I wake to the sounds of a far off gun shooting. I immediately rip Shane's sweatshirt off of me and jump into "kill mode". I run out the tent, bow in hand and arrows on back; ready to shoot anything that resembles a walker. It's about mid-morning as I slip out of the tent, arrow drawn. I silently make my way through the camp and find Carol, Jim, Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Lori, Carl, Sophia, Dale, and most of the Morales family up by the RV, looking dazed and confused. I make my way up to them and silently ask Dale if he knows why the gun was shot.

He comes over and whispers, "Some of the men are out hunting this morning. Went west, Daryl said he thought he had found four nests of rabbits, but they hardly ever use guns for game, it's mostly Daryl's crossbow. Walkers are the only things we use for guns, and even that's a last resort."

"Get the kids and women in the RV, lock them in with these." I say, slipping him two knives and small handgun that I have in my pockets, "Gun to Lori, knives to Amy and Andrea I'm going to go around and see what's happening. You and Jim cover me from the roof, got it?"

"Now Ros—"

"Got. It."

I hear him sigh before walking away, getting everyone into the RV. I look up at the sun, find which way west is, and start heading that way as quickly and quietly as I can. Pretty soon I find the trail the men left and follow it. As I'm making my way through the forest, I hear more and more gunshots going off, and I start to pick up my pace.

Three miles later, and I finally find them, stuck in the center of a circle of fifteen to twenty walkers, but I can't see much, only Daryl firing off his crossbow.

Fuck, now I've got to save them, cause he sure as hell doesn't have many bolts left to kill all of these geeks.

Knowing I'm more useful in a tree than I am on the ground, I sling my bow over my shoulder and hastily go up an oak to the highest I part I can. I make my way out on a strong tree branch until I have a fair view into the clearing. Everyone in the group has their back to one another, each one armed with some kind of weapon, Morales with a baseball bat, Shane with a Mossberg 500, Glenn with a Bowie knife, Merle with a Remington 870, T-Dogg with a machete, and of course Daryl with his crossbow, and they're all taking out as many walkers as they physically can.

I hear Glenn, the Korean guy, practically whimpering from where I'm at.

"Glenn. You have to calm down, otherwise those things are going to…to bite you." Yells Shane over the gunfire. However, Glenn seems oblivious to Shane's advice, too scared or focused on the fact that walkers surround him.

"Guys…guys….GUYS!" screams Glenn as one of the ugly sons of bitches latches onto his arm. Glenn trashes around, pulling and yelling, until finally sinking the knife into its eye socket. However, he must not have went deep enough because the thing kept clawing at him.

"Com' on chinaman, fuckin' kill it, don't just make it stop movin'." says Daryl before shooting the thing with his crossbow.

I grab my bow off my shoulders and pull an arrow out of the holder on my back. I draw the arrow back as quietly as I can, deciding where to start. Just as the thought enters my mind, I see a walker running at Daryl's back as he pulls one of his bolts from the head from the geek at his feet. I release my arrow and it hits the dammed thing right where I want it, through the temple. The men stop for a split second, unsure of where the hell the arrow came from. Daryl looks the arrow sticking out and he quickly scans up the trees until he finds me. I give a nod and start killing off as many of the dammed monsters as I can.

"Rose." Daryl says, aiming and killing another two walkers.

Soon enough the entire herd is dead, and I skillfully swing myself down off the tree and head out to the men.

"Glenn, you good? No scratches or anything?" I ask as I cross over the sea of undead and make my way to him.

"I'm fine…" he says as I examine his arm carefully.

"Anyone else bit, scratched, or hurt?"

"No. We're…we're good," pants Shane.

"What the hell happened?"

"We were tracking a deer when a walker jumped on Morales from nowhere. Merle had to fire off a shot, drew the whole damn flock towards us. No choice but to stand and fight, otherwise we risked bringing them all back to camp."

"As long as everyone is still alive and human, no harm done. We can always find more bullets, and if not more bullets, more guns." I say, looking around at each of them before walking around and pulling my arrows out of the heads of 7 walkers, sticking them back in my holder. Once I've finished recollecting my ammo, I turn around and lead them all back to camp.

