly part of me cooed at how adorably awkward he was. "Thank you, umm..."

He hurried to speak, face a bright neon red in the semi-dark hallway. "Glenn."

"Thank you, Glenn. We really appreciate it." I nudged Cammy gently, urging her to follow my example. She gave me a glower before turning her sharp gaze to Glenn. His once red face almost instantly paled at the look Cammy was giving him. He looked like he wanted to flee from the area. I silently hoped he didn't. I couldn't have Cammy scaring off our potential rides out of the city like this.

"Thank you, Glenn," Her high-voice was pitched lower than normal and I wondered if she was trying to appear harmless or if she was trying to intimidate him into leaving by trying to sound gravely. I was hoping desperately for the former.

Glenn swallowed roughly, shaky laughter escaping his lips. "Y-You're welcome," He stuttered, wringing his hands into his hat again before he stopped and cleared his throat. "Um...Rick is downstairs, like I said, and he's willing to talk whenever you're ready." He scratched the back of his head, avoiding our eyes as he looked at the wall. "So, um...yea." He waved his hand at his awkwardly, hurriedly walking back down the stairs. "Bye!"

I slapped Cammy upside the head, frowning at her in a disapproval once Glenn was out of sight. She turned her nose up away from me, refusing to meet my gaze and acknowledging the fact that she was in trouble. I shook my head at her, sighing under my breath before I headed downstairs, Cammy trailing after me like a kicked puppy as she pouted sullenly at my back.

There weren't that many people up when we got downstairs. Just the two men that Glenn mentioned and Rick. Not that I was surprised really. A quick glance at the only non-boarded window in the room told me that it was barely past dawn yet. Shit. I'd still be sleeping if Rick hadn't woken me up. I didn't believe in the idea of getting up with the sun. That was just a stupid thing to do in my opinion. I was obviously not a morning bird and it put me in a foul mood if I didn't get to sleep in. Let's be honest now. You needed all the sleep that you can get in this damn world.

I was taken aback by the friendly smile Rick gave me as he approached, though I was even more surprised at the polite nod he gave Cammy. She shared my thoughts exactly, a dumbfounded look on her face before she schooled it back into the indifferent expression she had given Glenn. I didn't complain when she once again fisted her hands into my shirt. I hid a smirk. My own personal shadow.

"Good mornin'," He said, still smiling as he led us to one of the still upright tables, offering me his arm as support when I was still slightly wobbly.

I stifled a yawn, though my eyes scrunched up and watered as I held back the urge. "Doesn't feel like it's morning. It still feels like it's nighttime." I murmured a small thank you to him for his help as Cammy and I sat in two of the offered chairs.

Rick nodded sympathetically as he sat down across from us. "I know the feelin'. Feel like I could sleep for a week and it still wouldn't be enough."

"An apocalypse will do that to you," Cammy muttered under her breath, keeping her head down so Rick wouldn't see the teasing glint in her eyes. He seemed to catch her humor, though, because a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"Inquisitive, aren't ya?"

I instantly noticed the softer light that appeared in Cammy's eyes and repressed the grin that I knew was coming. She was lowering her defenses around the unconsciously kind man. "Not inquisitive," She corrected. "Just a simple fact."

Rick chuckled, reaching across the space between the two of them and ruffled her hair in a semi-affectionate way. Cammy's body tensed at the contact, her eyes remaining firmly locked on Rick's hand as he messed up her already awful bedhead. Her shoulders dropped when he wasn't hurting her and relaxed into his touch, a tiny smile curling the side of her lips. I could see the sense of victory that Rick felt in the grin he passed me as he pulled his hand back when Cammy didn't outright attack him. I peeked a glance at her and stifled a giggle. She looked disappointed that he had stopped his rubbing of her hair.

"I have to say," Rick began, "I'm surprised to see you two still alive."

I arched an eyebrow at him. "You're saying this to Bryson's two prides and joys? Do you have any idea what kind of extremes our father would go to just to keep our asses from getting so much as a scratch on us?"

"I know exactly what kinda man Bryson was," Rick said in an amused voice. "I worked with the crazy bastard for a long time. I knew all of his silly little quirks and I knew just what it was that made the man tick like a bomb when I wanted to."

A disturbed look crossed Cammy's face and an embarrassed blush covered Rick's cheeks when he realized what he had said. I couldn't contain the laugh that escaped me as Rick spluttered to come up with an excuse his poorly-said statement. Cammy shook her head at him, using her hair to hide the amused smile on her lips.

