MissTeller-Ortiz-Dixon: Thanks for the review! I sent you a message replying to it, so I won't say much here. But I still wanted to let you know that I appreciate your constant support and enthusiasm when it comes to Vickie and the gang :):)

Sorry this chapter took so long... I'm currently do exams and life has been hectic :/ and I kinda didn't feel any urgency to update, because the story doesn't seem to be getting much attention... I know MissTeller-Ortiz-Dixon is patient and will keep coming back ;P (I appreciate that so, so, so, so very much, by the way). Again I apologise for the lateness, and hope you enjoy :):)

Bamby

RPOV

I was walking the walls, making sure everything was staying intact. The last thing we needed now was for the walls to fall. As I moved around, I found Morgan in a field, doing some kind of martial arts fighting thing with his stick. I wasn't really sure. All I knew was he was practicing something, and he was close by.

Needing to talk to him, I headed his way. "Morgan."

He stopped and turned to me. "Morning."

"We haven't talked. We should. A little later, okay?" I told him.

He gave a short nod and small smile. "Okay."

Moving on I walked down the road. Up ahead I could see Maggie and Vickie in the guard tower by the front gate. They'd been there all morning...

VPOV

I stood next to Maggie, both of us carrying a gun each, both of us watching the horizon. I'd come here earlier this morning in the hope that Daryl would come back soon. When I saw Maggie, still up, guarding, I climbed up and joined her. We hadn't said much. We both understood why we were up here.

Dad climbed up, coming to stand in-between the two of us. "You don't have to be up here so much."

"We won't be." Maggie spoke for the two of us. "This is the direction they'd come in. If Glenn sends up a signal, it'll be from out there."

Dad nodded. "Yeah."

"Or it won't be." Maggie added.

Dad turned to look at her as my hand grabbed a hold of hers. "When we go out there, it's never easy, it's never simple. It's always a fight. But we've come back from harder things. From further away. Glenn, Daryl, Abraham and Sasha, they will, too." dad reassured her.

Maggie nodded, squeezing my hand, silently thanking me for the support, and offering me some as well.

"Maybe we don't wait for them to be back." dad shrugged, watching the walkers now. "We should start figuring out how to draw the walkers away. We have some food and water to last us a while, and the walls are holding." he nodded. "We can take out time, really think this through. Do it right. Clear it so they can walk right in."

A small smile crept on to Maggie's face as she thought it over before speaking. "I saw Judith in the house the other day. She starting to... She's starting to look like Lori."

Dad nodded, looking away from her. "Yeah."

"Made me happy." Maggie added.

Dad smiled lightly. "Me, too." with that he moved back to the ladder and climbed down, knowing neither Maggie or I were leaving this post anytime soon.

When he was down, I watched him walk away, wondering if he thought about mum like I did. No day went by without her coming to my mind. I tried my best to do whatever I could so I'd remember her. Sometimes I hummed songs to Aly, that mum used to hum to me. I told Aly stories mum told me. I still wore the necklace dad had given me- the one with mum's wedding ring on it... Time may have past, but I still loved my mum like she was still around.

"Does Glenn know about the baby?"

Maggie looked to me. "Yes." she gave me a small smile. "He knows."

Nodding, I turned to look down at the walkers. "Doesn't it scare you? You were there when Judith was born. You saw what happened to my mum..."

"I was, and I did. Yes, I'm scared. But Glenn and I, we love each other. I guess it just seems like the next step." she paused a moment before going on. "Have you and Daryl ever talked about it?"

I shook my head. "No, but I've thought about it." I admitted. "I've never loved anyone the way I love him. It makes me want more. It makes me want to have a child with him, to make something with him. But..." I sighed. "I wonder if he'd ever want to."

Maggie's hand squeezed mine. "I think you'd be surprised." she said before we both fell into silence again.

CPOV

I followed dad, Ron following me. We were going to teach him how to shoot today, and were moving to a spot where we could do that without being disturbed. As we walked, we saw Gabriel hanging up flyers on trees and posts.

PRAYER CIRCLE

BY THE

SOLAR PANELS

TODAY

AT

1:00

Dad took one look at them, and the moment he was close enough, pulled each down, screwing the paper up.

