Just wanted to say I love writing Elijah's POV :) It's like the perfect contrast to the serious attitudes of Dawn and Gorman. Also, be prepared for more Dawn than you saw in the show, because towards the end I kind of started to like her character...you've been warned... ;)

ALEX'S POV

I still can't believe that they left.

Not Rick and them, I know they'll be back soon enough, but Kat and Maggie. We'd been together for weeks, suffering cannibals and hordes of walkers and tons of other unsavory obstacles, and now they're just gone. Off to Washington D.C to go and "save the world". Find the cure to end the reanimation of the dead, leaving the rest of us behind. We're supposed to follow them in a couple days, when Bob is healed up and Daryl and Carol come back with Caroline with medicine. I understand that if they didn't volunteer, Abraham would've left with his group and probably would have ended up as human sushi, but it still hurts that they had to leave today. Kat didn't even say goodbye.

It feels so empty at the church with most of us gone. Michonne and Carl are attempting to teach Ashley and Connor how to wield axes, but it's not going too hot. Even though Ashley is the same age as me and Connor is almost 13, they never really grasped the whole "end of the world" thing. Neither of them have ever killed any walkers, because somebody else has always been there to do it for them. But Michonne and Carl have nothing else to do. I watch them from a distance. Bob is sleeping a couple rows ahead of me, snoring quite loudly. I sit in the back row of pews, nearest to the doors, alone with my thoughts. Just how I want to be.

God, I wish Elijah was here right now. Maggie said that Beth and him were taken by the Termites, but we didn't find them when we broke out. Maggie thinks they're dead, I refuse to believe that though. Even if the Termites had them, the Termites don't exist anymore. They must have escaped. Most likely, they're probably roaming the woods somewhere, surviving on their own, looking for us. I need to find them.

By the time Rick and Sasha's group comes back, loaded with shopping carts and bags heavy with supplies, I've already formulated my pitch. Sasha checks up on Bob first, wrapping a thick hunting jacket over him as a blanket. They're just too cute together.

"Looks like somebody went shopping." I remark as Sasha sits down next to me, holding a big backpack in her hands. "What'd you get for me, Sasha Clause?" She smiles, unzipping the backpack loudly. Inside, I see several pairs of jeans. I never used to like getting clothes as presents, but not I'm ecstatic.

"Figured you'd need some new clothes. I don't think cargo shorts are in style much anymore, bud." I can't help but smiles estactly. She pulls out at least 4 pairs of black jeans, a pair of shoes, and a Wisconsin Badgers hoodie.

"Wisconsin? Where'd you find that?" Being from northern Indiana, the Wisconsin Badgers used to be bitter enemies.

"We raided a thrift store. The damn thing hadn't been touched in years, but there was this nasty hole in the floor with a bunch of nasty walkers in nasty water. Sadly, we had to go for a little swim. All the food was down there." She shivers, and I notice that her hair is still wet. Yuck.

"You pick up some perfume?" As soon as I say it, she looks offended. "I'm kidding, i'm kidding." I reassure her, smiling like an idiot.

I put the Wisconsin hoodie on, swallowing my pride, and then the flannel jacket over that. It must look horrible, cherry red under a faded blue and white checkered pattern, but to be honest, who the hell cares? I put a pair of jeans on over my cargo shorts, because i'm not going to strip in front of Sasha. That would just be awkward.

"I can't thank you enough, Sasha. You're a life saver."

She smiles nonchalantly. "I know."

"Hey, uh, I need to ask you something though." Her smile vanishes, and she looks concerned.

"Sure, what's going on?"

Suddenly, my mouth is dry. "Ah, I was wondering if we could go looking for Beth and Elijah." Before Sasha can say anything back, though, I continue rambling. "I just can't sit here knowing they could be out there somewhere, alone and starving or dead. I just need closure." If she says no, I don't know what i'll do. I can't really pout, because she just came back with all of this stuff for me. Maybe I could ask somebody else? In my head, my little speech sounded a lot better.

"Okay, we'll take a car. I'll go tell Rick, but we can only be gone for a couple hours." Her response is completely unexpected.

"Oh my god, really?"

"Really." I can't help but lock Sasha in a hug, but it's short lived. Bob clears his throat. "Hey hey hey, take it easy there, man." He's all smiles though, and we all laugh just a little bit. Sasha goes and talks to Rick. Even though I can't tell what's being said, Rick looks uncomfortable. But, Sasha pulls it off. Rick hands her a walkie-talkie and a car key. He hugs her tightly, smushing Judith between them comically. Bob looks at her worryingly, but Sasha talks to him. He looks worried after she leaves him, though.