"You're something else, Rick Grimes," I said when I finally stopped laughing. "I can see why you and our dad are friends."

Whatever expression had been present on Rick's face instantly sobered up at that and he turned serious. I inwardly cursed myself for ruining the laughing mood. It's always me that has to ruin the fun for someone. Cammy seemed to agree with my silent thought because a cocked eyebrow and a small frown were directed at me at the sudden turn in mood. I stuck my tongue out at her, silently telling her to screw off. She rolled her eyes, having read between the lines, and stuck her tongue out at me in retaliation.

"Where are your parents?"

I frowned at the blunt question, avoiding his searching eyes with annoyance evident. Seeing my apparent displeasure of the new topic, Cammy answered for me. "We don't know," She said, folding her hands in her lap.

Rick tipped his head to the side. "How do you not know?"

"She means that we haven't been in contact with our parents after all this shit started." Cammy blinked through my colorful language. I made a note to apologize to her later. "We've been on our own from the very beginning."

Rick didn't seem to like this news. A heavy frown was settled on his lips and his eyes were narrowed. A memory from a time I long thought was gone surfaced at that moment. My father sitting outside with me when I was just fresh out of high school, fiddling with the silly necklace that he always wore around his neck. Him showing me pictures of his time at the station and some of his closest friends that worked there with him. One of the pictures that stuck out in my head was one that had contained Rick in it. He had a little boy sitting on his shoulders, wearing his Sheriff hat, but it was so big on him that it completely covered his face. His smile was still present, though. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

Of course. Rick was a family man. He was close with his son. He cared for him like any parent should care for their children. And here Cammy and I were, wandering the streets of Atlanta on our own with no parental supervision whatsoever. No father or mother trailing behind us and offering protection like Rick was for his son. He pitied us.

No. I mentally shook my head at the word. Rick didn't pity us. He was just worried. We were Bryson's kids. Bryson was one of his closest friends and because of that association, he considered us part of the whacked up family as well. He was concerned for our well-being as a good friend of Bryson's.

"You don't have to look after us just because you feel indebted to." I violently cringed at the monotone in my voice as I said my thought unconsciously. It sounded so harsh and cold. Uncaring. I really wasn't, though. More than anything, I was actually quite flattered and relieved by Rick's obvious worry of us. It felt almost...normal again to have someone worrying over Cammy and I. Like a parent.

But he's not your father. He never will be no matter how hard he tries.

I shivered at the dark thought. I hoped Rick wouldn't notice my strange reaction. The man was damn smart and too inquisitive for his own good. He might ask questions that I just don't want to answer. And then he'd turn to Cammy, whom I knew for a damn well fact would get me to blab my heart out with a few placed words.

Rick looked almost sad at my words. Like a kicked puppy. I hated that look. I was a sucker for it and despised seeing on people's faces. "I don't feel indebted at all, Khendra." My hand twitched at the casual usage of my name and resisted the urge to correct him. "I'm just worried for you and your sister's well-being, is all."

A snort sounded from the side-lines and Rick's friend stalked to his side, a tiny sneer on his lips as his dark eyes roved between Cammy and I. Cammy glared in his direction, inching towards me when the man was too close for her personal comfort. "Problem, Officer?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

He ignored my words, something that had me bristling indignantly. "I don't know why you're even tryin', Rick," He said. "The little lady obviously thinks she's fine on her own. Why not just leave her be? Let her fend for herself like she says she can?"

Little lady? Anger coursed like electricity throughout my body at the man's nickname. If there was one thing I hated more than rudeness, it was obnoxious nicknames and a false sense of kindness. This man was purposefully pushing buttons he didn't know what kind of damage they could do. And who the hell does he think he's calling little?! A growl rumbled in my chest and I fought the urge to make it heard. Oh sure. Make fun of my lack of height just because you couldn't think of any better nicknames. Real fucking mature, asswipe.

Rick gave his friend an unamused look. "They're kids, Shane." I wasn't even gonna correct that one. Complete waste of breath since I knew Rick would just ignore me in favor of arguing with his friend. "We can't just leave them here."

Shane shrugged his broad shoulders in an uncaring way. "Why not? They seem to be doin' just fine on their own before we came along."

"We're actually just barely getting by," Cammy said quietly, avoiding the annoyed stare Shane sent her. It was clear as day to me that she was lying. We weren't just getting by. We were actually well-fed and had plenty of resources, unlike these people, who look like they're all competing against each other for the Most Anorexic title. But then again, these people didn't know what our inventory was and Cammy was taking full advantage of that. She cast Shane another glare, one which he returned with equal force. "In case you haven't noticed, the city is completely ransacked. There's nothing here."