"Dad." I sighed. But he ignored me and kept walking, so I dropped it and kept following.

...

"Handguns will be a little better for your first go." dad told Ron as he showed him the gun he's brought. "Magazine release. Slide release. Thumb safety." he showed him the basics.

"That's stuff's easy, right, dad?"

Dad nodded. "Yeah." he agreed before going on. "Empty magazine." he showed Ron before putting it back in place. "Empty chamber. See it?"

"Yeah." Ron nodded.

With that, dad got in place. "Someone's in front of you, they have a gun."

"You're gonna be scared." I shrugged. "You will be."

Dad went on. "Your body's gonna tense, you won't have time to think. You're just gonna want to pull the trigger when you get it in front of you." dad showed him what he meant. "But you'll miss and you'll be dead." he lowered the gun. "You have to get it up to your eye." he demonstrated what he meant this time.

"You've got to be strong enough to wait for your moment." I explained.

Ron looked from me to my dad. "Can I, uh..." he gestured to the gun.

Dad handed it over and moved so Ron could take his spot. He watched as Ron lifted the gun in front of him. "Hey, your finger doesn't touch the trigger until you're ready to shoot." he reached forward and moved Ron's pointed to the side of the gun.

Ready, Ron stood and held the gun in front of him, watching the wall, taking a deep breath, before pulling the trigger. The gun clicked- seeing as it was empty- and he lowered it.

"Keep that one with you." dad told him. "Get a feel of what it's like to carry one around."

"Can I shoot it?" when both dad and I looked to Ron, he shrugged. "Maybe. Like down at the walkers."

"Not with things how they are. The walls are strong, but we're lucky the walkers are spread out." dad told him. "We don't want to pull them all to one spot."

"What about, like, target practice in the center of town? 'Cause then the sound will spread out in each direction... Or maybe we could use, like, silencers or something like that." Ron suggested. But he soon realized it wasn't going to happen. "But, uh... I mean, we probably don't want to waste bullets right now, huh?" he sighed. "I just want to learn more."

I nodded. "You will."

VPOV

I'd finally climbed down from the guard tower. Someone had come to relieve Maggie and myself, so we'd headed off to go get something to eat. On the way, we'd bumped into Carol, who'd asked me to follow her- apparently my dad and some others were having a little meeting that wanted me to be a part of. So, I did as she asked, telling Maggie I'd find her later.

That's how I ended up sitting next to my dad, with Carol and Michonne, as the four of us watched Morgan who was seated in front of us.

He looked to each face. "What's going on?"

Dad sighed. "When I was coming back, I tried to cut off the herd with the RV, lead the walkers away." he explained. "But five of those people with the W's in their foreheads, they stopped me. They tried to kill me, shot up the RV." he nodded. "Now, Carol says she saw you. That you wouldn't kill those people."

It was true. I'd seen it too. Morgan had tied one of them up, but he hadn't killed a single person...

"Did you let any of them go?" Carol asked.

"Yes, I did." he answered simply, without hesitation.

I shook my head. "Why?"

Looking to me, he shrugged. "I didn't want to kill five people I didn't have to kill."

"They burnt people alive." Carol exclaimed.

Morgan nodded. "Yeah."

"They killed and attacked our people. Women, men, boys, girls. They killed people, Morgan. Why did you let them go? How could you let them go?" I asked, wondering how someone could let people like that just walk away.

Morgan looked from me, to my dad. "Why didn't you kill me, Rick, back in King County? Pulled a knife on you. I stabbed you. So why didn't you kill me? Was it 'cause I saved you after the hospital?"

"'Cause I knew who you were." dad answered.

"Back then I would have kill you as soon as I look at you." Morgan told him. "And I tried. But you, you let me live, and then I was there to help Aaron and Daryl." he nodded. "See, if I wasn't there... If they died-"

"Stop." I shook my head. I couldn't hear him say something like that. "You were there. You did help them." I got to my feet. "Daryl is alive!" my heart raced.

It had been awhile since I'd had a panic attack, I guess living in a world like this I just got used to things being so crap. But suddenly I felt my chest tighten as breathing became difficult. My body shook, everything felt tight and tense. I was on the verge...

