Yay! Reviews are magical! I will be posting at least once a week for now (Sometimes if I am really into it you will get two!) If that changes I will let you all know. I am so glad this story is sticking and catching on so well. Thank you all so much! Here is another one just for you!

Chapter 7:

Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Glenn drove into the woods not far from the prison they had seen on the map. Finding a few signs on the highway told them they were going in the right direction. But it also told them that others knew it was there as well. This made Daryl a bit uneasy. This place could be everything Amber had hoped for them. But it could also be everything Daryl feared.

They moved silently, following fast behind Daryl. Each of them having learned over the last month just how he managed to stay hidden all the time. Daryl as helping them learn survival skills that would keep them alive much longer then without him. Rick knew this. It was one reason that he had given the redneck so much say in what went on with his group. He knew that Daryl had been through a lot. He had seen it so many times before in the eyes of those whose houses he was called to late hours of the night. Daryl was damaged. But he was also smart. He thought about things and he saw the value in what they had made. He mattered.

The fence came into Glenn's view, the sun doing the same. He squinted, holding his arm up to block the rays from burning his eyes. "It's over run." He said, seeing walkers stumbling along behind the giant fence.

"It's not that bad." Rick was optimistic. There were at least a hundred. But they were all separated. Some behind the first fence line, others behind the next one. "It's fixable. We can do this.." He eyed the walkers carefully.

"Rick might be right." Daryl grunted, motioning towards the fence. "They're split up. We could take' em out in chunks. Make it easier for ourselves."


Amber shrugged the jacket from her shoulders and headed out of the small house. She had been sitting in there for what seemed like days and she was starting to feel trapped.

"What if they don't come back?" Beth sat outside, her sweater pulled tight around her small frame. The pavement below her was cold but she couldn't help watch out for her father's return.

Amber jumped a bit, her hand on her knife as she realized there was no danger. At least not at the moment. "Jesus Beth.. You gotta be more careful." She said, taking a seat on the concrete fence. "They'll be back." She nodded her head once in the direction of the highway.

"You always seem to sure. Like just then when you said that... It is as if you know. But how can you know?" She asked Amber. The girl had joined the group so fast.. And Beth liked her. But there was a weirdness about her that even Beth noticed sometimes. "And the prison.."

"I just know." Amber shrugged. "They could die, they could never come back Beth. But for now.. I'd like to think that they will be back and that the prison will be something good for us. At least for a while." Amber squinted, the sun shining down hard on them as they sat in wait. "It's okay to be afraid. But at the same time it's also okay to have hope."

"There ain't no hope anymore." Beth sighed, "Ain't nothin but running."

"Don't say that." Amber shook her head, "For now.. There is hope. And until the time comes, until we've had enough, we hold our heads up and we do what needs to be done."

"You really think that? You think we will get a break?" God... Beth knew she could use one. Just one or two days away from walkers. Away from the threat of another group hurting her family.

"It won't last Beth. But to answer you.. I do think we will get a break." Amber said truthfully. "And when we do all I can say is that I hope we don't take it for granted."


"Of course it has to be smokin hot today." Amber moaned, pulling her rifle from her back. Rick and Glenn had been teaching her to shoot lately. She would even say she was getting good with it. She stood stalk still, wiping the sweat from her forehead as her and Daryl looked out over the fenced area.

"Ain't gonna be much to it." He said to her, pulling his own weapon. He had chosen her on his section of the prison field, knowing that lately she had stepped up. She was a quick learner. He had even played with the thought of taking her out to hunt. But just as easily as the thought entered his mind, it had left. He was silly to think a small, pretty thing like her would want to spend any time with someone like him. It was a waste of effort on his part. "Just follow close behind me. Don't go to far ahead."

"Okie Dokie." Amber said, an odd smile playing on her lips as she watched him push the gates open. She knew she sounded like a bit of a dork, but lately it hadn't mattered to her. She clearly was stuck here in this world. If these people were going to be her family then they might as well get to know the real her...

The group moved towards the prison, taking out walkers as they went. A clear team that worked together in every way. Each aware of the other as they took each shot. Amber moved swiftly behind Daryl, finally reaching the watch tower. After about three minutes he finally jimmied the door open and they climbed their way to the top. Positioning themselves they began taking charge, shooting each and every last walker out in the fields.

"Woo!" T-Dog yelled, running for the gates. Amber sighed, watching him latch them shut. They had done it. They found a safe haven.. How long it would last? She wasn't so sure exactly. But if they could avoid the Governor it could be a whole lot longer then their first time around.

