Carl Grimes, three months from the end of the previous chapter.

Everyone in the prison was starting to get antsy and wanted to move on. It was obvious that Shane wasn't planning a good enough offensive move against Woodburry for them to win, and they were suffering loses from the Governor's strategy's. Carl hoped that they could win, but there was a part of him who didn't want to risk anyone else dying and for them to simply move on. They knew that the Governor would be at their doorstep any day as he'd given them a warning six days ago that he'd be there in a week to take what he wanted-the prison.

He had to admit that in the beginning they'd been on top, winning battles and getting citizens over to their side. There were at least 72 people in the prison now, but most of them weren't fighters. Tho only real 'soldiers' that they had were: Merle, Shane, Andrea, Sasha, Tyreese, Carol, and Carl himself. That wasn't a lot of people to protect over ten times their amount.

Carl didn't want to leave because he felt safe in the prison, and the secret scared part of him didn't want to be back out in the open again. He didn't really have any friends since Patrick died. Merle was still his buddy, but more like an older brother than a friend, and Beth was too busy taking care of Judith. He'd sat in on a few meetings where Hershel, Sasha, Carol, and Merle talked about what would be best for the community. Shane was power hungry and they all understood it, so often when the four (five with Carl) met it was very hush-hush.

Since the group, or council, as some of the people had been calling it, had been meeting a lot of positive changes took place. There was an outdoor kitchen and a small farm area that had been in use up until the pigs got sick. Carl had been in charge of the crops, and though they hadn't been able to grow anything yet he'd liked the change of pace from getting up early to fight walkers, to getting up early to feed the pigs. It all felt calmer to him. Merle had remarked that he had a "new sense of self," whereas his mom was worried that he was getting "soft in the mind and the middle," which Carl didn't think was true. He agreed with everything the council said, and at some point the fighting would have to stop and the living start- Carl was just getting a jump start on the living.

Currently a council session was going on and once Carl convinced Shane that he was going to hang out with Beth and Judy he disappeared into the library (to Shane's benefit, Beth was reading to her in the corner). No one took Shane for dumb, so they all realized that he knew there was a 'secret' council, but so far he'd done nothing to stop it, and for good reason. Most of the people were starting to think of the council as their leaders instead of Shane who was seen as hot headed and violent.

"I'm just sayin', we need a back up plan if things go bad. We don't exactly have a back up plan and it isn't like our odds for tomorrow are good." Sasha explained, sitting as she usually did with her back perfectly straight and her hands folded in her lap. She had a very diminutive presence but a strong voice in the group to make up for it. Hershel and Sasha were probably the ones that Carl liked the most. He genuinely liked Merle, but sometimes the man's plans were a little too dangerous, and Carol was also too gung-ho for a fight at the moment.

Carl noticed that Axel was also sitting in on the group, he occasionally stopped by but never said much. He was a well-meaning guy, if a bit ignorant and uneducated.

"I don't even want to think about something like that happening." Carol muttered and leaned back in her chair, taking control of the room with the masculine way she was sitting. Carl didn't have any problems with Carol, in fact he considered her a really good asset to the team, he just didn't like that she'd been teaching the kids how to fight and kill things. Shane endorsed it though so there wasn't much Carl could do.

"But Carol there's some things we have to talk about, even if they're hard." Hershel chided softly, emphasizing a few words and nodding his head slightly as he spoke, he then added: "we should think of a place to meet up if we all get separated."

"'sa good idea. Someplace far enough away from Woodburry, but close enough that we can get there. I think the bus will work well to get the civilians out, and then the rest of us can travel on foot, or Hershel we can make sure you have the keys to the Honda or something tomorrow." Merle added and everyone around the room nodded.

"How about the railroad tracks we could converge at-" Carol was cut off by one of the loudest sounds Carl had ever heard in his life. His vision went hyper-sharp but slow-motion and he brought his hands up to his ears with a cringe as his body rocked one way and then the other.

Warping back to real time Carl was immediately on his feet, his hands went to his belt and tossed Hershel the keys to the Honda. "Looks like we're out of here sooner than expected. Railroad tracks, got it!" Carl said before dashing out of the room and making his way immediately to his cell.