"Have you even looked hard enough?" He asked sarcastically. Clearly he didn't get the memo that the city was emptied pretty much from the get-go.

Cammy sneered at him. "We've been here for two weeks. I'm pretty sure we would have found any and all supplies that were left behind when all this started."

I elbowed her gently in the ribs. Her eyes flickered over to me. "Quit antagonizing him," I said. "We don't need enemies at a time like this."

"We aren't your enemies," Rick immediately interjected, scowling at Shane when he made to reply. "We aren't here to harm you or your sister, Khendra." Here he smiled gently, hoping to appear harmless. He was working that smile like a charm. I almost forgot the antagonistic asshole beside him because of that smile. "I just want to help."

"Shane, leave them alone already," A voice sighed in complete frustration. The pretty brunette from last night ushered the little boy that had stuck himself at Rick's side last night to one of the still upright tables, quietly telling him to sit down for a little bit while she went to grab him breakfast. He nodded tiredly and settled his head on the wood in a feeble attempt to fall brunette placed a hand on Rick's shoulder, giving it a squeeze before she gave Shane a pointed look. "Give them some space, for God's sakes. This isn't your conversation to just barge into. Rick said he'd handle it without your help."

I got the feeling that she didn't like Shane. Good. I wasn't the only one. First impressions were always a thing with me and he certainly wasn't leaving any good marks so far. I resisted the urge to piss him off by giving him the universal "shoo shoo" motion and watched with heavy amusement as the brunette did it for me, leading him away by his arm as he grumbled and growled under his breath at her. She shook her head at him and released him only when they were at a far enough away distance from our table.

Rick smiled at the brunette as she waltzed back upstairs, Shane sitting in a chair by his lonesome self at a table and mumbling under his breath. I desperately wanted to know what it was that he was bitching about, but seeing as how he was too far away from us for me to be able to read his lips, it was a fruitless wish. "I'm sorry about Shane," Rick apologized. "He's just stressed. We've had a tryin' couple days."

I waved his apology away callously. "It's fine," I reassured him.

Cammy gave Rick a strange smile, one which I knew he wanted to recoil from because I felt the same urge to do so, but he held back the urge for fear of offending the both of us. "We've dealt with far worse than an irate officer. If anything, he's the tamest one so far."

Rick desperately wanted to comment on that. I could see it clear as day in his eyes. He cast me a glance and I pleaded with my eyes for him not to press for answers. He thankfully heeded my plea and ignored the urge, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned on the table.

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase. What are you two going to do after today?"

Thank God for small miracles. I was glad Rick was tired of trying to pick us apart and had just gotten to the question he had been itching to ask ever since we got up. Quite frankly, I was already at whit's end just from being up this early and my patience levels were practically nonexistent at this point.

"We were gonna get out of this deathtrap, for one. We can't stay here. We've waited as long as we could for our dad to get here and seeing as how he isn't here, I can only assume the worst." I pulled Cammy to my side, relishing in her presence regardless of how disturbed and uncomfortable she could sometimes make me feel. "I have to keep Cammy's safety in mind here since mom and dad aren't coming. It'd be better if I got her out of here as soon as I can. Preferably today after you guy's leave."

"What about once you get out of here? What then?"

Cammy's eyes connected nervously with mine. Rick didn't miss the silent communication between the two of us and his eyes began to shine brightly with newfound determination. If that was a chance to gain sympathy, then I don't know what was. Hopefully he would fall for it. "We were just going to survive off the land, I guess," I said in a purposefully unsure tone. "We don't have a home to go back to and I'm not comfortable traveling all the way to Wisconsin just to see if our house is still standing."

Rick looked surprised then. "You can hunt?"

I hesitated before answering. "Not very well. I can make snares and other traps, but I'm not very efficient with hunting big animals. I don't have anything but my guns. And those usually end up scaring off whatever animals in the general area."

I felt bad about using our current situation on the kind officer. It was almost like lying, but it really wasn't. Honestly, I hadn't really thought much of what I was going to with Cammy once we got out of Atlanta. I was confident we could last awhile out in the wilderness, but we both would get tired of it and would eventually end up doing stupid shit just to spice up our already dangerous lifestyle.

Rick arched an eyebrow. "You know from experience?"