Once we get back, Dale lets everyone out of the RV and Morales finds Ed, Carol's abusive husband, sleeping in his tent like a worthless bucket of lard. They all gather around the makeshift fire pit to hear what happened from Shane.

"First off, everyone is ok. We were jumped by a group of walkers and had to start firing. End up drawing a whole group of them towards us. That's when Rose showed up and started killing them left and right with her bow from a tree. I have to say, don't know if I've ever seen a woman handle a weapon like that…it's impressive to say the least. Made me think it's best we get all the women trained in weaponry. I'm sure it'd make everyone feel a little safer. And Rose, I just wanted to say thank you. Not many people who are complete strangers would have done what you did."

I shrug my shoulders and brush off the compliment, not really wanting any attention.

"If I'm ever in that situation, I would hope someone would do that same for me. It's not just what I have or you have or who is more deserving to live. The human race is at war with the undead, and it's us versus them. You either choose to fight, or you choose to become one of them. Period."

Shane walks over and claps me on the shoulder, giving me a smile. I nod back and then start to speak again,

"Now, not to draw attention away from the subject at hand, but I would like to go get my stuff. As grateful as I am for having a pillow and a sweatshirt to sleep with last night, probably the worst sleep I've had for a while."

"Of course Rose, and you've got a long trip up and back. Give Daryl and Merle a few to pack their gear."

I nod again and turn away from Shane, ready to walk over towards the woods, but I find Andrea, Amy, and Lori all behind me, hands stretched out with my weapons. I grab the knives and gun, turning to go when I feel a hand gently pull my shoulder back around.

"Thank you, most of the time the men don't really trust us with gear like that. They run off to fight and leave us here, weaponless. You though, you left us with a way to fight if we needed it…Why?" Lori asks, genuine curiosity spreading across her face.

"Because the three of you are probably three of the smartest people here…because you all are the strong, both mentally and physically…because you all deserve a fighting chance…because I think you can handle it."

"I don't thi-"

"Listen to me Lori, I wasn't a trained psychologist, and I'll never claim to be one. But I've been reading people since I was a girl, and trust me, I know whom to depend on. So don't try and tell me you don't think I'm right, because I am."

Amy looks like she's about to protest, but she slowly closes her mouth, rethinking whatever argument came to mind.

The three just look at me for a second, as if questioning if I'm sane or not, before walking the other way, Andrea and Amy headed towards the quarry and Lori back to the RV. I spin around and find Merle and Daryl waiting at the north side of the woods.

"Come on! Me and Daryl liked to be back 'fore dinner." Says Merle.

I shoot them am ammoyed look, but jog my way over and all of us start heading towards my camp. The trek is mostly silent, except for Merle, constantly trying to impress me with his long history of hunting trophies, which didn't include anything bigger than a ten-point buck when he was sixteen. I keep my patience, entertaining him with half-ass answers. Suddenly I look down and see the markings of a deer that's recently passed by. I stop for a second and listen, but I can't hear a thing over Merle's yammering. I grab his forearm and stop him from moving.

"What the fuck do ya' thi—"

"Shh…" I say quietly.

"Ain't no girly girl gonna tel—"

"Would you fucking shut up for a second." I angrily whisper, eyes ablaze with anger as they collide upwards with his. Merle stands there, shocked for a few seconds. Then his face turns ten shades redder, but he stays quiet long enough. I hear the faint snap of a twig, and immediately go up the nearest tree.

"What 'n the name of living fuck is she a'doin'?" I hear Merle say as I make my way upward. I get to the top and look out, seeing a doe moving along about a hundred yards from where we stand. I climb down a few branches, until I can find one that'll hold my weight and slowly make my way out to the edge. I draw my bow and wait for it to move just a little so I can get a clean shot. Finally, after a few minutes the old girl moves and I release one of my arrows, hitting her right through the heart. She runs for a few hundred yards, before slowing down, and then collapsing. I make my way back down the tree and start heading off in the direction the doe ran, trying to find the blood trail. After a few minutes of searching, I find it and follow it right up to her. I look her over and find her still breathing, gasping for air. Those poor eyes stare up at me, questioning why in the world I would ever hurt her, why this happened.