He grabbed his back pack and gun, slinging one on and holding the gun at his side. "Carl!" He heard the familiar voice of Shane. "We got to clam these people down, help me!" He shouted.

"What's going on outside?" Carl questioned, amid the noises of panic in the cell block.

"It's the Governor, he has a friggin' tank. But we can't let everyone just scatter we have to hold our ground." Shane explained, his voice going louder towards the end as he tried to get his message across to everyone.

"That isn't the plan Shane, the plan was for everyone who can't fight to get on the bus and leave through the back. You can't expect them to fight just because it's a surprise attack." Carl reasoned, but Shane looked like the vein in his forehead was going to burst.

Turning around with a huff, Shane stalked out to the main courtyard and away from Carl. Carl took a quick survey of the room around him and saw that most people had a clear destination in their minds eye, the bus.

A few things seemed to happen once again in slow motion, the main wall of the cell block came down from one of the bombs, flying debris striking a few people and instantly killing them. Next, his mom showed up behind him and tried to usher him to leave, but now that Carl could see what was happening outside he was more incensed than ever to go out and help.

"Mom we're meeting at the railroad tracks! Find Beth and Judith and get out of here!" Carl shouted and motioned her towards the library where Carol, Sasha, Axel, and Merle were coming from to join the fight. That was the last Carl saw of his mom before he ran outside, immediately taking cover from the hail-storm of bullets.

As more bombs flew Carl thought that he could make out the noise of the bus leaving, someone must have told them to just go and get out. The Governor's people were going down and thankfully Carl hadn't seen any of his people really being killed yet, but he saw them reloading the tank and then driving it over the fence and pushing it down.

That was the last thing Carl saw before another ear-splitting noise and his vision faded to black.

Rick's Group, ten days before the events above.

"I promise you Abraham, you know that we're good people, so just trust that we're leading you to good people." Rick assured as they stood around their parked cars in a gas station parking lot a little ways outside of Atlanta. "We said we could get you to Atlanta in a month and half and it's been just about that. No tricks so far, why would we have planned something so elaborate?"

Abraham seemed to think about his words for a moment and Eugene butted in. "I do believe he is telling the truth Abraham. Rick has almost sacrificed his lives for us on at least three occasions if I'm remembering correctly."

Abraham nodded at that and then finally said: "fine, but we need collateral. If you guys go into the city then what's to say you don't just dump us and leave?" He asked.

Rick had to hold back a frustrated sigh. Abraham was full of "what-if" questions, and couldn't seem to understand that in this world, spending a month and a half with someone basically meant you were family.

"We'll stay." Glenn offered.

"No, Glenn you can't do that." Rick countered and Glenn gave a nonchalant shrug.

"If we wanna go to Maggie's farm too then we have to get their trust. Leave us three as collateral and you two go in." He suggested.

Both Abraham and Rick thought for a moment before nodding at one another.

"If we're not back by tomorrow at sundown, continue on without us." Rick said and exchanged a handshake with Abraham. Rick and Glenn shared a nod before he motioned for Daryl to slide into the Mustang with him.

They were a couple minutes headed into Atlanta when Daryl rested his hand softly on Rick's thigh. "Thank he's still there?"

"He'd better be." Is all Rick responded with before covering Daryl's hand with his own. In the past month in a half their relationship had gotten more emotionally intimate but not much more physically. They'd had repeats of what happened the first night in the farm house, but hadn't gone further than that. It was partly because most nights they were too wasted to even think about staying up, and just because they didn't need that. Rosita and Abraham apparently had to at it at least once a day, but Rick and Daryl were simply content to fall asleep in one another's arms most nights. Their relationship wasn't questioned by anyone, and for that he was happy.

The drive to Atlanta was quick, and thankfully the roads weren't too bad. They were headed in from a direction they hadn't been before and there weren't a lot of walkers milling about. Grady Memorial stood as a beacon of light among everything else-literally, Rick could see solar panels shining on the top.

There was a chance that Morgan was dead and that the police had control of the hospital once again, but the two of them chose not to think like that and to instead think about the possibility that their friend was still alive.