Dad turned around, standing up, reaching for me. "Vickie. It's okay." he nodded. "You're right. Daryl's fine. You're fine." he grabbed my shoulders, holding me as he looked into my eyes. "It's okay. Breathe."

Nodding, feeling myself calm as he spoke, I breathed as best as I could. Daryl was the only thing that had me feel this way. The last time I'd had a panic attack was over him leaving to get Merle and Michonne. This time was about him not coming back home... He was my weakness.

Morgan went on. "Maybe those Wolves wouldn't have been able to come back here if I hadn't been there..." he shrugged. "I don't know what's right any more. 'Cause I did want to kill those men. I seen what they did, what they woulda keep doing." he sighed. "I knew I could end it." he shook his head. "But I also know that people can change. 'Cause everyone sitting here has." he looked to dad and me. "All life is precious. And that idea changed me. It brought me back and it keeps me living."

"I just don't think it can be that easy." Michonne noted.

"It's not easy." Morgan told her.

Michonne looked at him. "I wasn't saying it was."

"I know." he nodded. "And I've thought about letting that idea go. But I don't want to."

"You may have to." Michonne said. "Things aren't as simple as four words. I don't think they ever were."

"Do you think I don't belong here?" Morgan asked us, looking to each face.

"Making it now, do you really think you can do that without getting blood on your hands?" dad asked.

Morgan shook his head. "I don't know."

Everyone fell silent, with nothing left to say we all just stayed where we were, doing and saying nothing...

Sighing, Carol got to her feet and walked out. She was clearly pissed. I didn't really blame her. We'd killed the most amount of people the other day. Wolves, as Morgan called them.

Michonne wasn't far behind, leaving the room as well. She wasn't pissed, but I could tell she was in deep thought. Maybe Morgan's words had got her attention...

Dad turned to me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Fine." I was, at least a little bit. I still felt like crap, and was worried about Daryl. That wasn't going to stop until he was back. But at least I wasn't on the verge of having a break down. "I'm fine."

Nodding he looked over at Morgan before turning back to me. "I've gotta go. But if you need me, you find me, okay?"

"Yeah." I offered a small smile.

He hesitated a moment longer before walking out, leaving me in the room with just Morgan.

I looked at the older man as he watched me. Neither of us moved or said anything at first. We just sat there, looking at each other, reading each other...

"I'm sorry I upset you." he started. "I didn't mean to."

I gave a short nod. "I know. It's okay."

Relaxing a little, he looked away his eyes falling on the window. I knew we were done here. There was nothing either of us wanted to say or hear right now. So, I just turned on my heels and left him there.

RPOV

"If we can somehow get outside the walls, get back to our cars at the quarry, we could use them to draw them away." I told Michonne as we stood on the porch, looking at the wall.

She nodded. "We'll set up more watch points. Coordinate the shooting of guns and flares so we could pull them out in even directions."

"We'd need to get all our people on it. Carl, Vickie, Tara, Rosita, Carol." I noted. I knew Maggie wasn't up to it. Vickie probably wasn't either, but she'd do it.

"What about everybody else?"

"Well, let's just keep this to our own for now." I shrugged.

"Really?"

"Look, if we had the time to bring the people along, sure. But we haven't had a chance to catch our breath."

"Really?" she repeated with a sigh. "We're in here together. We're catching out breath right now. Anything else is just excuses."

I nodded, looking behind her shoulder. "Deanna."

"Rick." Deanna walked up to us.

I gestured to the rolled-up paper in her hands. "What's that?"

"Plans for the expansion." she smiled- the first time in a while.

"We got a few other things on our plate right now." I told her.

"I know." she handed the paper to Michonne. "These are for what Alexandria can be after this. Because one way or another, there's gonna be an after this." she said before walking off and leaving us.

VPOV

I sat on the grass, leaning back, looking up at the sky, wishing it would rain. The clear blue above me was not helping my mood. The day just seemed to bright and cheerful compared to the empty pit of pain and sorrow I was feeling. As each second went by without the others coming back, I felt worse and worse.