"It's alright…I'll make it quick. It'll be done before you know it." I whisper, leaning down as I try to soothe her. I pet her head softly, trying to make this as comforting as possible. "If I didn't have to, I wouldn't, I promise you that." I say, rubbing her gently, all the way down to her throat.

I pull one of knives and quickly slash across the white and brown fur, making sure to sever strait through, killing her swiftly. I clean my knife on my shirt, pull my arrow out of her chest, and stand up, turning to find Daryl and Merle right behind me. Merle still looks mad as hell, but not quite as pissed as I left him, and Daryl looks like a deer is the least impressive thing I could have found.

"Well, lookie here, lil' thin' can hunt. Told ya' she's a good 'un to have 'round. Always said that a woman who could hunt was the sexiest thin' 'n the world, ain't it Daryl?"

He gives a nod and I roll my eyes, as I turn, certainly uninterested in Merle's attempts to compliment me. The man is old enough to be my father, and there is literally no chemistry between the two of us. But whatever, I've dealt with idiots like him before, and they'll eventually stop…or I end up cutting their balls off in their sleep. I stand up and wipe my forehead with my arm, looking up at the sun.

"We're about half a mile away from my camp, but we definitely don't have enough sunlight to gut the deer, pack it up, go to camp, get everything loaded, and get back before night fall. So Merle, you stay here and gut the deer sinc-"

I can't even finish my sentence though, before Merle has wrapped his hand around my neck, slamming me up against a tree.

"WHAT MAKES YOU, THINK YA' CAN TELL ME 'ROUND, WOMAN! I AIN'T NO SISSY ASS MOTHER FUCKIN' NIGGER WHO JUS' TAKES ORDERS. YA' LISTEN 'ERE, IMMA MAKE THE 'SCISONS 'ROUND 'ERE FER ALL THREE OF US, AND AIN'T A GOD DAMN THIN' YOU GONNA DO 'BOUT IT, YA' HEAR!" He yells at me. Before he can keep screaming though, I pull a knife out of the back of my shorts and hold it up against his throat.

"Y-you…let…g-go…or…I…cut." I manage to say; my head starting to feel all dizzy and full as my brain starts screaming for more oxygen.

He looks at me for a second before a wave of raspy laughter comes seeping out of his mouth.

"From the looks of it, you ain't got much life left 'n ya', does she lil' brother?"

I almost forgot that Daryl even existed, let alone that he was barely standing ten feet away from us. He walks over and stands behind Merle, peering at me from his shoulder.

"Better let 'er go Merle, we ain't got a clue where the fuck her camp is, and I don't feel like draggin' some body back."

Merle stares at me for a long second before letting go. I drop to the ground, coughing and wheezing, thankful that I can finally fill my lungs with sweet air. I stay there for a few minutes until I can breathe again, turning towards the two brothers, my rage barely able to be contained.

"What…what the actual fuck? I was just…just going to say that since you were the most qualified, Merle, you know…since you were telling me all those big game stories, that you…you could cut the deer up the fastest, while Daryl and I made it up to my camp and packed everything. I wasn't…wasn't ordering, you flying fucktard." I pant, still trying to control my breathing.

Merle stares me down for a full minute strait before driving his hunting knife strait into the deer, gutting the beast with no mercy. Thankful that he has something else to take his rage out on, I pull myself up off the ground and start heading north with Daryl for another half mile. With Merle gone, the silence that settles between us is long, yet understood. It's almost comfortable, each of us more entertained by our own thoughts than by each other. Personally, I keep trying to find a way to kill Merle, that son of a bitch, without anyone finding, plus I need to make him realize that sex is never, EVER going to fucking happen between us. Even if we were the only two left in the whole damn world, I would never consider even the possibility of having a kid who would have to bear the same genes as Merle Dixon.