They had to go on foot when they got to about halfway there, but there weren't too many walkers and by his point Rick and Daryl knew how to handle themselves well enough. When they made it to Grady Memorial Daryl motioned Rick to look around the edge of the fence, gingerly peeking his head around Rick let his shoulders drop with a sigh and motioned Daryl to follow him.

The parking lot didn't have the gate closed but it was still filled with white hospital vans, and in the center of the lot stood a teenage boy moving some walker corpses.

"Excuse me!" Rick called, trying not to frighten the boy but simply get his attention.

The kid looked up and Rick noted that he must have been in his late teens. "Can I help ya'll? I ain't the only one here if you're thinking of pulling anything." He said, not looking as tough as he probably thought he sounded.

"We're not here to cause trouble, we just want to ask about one of our friends who was here a few months ago." Rick said and put his hands up slightly to show that he meant no harm, Daryl did the same.

The kid took his hand off the gun in his waistband and nodded. "Alright I'm Noah, you are you looking for?"

"Morgan Jones."

"Holy shit you're friends with Mr. Jones? Damn didn't think that guy had friends." Noah joked and Rick raised an eyebrow.

"He's here then?" Rick asked and Noah nodded quickly, then amended and shook his head 'no'.

"He might be, I don't know. How long was it since you last saw him?" Noah asked.

"We high-tailed outta here right around the time there was a change in management." Rick said and Noah seemed to get the meaning.

"You probably don't know a lot then. Mr. Jones was in charge for a hot second, then right around when I got here he handed over charge to some ex-cop who still answers to Mr. Jones. But sometimes he goes out around town, clearing buildings and such ya know." Noah said.

"So you don't know if he's here?" Daryl asked, a little impatient.

"I think he headed out this morning, but he always comes back for lunch. Let's head inside and we can wait for him."

"Rick Grimes." Morgan spoke and looked on at him stoically for a moment before cracking just about the largest smile Rick had seen since this whole thing began. Noah seemed to be taken aback by the action.

Rick hugged Morgan with a clap on the back and Daryl nodded at him. "You said you'd find me, but you were taking a little too long." Rick joked, referencing their parting words.

Morgan nodded with a slightly far off look in his eyes. "I think I got caught up in the complacency of this life for a while, but I've been training again, going out to make sure my skills were still sharp. I've been meaning to finally drift away and find you. I never for a moment thought that you were dead." He mused, still with a half smile on his face.

"Well you're in luck, because Daryl and I are headed out soon and we want you to come with us." Morgan motioned for Rick and Daryl to sit down in two chairs on one side of a desk while Morgan took the single chair on the other side. Noah stood to the side a bit.

"I can't just head out that easily, what's your plan?" Morgan asked inquisitively, his hand resting on a wooden stave that was pressed into the ground firmly, his knuckled looking like they were used to bending around it.

"We're headed to D.C with a Doctor Eugene Porter who says he knows how to stop all of this."

Morgan had previously been drumming his fingers but stopped abruptly. "As in... He knows the cure?" Morgan asked.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders again and chose to answer. "He can't tell us specifics, says that we wouldn't understand and that when there's a new world order the statute of secrecy still holds."

"So you're heading to D.C with a guy who might know the answer to all of this?"

"Well, him and a few other people. And you have to meet the guy to understand Morgan, he's above all of us. Probably smarter than anyone I've met in my life." Rick said and Morgan looked off into the distance for a moment longer.

"I can meet him before I decide to go with you guys?" He asked.

Rick nodded.

"Can I bring Noah with me?" The kid looked surprised but obviously tried to hide his emotions well.

Rick nodded once again.

"We'll meet you outside in twenty, Rick, give us a moment to talk." Morgan said.

He and Daryl were on their feet headed out the door, when Rick said over his shoulder: "The new world needs you Morgan, please think hard."

Daryl put his hand softly on Rick's back when they got outside and whispered, almost like it was a secret, even though there was no one around: "He said he believes in you Rick, so he'll make the right decision."

And Daryl was right, it was only ten minutes before Morgan was walking down with a pack slung over his shoulder and his stick, while Noah followed behind with a similar pack and a slight limp. Rick explained how they'd gotten into the city and they began their walk.