Aly was lying next to me, her head in my lap as she stroked Houdini's back. I'd grabbed her from the house and brought her out, knowing we both needed to spend time together, and try to enjoy the day. But we were still too upset...

I watched as people moved, doing whatever it is they were doing. It didn't matter. I didn't care. I was just looking for something to distract me. Rosita was teaching a group of people how to fight. Dad was working on building up the reinforcements on the wall where the truck had hit. Maggie was up in a guard tower again. Carl was walking around.

"When Glenn comes home, do you think he'll play with me?" Aly looked up at me. "I miss him."

I shrugged, brushing some hair out of her face. "I don't know. I think Maggie will want to spend some time with him first. You know, just the two of them."

"Like you and Daryl?"

"Yeah." I gave a little smile. "Like me and Daryl."

"Do you think I'll ever love a boy like that?"

My heart squeezed. It was like the conversation I'd had with my mum when I was younger... "I'm sure you will, sweetie." I told her.

"Even now?"

"Even now." I nodded.

Shifting, she got to her feet. "I'm gonna go find Tara, 'kay? She told me she'd show me how to use her yoyo."

"Okay." I nodded, watching as she walked off, Houdini right behind her.

I knew she wasn't in the mood, but she was trying. She knew that things might not get better for a while, and so she was trying not to think about it. Even though she was still very young, I found her mind was growing up a lot faster. But with a world as harsh as this one, it was bound to happen.

RPOV

I had nothing better to do, so I'd started building up more reinforcements on the wall. Even though I was sure it would hold, I didn't want to risk it. Trying to put the screws in a piece of wood into the holes of the beams, I found I couldn't hold it and get the screws in.

A pair of hands grabbed the wood as Tobin helped me keep the wood in place. "Here. You looked like you could use some help." he nodded before helping me get the piece in place. "You know, I think we could build a brace on this thing." he said once it was in place before moving to the small pile of wood nearby.

After he cut another piece of wood, he brought it over, noticing a bullet hole in the wall, with blood leaking through it.

"Don't mean anything." I told him. "As long as we keep this up." I said, both of us getting back to work.

He sighed. "You know, you scared the hell out of people when we first saw you."

"I know." I nodded, hammering a nail into the wood.

"You scared the hell out of me with that beard, the way you looked around like you were seeing thing we weren't, hiding around the corners." he looked at me. "Turns out you were." he shrugged. "Things moved slow here. And then things just started moving fast. Too fast. But don't give up on us." he said before turning back to the task at hand.

VPOV

"Get back here!"

I sat up at the sound of my dad yelling. Looking over to where the sound came from I could see him up on one of the guard towers... where Spencer was currently pulling himself along a robe that went from the wall, to a building on the outside of the community.

I got to my feet in an instant, running over to the next guard tower. Once I reached the ladder I climbed up, joining Tara and Eugene. But by the time I was up, Spencer was then hanging from the rope...

"Go! Keep moving! Hurry!" dad told him.

Shaking my head, I pulled out my gun. "Idiot." I muttered to myself, speaking about Spencer.

"Eugene, have Maggie and Rosita fire their guns out from their posts." Tara told him as she pulled out her own gun.

"Why?" he asked.

Turning a little harshly, I snapped at him. "Just go!" in the urgency of the situation I didn't have time to worry about hurting his feelings. Things could go bad really fast right now, so I just needed him to do what he was told.

Eugene looked at me with wide, fearful eyes, before nodding and climbing down the ladder.

Tara had moved so she was on the other side of the wall, holding onto it's edge while her feet sat on one of the diagonal beams holding the wall up on the other side. Using her free hand, she aimed and shot at the walkers gathering by Spencer's feet. Lifting my own gun, I aimed at the walkers as well, shooting as many down as I could, while I stayed planted on the guard tower.

Suddenly, the rope snapped, causing Spencer to fall to the ground.

"Spencer, come on!" dad yelled.

Spencer grabbed a hold of the rope before he looked to dad and Tobin, who then began to pull him up. All the while Tara and I kept shooting. Though Tara only lasted a few seconds longer...

"I'm out!" Tara put her gun away.

Dropping my gun, I reached for her. "Okay, hold on." I said before I pulled her up and over.