I blushed at the reminder of my painful days of first learning how to hunt after this pandemic hit. The amount of times the two of us have had to run away from Biters because of all the noise I had made while I was trying to hunt was so embarrassing that I had no desire to recollect on those awful days. It was a harsh blow to my ego. I wasn't particularly vain when it comes to my abilities, but this particular fuck up of mine was bad enough to actually deal a crushing blow to my confidence levels.

"Let's just say we both got into shape real fast those first few days on our own," Cammy deadpanned from beside me when I finally decided to let her go. If possible, I somehow managed to blush harder than I already was. I laughed nervously at the stink eye Cammy gave me and I waved my hands in a placating gesture at the irate child.

"I already told you I was sorry! I was still learning! At least give me credit when I managed to actually get us food!"

Rick chuckled softly at us. "That's not very reassurin' if I intend to leave you guys here," He said.

I pressed my fingers together idly, nervousness clawing at my stomach like a rabid animal. Moment of truth time. "We were actually hoping you would take us with you."

He blinked at us in surprise. From across the room, Shane released an annoyed sound and threw his hands up in exasperation. Covering Cammy's eyes, I flipped him off in a way that he could obviously see. Stupid eavesdropper. I uncovered her eyes when I lowered my hand and turned back to Rick, who watched the exchange what I thought was mirth.

"You're comin' with us?"

"Just until the outskirts of the city. We don't want to burden your group for too long." I cast Shane a distrusting look, one which Rick caught. "That, and I don't think Officer Asshole over there is very pleased with our interference with whatever plans you guys already have."

Rick waved my worry aside. "Don't worry about Shane. Like I said, he's just stressed."

More like he's hiding something from you, I thought idly. Him and that brunette are.

I nodded my head absently. Cammy answered the unspoken question that Rick had silently been asking. "We'll come with you, but we'll fend for ourselves the entire time, if that's alright." Here she gave Shane a suspicious frown. "We don't need to be making any more enemies than we already have."

~o~o~o~o~

It was a long while before all the other members of the group finally decided to wake up and come downstairs. The sun had risen long into early afternoon when the last man that Rick had told us was named T-Dog finally came downstairs. Cammy was interested in the man for some strange reason. And it wasn't even his shorter version of his original name that had her interested.

"He's bright," She had told me. "I don't know how to explain it, but he's very bright. He's not like Shane or that other man, Daryl, who are constantly dark and angry. He's a relief to me."

A blunt way of putting it, but I wasn't gong to judge her. She had her own little quirks of how a person should be judged and while Shane and Daryl obviously hadn't passed her mysterious test, T-Dog certainly had with little to no effort on his part. I didn't know what Cammy meant when she said a person was "bright" or "dark". I had assumed that she meant a person's aura, but watching her interact with others when I was younger had that theory thrown out the window. Since Cammy couldn't explain what it was that she saw in a person, I had eventually given up on ever understanding what it was that she was trying to tell me. Her judge in character of a person has never been wrong as far as I was concerned. And T-Dog seemed like a genuinely nice person, so he was okay in my books, too, I guess.

Cammy had stuck to his hip since she had first introduced herself to him. He was a little unnerved at first. I didn't blame him. I'd be a little freaked out, too, if some random little girl all of sudden decided to hang around me when I've never met her before. Apart from Cammy's strange personality, T-Dog didn't seem to overly mind having her around him once he got used to her in the short hour that they've been together. She was a silent presence that didn't bother him much and it kept her occupied for a little while. Gives me a tiny reprieve from having to watch her after so long. I would have to thank him later for being the unknowing babysitter.

"Is everyone ready?" Rick asked the group before him. By some miracle, everyone had managed to get everything they had together in record time and were standing beside a line of cars that I assumed to be theirs. When no one said anything, Rick continued. "Alright, then." He turned to T-Dog, Daryl, and Shane. "I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to leave your cars here." Angry scowls mirrored both Shane's and Daryl's faces and Rick hurried to appease the two men. "We need to save the gas and your cars take up a lot of it. We need all the resources that we can save for the trip to Fort Benning."

T-Dog seemed the only one who was not concerned about this new development. He nodded at Rick's orders and started getting all of his things from his van. Cammy trailed after the man, offering her help in carrying some of his bags when he couldn't get all of them in one go. He ruffled her hair affectionately and lead her towards the huge ass RV that he would be traveling in. His action received him a pleased grin from the little girl. Shane and Daryl grumbled obscenities under their breath before they, too, began to get all of their things from the cars, Shane throwing all of his belongings in what I assumed to be Rick's car and Daryl throwing his in the RV with T-Dog's.

"Rick," the older man, whom I was told was named Dale, called. "We might have some problems with seating here."