"So why'd you come with us Noah?" Rick asked, glancing over at the kid. He was obviously a little self-conscious but Rick could tell a good person when he saw one, and Noah was good.

"Well Mr. Jones-" Morgan cut Noah off.

"It's Morgan boy, how many times I gotta tell you?" Morgan said, but gave the kid a small closed mouth smile as if to show it was all in good-humor.

"Mr. Morgan," Noah corrected cheekily and the whole transaction reminded Rick of Duane, he wondered briefly if Noah was filling a spot in Morgan's heart, and if in return Morgan was filling a spot in Noah's. Rick knew wounds like that could never be completely healed, but the ugly parts could be covered up. "I came from a community upstate a ways and I've been on the mend for a while, been meaning to head back out into the world but didn't really have the confidence to go on my own."

"Noah here had a broken leg, good thing we found him too." Morgan remarked, and then the four of them walked in content silence for the majority of the rest of the walk.

The farm had been a bust and even Abraham and Rosita seemed sympathetic to Maggie, she had taken a moment to herself, obviously thinking that her family had died in the fire or was a walker out in the forest.

It hadn't taken long for Morgan and Eugene to get along well, the two just fit together in an abstract sense. Noah was following Rosita around like a lost puppy, but was also surprisingly smart and rode in the car with Eugene so the two could talk. Noah had admitted to Rick and Daryl over some laughs that Eugene would be unbearable if it weren't for the fact that he liked comic books.

The whole group had meshed so well that Abraham had decided that Rick was trustworthy people and they had headed to Maggie's farm with no complaints. They were driving North now, towards DC, but they saw smoke rising from behind some trees so the four cars pulled to the side of the road.

Rosita and Michonne hadn't wanted to check it out, but Rick pointed out that last time they'd followed a trail like this they'd saved Maggie, and Abraham just liked reckless danger so he agreed.

Maggie, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Abraham were headed towards the smoke while Noah, Morgan, Glenn, and Rosita stayed to protect Eugene if need be. Rick admired his little group that he had and that fact that eight out of nine of them were great fighters and any one of them could be a leader.

"What kind of smoke is that?" Daryl asked, looking towards the sky. "Not a fire," he added.

"You're right, it's not a fire, almost like rubble or something." Rick added and sniffed at the sky but wasn't getting anything.

"If I remember correctly we're near West Georgia Correctional Facility." Michonne added and through the trees they could see a fence that was glittering in the sunlight. There weren't many sounds around them though.

It was when they started getting close to the fence that Michonne, Daryl, and Abraham picked up a noise that the others didn't seem to hear. They stopped in their tracks and met eyes with each other. Daryl and Maggie seemed to get the picture and stayed quiet while the three of them listened. "Is that a... Baby?" Abraham asked quietly, Rick and Michonne both nodded in agreement.

Daryl and Maggie shared a look of surprise, never having been parents and not being able to pick out the sound as well. They both heard it though, faintly, when they got nearer to the fence, a high pitched wail coming from beyond the fence in what looked like a pile of rubble that had once been a prison.

They stood by the fence, looking down the side of it and noticing that there were two fences, one had been taken down by an abandoned tank and was full of walkers, while the second was still standing and seemed to only have a few of them. "Can we make it across?" Michonne asked aloud.

The five of them looked beyond the fence and calculated their chances. "Maggie can you run alright now?" Rick asked and she nodded. "I think we're going to have to sprint for it. That's way too many walkers for us to take on, but they seem slow so I think we can cut through them at a full sprint." Rick explained.

Everyone surveyed the field for another moment before Abraham nodded with the idea. "Michonne you're the fastest you go first, Maggie, Daryl, Rick, then I'll take up the back. Let's try and make as little noise as possible till we get to the break in the fence."

Most of the walkers seemed centered around the section of the fence where the noise was emanating the loudest from, so not a single one even noticed as the five of them made it to the gap in the fence.

One behind the other they sprinted across the field, Michonne getting the lock undone on the gate as she arrived first, ushering each person in and terrifying Abraham as she stabbed a walkers who was right behind him, before pulling the gate shut and locking it again.