Seeing that Spencer was still hanging, I felt like I had no other choice but to take action. What we were doing right now, wasn't enough. So, I swapped with Tara and climbed over the wall to stand where she had been, while she reloaded her gun with some ammo on the guard tower. Both of us then continued to shoot at the walkers, not giving up.

In all the chaos I hadn't even realised that Morgan had joined dad and Tobin, helping them pull Spencer up and over, back to safety.

"Vickie!" Michonne had climbed up and was with Tara now. She came over to the edge of the wall, offering me her hand.

With Spencer back over there was no reason for me to stay where I was, so I reached for her hand and went to move. But with all the awkward moving I hurt and my still healing side stretching and moving in awkward and uncomfortable ways, I felt a sharp still pulse through me. It was enough to have me flinch and move the wrong way, making my feet slip.

I screamed, looking down at the walkers as I hung, seeing them reaching for me, grabbing at my feet. I tried to kick them away so I could pull myself up, as Tara and Michonne hurried to help me.

"Vickie!" Tara yelled as both her and Michonne grabbed my hands and began to pull.

Looking up at my friends, I shook my head, my eyes desperate and scared. "Don't let go!"

Without saying a word, Tara and Michonne continued to work, their hands gripping mine just as desperately as I was gripping their's. Both woman used all their strength, pulling and holding me, until they finally got me up and over to safety. One I was over, I fell against the guard tower floor, rolling onto my back as I breathed heavily, trying to calm myself.

"Are you okay?" Michonne asked, kneeling by my side.

"Is she hurt?" Tara asked from behind her.

"Victoria! Tara!" dad called, causing us to look over at him as he still stood on the other guard tower with Tobin, Morgan and Spencer. "You both almost died once for these people."

"What?!" Tara asked, clearly pissed by his words.

"What the hell were you doing?" dad shouted.

Tara just flipped him off before turning to me. "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."

With the help of Michonne, Tara managed to get me on my feet and on the ground with minor pain and without inflicting any more damage. But I was pretty sure it was too late. I was pretty sure I'd gone and hurt myself all over again.

RPOV

Once Tara, Michonne and Vickie turned away from us, I looked to Spencer.

"Lost a damn shoe." he sighed. "Crap."

I'd seen what had happened. I saw Vickie hanging there like walker bait. I'd frozen on the spot, watching as my daughter hung there, helpless, all because of this idiot. At that moment, I'd wished we'd left him on the ground for the walkers.

"What was that?!" I yelled. I was pissed, fuming, on the verge of rage.

"I was trying to help." he said as if it were that simple and obvious. "I wanted to get to a car, draw them away."

"You ever make a climb like that before?" when he shook his head I went on. "You want to help? Don't make us come running to save you. You got an idea, you come to me."

He just looked up at me. "Would you have listened to me?"

VPOV

With Tara's arm around my waist, just in case, she walked us into the infirmary.

The woman inside turned to us. "Tara, and... Victoria, right? You're Rick's daughter."

I nodded, offering a small smile. "Yeah, that's me."

"Denise, can you take a look at her?" Tara asked as she moved me to a bed. "There was a close call and she got hurt. We just wanna make sure everything's okay."

"Sure." Denise nodded, moving towards me. "So, what can I do?"

Sighing, I lifted my shirt and moved my bandages over so she could see my wound. "Everything okay, doc?"

She leaned forward to get a better look, her cold hands brushing my skin. "Well, it looks like it's almost completely healed on the outside. The stitches have gone. They usually are after a few days." she stepped back to look at me. "It looks like you've opened it up, but only a little. I can bandage it and give you some pills for the pain. But other than that, it looks fine."

Wow... not as bad as I thought... "Okay, do what you gotta." I shrugged, pulling my shirt off- knowing it would make the job easier.

Nodding she moved to grab some bandages before she got to work. As I watched her and looked around, I didn't miss the looks I got from both her and Tara... They were trying not to stare, but it was hard. I understood that it was hard. Seeing the state my body was in was a shock to most people. I mean, I might as well be a pincushion with all the injuries I get and scars I have. Though, I'd learnt not to be bothered by the marks on my body. They were apart of me now. Like birthmarks or whatever.