Amber was feeling pretty good as they made their way down the tower steps until it hit her hard, right in the gut. Lori and Andrea. Merle... They would have to meet the governor.. There was no other way to get their people back. They were destined to fail here.

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked, as Amber stopped abruptly in front of him on the stairwell. "Hey." He repeated himself when she wouldn't respond, hitting her shoulder quickly. The longer he was near her the more he wanted to stay that way. It was something he was learning to avoid.

"Huh?" Amber slurred, turning her head to look at Daryl.

"Ya okay?" He asked her, worried this time.

"Oh.. Uh. Ya I am fine. Just thinking about something." She shrugged him off and continued out into the court yard.


It got dark out fast, Rick making a fire in the grass for them to stay warm. They all sat in a large circle as they normally would anywhere else, all tired from their long day in the hot sun.

"Mmm." Glenn smiled, finishing off whatever meat Daryl had found for them and throwing the bone into the grass behind himself. "Just like Mom used to make."

Amber smiled, watching as Daryl and Rick walked the prison fences, not taking their much needed break. "Tomorrow we should pull the bodies together." She muttered, "We should keep them away from the water."

"I agree." T-Dog said, "If we can build a small canal under the fence we can have access to it."

"The soil here looks good to." Hershel told them, "We can plant here."

The others talked among themselves as Carol took a plate of food for Daryl. She climbed up to where he stood, up high on a fallen vehicle. "It isn't much. But it's yours." She said, handing him his plate. She sat down with him and looked out at the group. They seemed a little better now.. Behind the fences. She looked at Daryl as he began to shovel food into his mouth and she smiled. Following his eyes she knew.. "She did good today."

"Huh?" He stopped shoveling a moment and glared at Carol.

"Amber. She did good." Carol said again. She had seen the redneck watching the girl once and a while. Her hoped that they would become closer not moving forward so much as standing still. But today.. There was something different there. "She learns quickly."

"We all learn quickly." He grunted, not wanting to talk about the small blonde girl.

"Not as fast as we would like. Not all of us anyways." Carol rolled her eyes. She had been picking things up, but not as quickly as Amber. And the girl seemed to have no gun skills when she showed up out of the blue. Not to mention she was rather quiet. It was hard to tell just what she was picking up until she showed it. "You like her?" Carol asked him, raising a brow.

"I don't like anyone." He lied to her, throwing the plate down next to them. "Just want to be left alone woman."

His tone told her that he wasn't so much upset as he was annoyed. Always best to give him space at this point. Carol laughed a bit and shimmied her way back off the flipped vehicle. "You're one of us Daryl. Don't forget that." She told him, before turning back tot he group.


Amber yawned as her eyes fluttered open. The sun beating down harder then the day before caused her to sigh and turn into a sitting position. Yep.. Still here. She did the small check every morning upon waking just to be sure she hadn't been dreaming. She sighed loudly and pulled her booted feet up to her chest. She missed home, this was true. Canada was not this hot, ever. She wasn't used to it like the others were. She felt tired all day and sweaty. It was not pleasant. But at least there was some hope of a shower not far off.

"The others are heading into the prison." Beth said, eying Amber's wandering eyes. "Well.. Daryl, Rick, T-Dog and Glenn did anyways. The rest are down there." Beth pointed out the fence line where the rest of the group stood stabbing walkers through the fence line. "I told them to let you sleep."

"Thanks." Amber said back, smiling at Beth. "I'm still trying to get used to the heat in the South." She muttered, pulling her jacket off once again and laying it in the tall grass.

"You said you were from Canada?" Beth tried to remember. It had been so long since they had talked about anything other then survival.

"Yep, West Coast." She smirked, "It does get hot there.. But not like this. How do you live like this all the time?" Amber teased the smaller blonde girl.

"Well.. I never really thought about it." Beth shrugged. "Is it much different then?"

"Things were very different, yeah." Back when things were normal. "Our laws.. The stuff we buy. But in many ways we are the same as you." Just people trying to get by in a country where the government didn't look out for the smaller people. At least that is how Amber saw it. There were many who didn't. "But the weather.. That is very different."

"Always cold?" Beth asked, scrunching her nose.

"No, not at all. I mean we get snow where I am from but it's minimal compared to the other side of Canada. It's just different." She shrugged, getting up from the grass and wiping her pants of grass. "Guess we should get on with it." She muttered, heading towards the fence line. And it went well to until the screaming started.