There weren't a lot of walkers milling around so it took them only a few minutes to get through with all of it. The smoke that they'd seen was from shifting concrete, so whatever had happened here had happened recently. Daryl put his hand softly on the small of Rick's back as they walked through the rubble on their toes, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Finally, Rick pointed up to the cell blocks that where up above them. The entire wall and stairs had been taken out so it took all of them to help lift Michonne up onto the ledge where she could get the cell door open and the crying slowly came to a stop.

"Oh praise the lord." Rick heard softly, words that he'd never heard come from Michonne mouth, as she made it to the edge of the rubble again and handed down an absolutely tiny baby by its armpits. Rick took the baby into his hands in revelry, staring in the enormous blue eyes that captivated him. It had been a long time since Rick had seen a kid, let alone a baby, and it honestly had him in awe.

"Rick!" He heard a shout from Daryl, one that didn't sound quite urgent, but almost wet like Daryl had something stuck in his throat. "And Maggie! Come 'ere."

Rick cradled the baby close to his chest and made his way over to Daryl, Maggie following close behind.

In giant letters on a piece of concrete shaded perfectly read: Brother to Carl Grimes, Delivered by Hershel and Beth Greene. JUDITH GRIMES.

It didn't take Rick more than a moment for the words to sink in and he was on his knees, tears stinging his eyes. Maggie had collapsed next to him and in a blind search he pulled her into his arms, sandwiching the baby, Judith, between both of them as they cried.

They were ugly and harsh sobs that went on for a long time and when the two finally pulled apart they simply started crying again and pulled each other close once more. Finally Rick noticed the presence of Daryl on the ground next to him, his arm tightly around Rick's shoulders. Rick looked over at Daryl to notice the man whimpering softly with tears stained in his eyes and Rick pulled Daryl next tight against his chest, mindful of the baby in between them.

"It's a miracle, an absolute gift from god." Rick said. In the moment he wasn't wondering how Judith was Carl's sister, in his mind he already knew that Shane must be the father, but that didn't matter at all to him. Shane wasn't here so Judith was his little girl, and he would return her to her brother.

Carl Grimes, the same time that Rick finds Judith.

"Carl you don't understand-"

"YOU LEFT HER THERE YOU FUCKING BITCH, YOU LEFT HER!" Carl practically screamed, his jaw clenched, spit coming out on almost every word and his hands dangerously pointing the gun at Andrea's face. She was on the ground where Carl had knocked her to, obviously frightened and visibly shaking.

"Carl maybe you should calm down a bit," Sasha tried to interject but Carl absolutely wasn't going to hear any of it.

"There is absolutely no place in this group for someone who won't take care of their own, ESPECIALLY A FUCKING INFANT!" His voice grew again towards the end, he was almost breaking out into sobs as angry tears streamed down his face and the gun in his hands shook.

"I locked her in a cell, please, she might still be there." Andrea pleaded and Carl sucked in a deep quivering breath.

Shane took the initiative to knock Carl to the ground. "Get some sense in your head boy, this might be the only person who knows where Judith is." Shane shouted as Carl rolled back onto his feet and dusted himself off.

"Take me to her." Was all Carl said, flatly, staring Andrea directly in the eye and not afraid of her at all.

"Yeah of course, we can go right now..." She ushered out, trying to get Carl back on her side.

"No, no, you are not going back to that place, ya hear me? You stay here with you mother and I'll go find Judith." Shane said, taking a defensive stance to show Carl that he meant business.

"No. I'm going and that's final. You may like to think that you're in charge, Shane, but you're not. Fact is your a coward with no integrity to speak of. Now move out of my way so I can go find my baby sister." Carl said, more even-tempered but the words were still said through clenched teeth. Carl was trying to breathe deeply, to get a control on his emotions before he started flat out crying or hurt someone. Carl knew that Shane didn't really care about Judith, he'd heard his mom crying alone enough times to know exactly how Shane felt about that baby. Sure he played the part okay of being the father, but Carl couldn't find the undying love in Shane's eyes that he remembered so clearly in his fathers.

"No integrity my ass boy! You better step the fuck off this horse you've climbed onto and sit yourself down!" Shane was getting angry too now, Carl could see the telltale signs in his bulging tendons and rapidly reddening face.