"Are you checking me out, or the scars?" I grinned to both women.

Tara cleared her throat, quickly looking way. "No, I wasn't-"

"It's okay. I don't mind." I assured her.

There was a small moment of silence before Denise looked up at me. "What happened to you?"

"I was accidentally shot here." I gestured to my first scar. "And I was attacked by a man who cut me all over. And I was shot here," I gestured to my arm, "and here." I point to my shoulder. "Then there was the other week." I shrugged, not needing to tell them what had happened then. Everyone knew what had happened.

Denise honestly looked so amazed... but there was slight pity there as well. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" I asked, confused.

"Keep fighting." she answered. "Aren't you scared?"

I gave a small smile. "I have reasons to live. My dad, and my brother and sister. My friends. Aly and Houdini. Daryl. Knowing people need me. Knowing I help them. Knowing they love and care about me, just like I care about them. It all keeps me going."

It was only a flicker, and very quick, but I still noticed how Denise looked over at Tara for a moment...

"Anyway, I better get going." I grinned, getting off the bed now that my wound was bandaged. "Aly might be looking for me."

"Okay, well, here." she moved to a cabinet and pulled out a small container of pills. "Take two every four to six hours for the next few days. Then come back, I'll take another look, and see where we go from there."

Nodding, I gave her a smile. "Thanks, Denise." turning for the door I stopped by Tara. "You too. Thanks for helping me and bringing me here."

She shrugged. "It's what we do, right?"

"Right." I nodded before walking out.

...

"Dad." I called, walking up to where he and Tobin were working on the wall again. He turned to me as I came to a stop. "Have you seen Aly?" I'd been walking around, trying to find Aly, but hadn't been able to find her. She wasn't at home, or next door, or at Jessie's, or with Maggie, or with Tara. I couldn't find her...

He shook his head. "No."

"Okay." I sighed before walking on. I didn't get very far though.

"Vickie." turning around I stayed where I was as dad came towards me. "Look, I'm sorry about before." he stopped in front of me. "I was just-"

I shrugged. "Spencer was stupid, that's obvious."

"I just meant, what you and Tara did for him, you didn't have to."

"I know." I told him simply.

"You could've died."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know and I get that. But, I mean, I wasn't really thinking about that at the time. He needed help, and I was there. It's that simple."

He shook his head. "We could have done it without you risking yourself. You know that. So why? Why'd you do it?"

"Because he's one of us." I answered as if that was obvious. "You see them and us, two separate groups. But we're here dad. Whether you like it or not, we're all together." I shrugged. "They're a part of our family too, now."

"Rick, Vickie." we bother turned as Deanna walked up to us. "You saved my son. Thank you."

Dad shook his head. "Thank Vickie and Tara."

She just smiled at him. "I already thanked Tara, now I'm thanking both of you."

"It was nothing." I told her. "Really, I would have done it for anyone."

She nodded. "I know."

"What Spencer did was stupid." dad noted.

Deanna nodded again. "I can't argue with that. At least he tried."

"That's not the point. I could have tried. There was a chance." dad said.

"How's that?"

Looking at her dad explained. "When the walkers were going for him, it made a gap. I could have jumped down, ran, made it out. I could have gotten a car, used it to lead the walkers away. I could have done that and Spencer would be dead."

"But you didn't do that." Deanna stepped closer to him. "Why?"

"I had to save him because he's your son." dad answered.

She shook her head. "Wrong answer."

Dad looked away, not responding to her.

I watched him, seeing him change as something in the sky caught his eye. Turning and looking up I watched as some green balloons drifted off. Green balloons like we'd used for the walker trail.

Maggie came running up to us, rushing as fast as she could before stopping by my side. "That's Glenn." she panted. "That's Glenn." she smiled.

I looked to her a smile of my own growing on my lips.

The sound of wood cracking had all of us looking over at the lookout tower that was by the wall where the truck had nearly gotten in. We all watched, jaws dropping as the wood creaked, snapped and broke before the tower gave way and came tumbling down, landing on the wall, pushing it to the ground, making an opening for all the walkers to get in.

Bamby