"Okay, we got a couple hours. We have orders to be back by sunset, though, so we gotta hurry." Sasha grabs a new set of crutches she acquired from her run, and we hop in a red truck i've never seen before. It looks pretty new. There's only a couple cracks in the windshield, and hardly any mud stains on the front bumper.

"Daryl found a couple vehicles yesterday, so we don't have to walk."

"Good, because I can't walk that well. But hey, at least I have an excuse to not walk all over the place right now. Bob taught me to find the good out of a bad situation."

"Oh god, now i'll have both of you playing that game." She groans. "Where are we going first?" Now that she mentions it, I have no clue where Elijah and Beth might be. They could be anywhere, I suppose.

"How about the Terminus compound?" Sasha nods, and we're off.

KAT'S POV

I wake up on the ceiling of the church bus.

My whole body dully throbs in pain, but nothing feels broken. Well, besides my aching heart, but that's beside the point. Smoke fills the air, and I hear sloppy thuds against the sides of the van. More fucking walkers. Of course, nothing can ever go right with this damn cursed group of people. We can't just have a nice bus ride up to Washington, the damn van has to flip over and more walkers come to make a snack out of us. Typical day.

"Eugene!" Abraham calls out, dazed. Everyone else is hazily working their way up to their feet, but Eugene is still laying down. He's holding his ankle protectively, wincing in pain. Groggily, I army crawl through broken glass over to him, leaving shallow cuts along my arms. That'll sting later. Other than his ankle, Eugene seems fine.

"He's good!" I call out.

"Everyone else?"

"We're good!" Maggie and Tara yell in unison. Abraham makes it to his feet, and rushes over to where Eugene and I are. Together we get him up. Abraham leaves me to support him alone though, because he races for the back door.

"Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, with me. Kat and Tara, you cover Eugene. Come out after we drive the dead ones back!" Rosita and Maggie wobble disoriented to his side, leaning on Glenn for support. They have their guns out and ready to go. Abe grabs onto the roof and kicks at the emergency exit door with both legs until it pops open.

Several walkers are pushed back. One comes around the corner, but it's put down by Glenn's knife. Abe and the others jump out to deal with the walkers while Tara and I watch from inside, Eugene in the middle. He seriously looks like he's about to throw up. Who knows how he lasted this long if he still gets queasy at a couple walkers.

"Okay, let's go!" I tell Tara, and we duck through the opening, hauling Eugene out once we're through. Tara hands him her knife, and he scuffs. "I'll be useless with this, you know that right?" He stutters. All around us, the rest of the group is in beast mode, killing walkers left and right. Bashing and slashing with guns and knives.

Tara puts her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I know this all sucks and it's really scary, but it's time to be brave." A walker approaches her from behind, but I swipe at its face with my hatchet. Now blind, it rebounds and heads for me. But that ends when the ugly thing's head is rolling on the cement. I don't bother to kill the head, I just kick it into the forest.

Two more walkers come up on my side. Time to take out some aggression. I throw my hatchet at the first walker, an elderly woman with a few strands of moldy grey hair on her head, the remnants of a pearl necklace hanging loosely from her neck. The hatchet embeds itself deep in her skull, killing her. Before I can pull it out, though, the second walker comes up from behind. I feel fleshy hands grab at my hair, but suddenly they disappear.

Once I finally rip my hatchet free, I see Eugene stabbed the damn thing in the back. He's steering it in circles cluelessly, but once he sees i'm up, he steers the walker towards me. I plant my hatchet deep in the walker's temple. Black blood oozes out when I pull it free, and the walker falls.

Everyone else has finished assassinating the other walkers, and the coast looks clear either way. Clear roads for miles. I think I can make out a small town on a hill far in the distance. The bus is on fire now, which isn't a good thing, because that means we don't have a ride. And I hate walking.

The sun hangs low in the sky when we finally reach the small town on the hill. My feet are sore, and everybody is complaining. Even Abraham, the hardened, trained military soldier. At least we don't have to carry much, because most of our stuff was lost in the bus fire. Maggie lent me a set of clothes; One of her spare Wonder Woman tank tops and a pair of yoga pants. She's switched into jeans and has put on her blue sweatshirt. I resolve to find a long sleeve shirt or a jacket at least at the next available opportunity.

The town looks more like a village. Standing on the edge of town, I can see where all the local businesses fade away to more road. It reminds me of a old western town almost. Abraham selects a library to hole up in. It's been untouched, but we still arrange all of the book shelves like a barricade. We leave a small gap on one side, facing the windows so we can see any possible danger from afar.

I'm on watch first, but there really isn't anything to watch for. I end up browsing the book shelves, selecting a couple short books to read, leaning against the shelves inside our little is probably the best camp i've had in months. Maybe this group isn't all bad luck and death after all.

Of course, I'm proven wrong when I hear a gun click in front of me, and I freeze.

"Don't move, honey, and nobody gets hurt."