Carl bit right back, he wasn't going to take it. "First you fuck my mom before dad's body's even cold, then you have the audacity to tell me that you have even a shred of integrity? How long has the affair been going on Shane? Because it seems to me my mom fell into your arms pretty quickly after this all went down."

Shane didn't have a response to that, he just swung his arm back and slapped Carl straight in the cheek with almost all the force his arm had in it. Carl could feel blood trickling down from his now split lip, and in seconds Shane was being held down by both Tyreese and Merle.

"Get this straight boy, your dad's dead, so you listen to me now, you listen to me!" Shane said, almost pitifully as he was being held on the ground by two giant men with his arms behind his back.

"You're trash Shane." Was all Carl said before he motioned for Andrea to lead the way. As he walked by, a few people in the group had their mouths slightly agape and his mom was crying, but Carl didn't care, the only thing he cared about right now was his baby sister.

He and Andrea walked in tense silence for a while back to the prison before Andrea attempted to speak.

"You know, Shane's trying his hardest to keep everyone together." She said, not looking at Carl just continuing to walk ahead towards the bits of sandy air from where all the shifting concrete had been.

"You only say that because you're having sex with him too." Carl replied tersely and Andrea shut up quick after that. Carl knew about it of course, the looks the shared with each other were the same ones Shane had given to his mom before she'd gotten pregnant and pushed a baby out of herself.

The events at the prison after he'd passed out had needed to be filled in for him, but basically the Governor's forces were completely taken out, but the prison was completely ruined. Merle had saved Carl's life by carrying him to the train tracks, for which Carl was grateful. Everyone from the council was already there, having decided after he left on where exactly to meet up and then spreading the word to everyone who hadn't been in the meeting.

Shane had shown up next with his mom, and without Judith. Apparently Beth had given Judith to Lori so she could get Hershel out safely, and then his mother had met up with Andrea, she had been hurt so Andrea found Shane, and Shane put Andrea in charge of Judith while he got Carl's mom to safety. The only problem Lori had wrong was a sprained ankle, and for all of that Andrea had been too scared to make a run for it with a screaming child so she'd locked Judith in a cell, with the intent to go back for her.

As they got nearer to the prison he and Andrea heard a rustling coming towards them. Carl held up a hand to his lips and ushered Andrea into the bushes next to him.

Distantly he and Andrea heard voices, one girl was obviously crying, and others sounded joyful, there was a bit of happy laughter and more movement, but it didn't sound like anyone was in trouble, he heard a distant and booming voice announce, "Can you believe it Rosita, what a gift." Carl held another hand to his lips but motioned for Andrea to keep moving towards the fence, but very quiet. He followed stealthily behind her.

The people weren't in trouble and Carl had a mission that he needed to follow through with, he wouldn't be able to get Judith and contact them. Plus they could be surviving Woodburry residents.

"Let's go, we're sprinting across the field and then you show me exactly where Judith is." Carl whispered and gave a two finger salute to motion Andrea going first, once she was about halfway across Carl started in too.

The walkers in the field were spread far apart, and a lot of them looked like they had been killed, by what Carl didn't know. He slid behind the second fence, that was also cleared out, someone must have killed a bunch of walkers in a last ditch effort.

"She's in that cell up there." Andrea pointed and Carl saw where she was looking, it was his mom's old room. Carl hoisted himself up onto the ledge and swung the door open. Not here, she's not here, she's not here, not here, not here, she's not here. She wasn't there.

Carl felt every ounce of heat leave his body as he swung himself back onto the ground, Andrea had tears streaming down her face. "Carl, I'm, so sorry, please." She said, like she already knew the thoughts going through his head.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," he muttered and before Andrea could do a thing to defend herself he brought up his gun and shot her in the head, three times.

He didn't have time to think about his actions before he was taking off across the field again, worried that the walkers would be drawn to the noise. Carl had tears streaming down his face as he ran, he sprinted and sprinted all the way back to the railroad tracks before collapsing onto them with a heaving chest and red cheeks.

His body still felt completely numb and he was more exhausted than he had been in his entire life.

"Carl, where's Andrea?" Sasha asked tentatively and sweetly.

"She didn't make it."