I liked Dale. He didn't beat around the bush like everyone else seemed to enjoy doing. Thank God there was still one humane person still alive on this seemed to like him, too, but she wasn't as interested with him as she was with T-Dog, seeing as how she had yet to stick around the old man for very long.

"How many can you still fit in the RV?" Rick asked in concern.

"At best, one isn't a lot of room for two extras."

Rick cursed and the brunette beside him lightly slapped his arm and gave the boy beside him a pointed look. Rick gave her a sheepish smile and gave the boy a one-armed hug, one which he enthusiastically returned. I pursed my lips at the pleading look he gave me. I didn't even last a whole minute before I sighed.

"Where do you want us to go?" I really only trusted Rick and T-Dog with Cammy as of right now since the two of them aren't annoyed with her presence and I'm positive that they wouldn't let anything happen to her. But seeing as how Rick has his own family to worry about and another woman and her chlid in his car and T-Dog is riding with Dale, it put me in a tight spot. Rick looked pointedly at something over my shoulder. I turned around and glanced at the only other person who had a bat's chance in Hell of keeping Cammy from somehow killing herself.

"I don't know," I said hesitantly. "I don't trust him, Rick."

He shook his head and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "One of you has to ride with him. He'll keep either one of you safe regardless if he dislikes you or not."

I gave the surly redneck a doubting gaze. Violent and abrasive. Those would be the two biggest adjectives that I would use to describe him. In the short period of time that I've known the man, he was one of those people that followed more instinct than logic. That was a dangerous man to trust a child with and I wasn't sure even I wanted to be near the man when all he does is grumble and growl obscenities under his breath and curse the world like it had done him personal wrong.

Cammy looked between the two of us and stared at the soon to be bane of my existence. "One of us has to ride with him, right?" She questioned curiously. At Rick's affirmative, she did a quick once over of the man as he easily pulled the motorcycle that had been sitting in the bed of his truck out and carefully placing it on the ground and nodded to herself. "I'll do it." She was already walking over to him before I could even get a word out and I could only watch in barely concealed surprise when she stopped before him.

His head turned to look down at the little girl that yanked at the back of his shirt and his eyebrow raised slightly. Her lips barely moved as she pointed at his bike first, then at the group of us waiting with held breaths. His eyes narrowed in annoyance and he gave Rick a glare. He gave the redneck a shaky grin and scratched at the back of his head. He scowled at the action and turned his attention back to Cammy. I saw her watery eyes and almost wanted to face-palm. It seemed that Daryl didn't do well with kids in near-tears because he gave an aggravated hiss before shaking his head and shooing her away. Cammy walked back to us with an accomplished smirk on her face.

"He'll take me." Everyone released the collective breath that they had been holding and started towards their designated vehicles. I pulled Cammy aside and kneeled in front of her. She noticed my serious face and the smirk faded from her lips, replaced with a blank, closed off expression.

"Are you sure about this?"

She nodded once. "I'll be fine." She looked over shoulder at Daryl as he kick-started the bike. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to ignore that dark stuff that's hanging around him. It doesn't look too harmful."

"You'll signal for Dale to stop if it bothers you too much, right?" When she didn't answer immediately, I gave her shoulders a small shake. "Please, Cammy. At least let me have this reassurance so I won't be worrying too much."

Her fingers rested gently on my cheek and she rubbed the dirtied skin there in a tender way. "I will," She said softly, grabbing one of my hands and making me hook one of my pinkies around hers. "I promise."

The roar of a bike had both of us jumping and Daryl pulled up beside us with his ever present scowl on his face. "Let's go, kid," He grumbled, shifting forward on the seat to make room for Cammy. "Don't have all day to wait on your slow ass."

My eye twitched and I was assaulted with the violent urge to slap the man upside the head. Colorful. This man had some colorful language under his belt and it was highly obvious he had no filter when it came to it. Cammy brushed away my hands and scrambled onto the bike as best as she could with her short height. Locking her hands together around his waist, Cammy gave me a tiny smile and nod of her head before she and Daryl began inching away from me and heading towards the front of the little caravan.

I waited until the bike had disappeared in front of the RV before marching into said RV and sitting my happy ass down beside T-Dog, who gave me a heavy pat on the shoulders before Dale started the behemoth and followed after the bike that carried precious cargo on its back.

You better not let her get hurt, redneck, I growled in my mind. So much as a scratch and I'll make sure you won't reproduce ever again.

I'm sorry for the lateness. Hope I did alright with this new installment! Thank you for reading! :)