We had a funeral for Dale in the morning. This one I attended. I stood in front of Daryl, he had his hands on my shoulders. I looked over at Carl and he was crying. He saw me and swallowed hard.

After the funeral, the group was bringing stuff into Hershel's house. He said we needed to move in, that it was going to get cold soon and it's just plain dangerous to be out here with what just happened to Dale.

I ran off somewhere by myself. I leaned up against a fence and cried. We messed up! We messed up real bad! I cried harder. I wanted to tell Daryl but he would be so mad at me. I pulled my knees up to my chest. I don't know what to do. I just sat there and cried.

I stayed there for a long time. I stopped crying but now I was just depressed.

"Le!" I heard a familiar voice. "Leann!" It was Daryl and he did not look happy.

"Ya better stop doin' this and I mean it, little missy!" He came closer to me. "Look what just happened? Ya want that to be you?"

I kept my head down and started crying again.

"What's wrong?" Daryl said softer this time.

I shook my head.

"Nope." He shook his head. "Sissy? Why ya cryin?"

"…We—we did somethin' real bad and I cain't tell ya. Yer gonna be so mad, Daryl."

"Who's we?"

"Me and Carl."

"What'd ya do?" He pushed.

"I cain't tell ya." I wiped at my tears.

He sighed. "Cause ya think I'll get mad?"

I nodded. "I know ya will."

"If I promise I won't get mad, will ya tell me?"

I nodded without looking at him.

"Then, I promise." He said.

I sniffed. I got up and hugged him around the waist. I must have taken him by surprise because he moved back a little but once he realized he put his arms around me and kept them there.

I looked up at him through tears. "I saw Carl messin' with yer stuff yesterday, he took the gun ya had in yer bag and went into the woods, I followed him and we found a walker! We got scared and ran and we didn't kill it and it found it's way back here and killed Dale!" I cried loudly. "It's all our fault!"

Daryl was quiet for a minute. Then he finally spoke. "Y—you guys went into the woods by yourselves?"

I nodded and wiped my tears with my arm. "I'm sorry, Daryl! Please don't hate me! I'll never do it again! I just wanted to go find Carl and tell him to put yer gun back!" I cried all over again. "I didn't mean to get Dale killed."

Daryl picked me up and took me over to a tree stump. He sat down on it and sat me on his lap.

"Quit yer cryin' and look at me." He said.

I wiped my tears away and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Listen, baby…it wasn't yer fault that Dale died."

"But we didn't kill the walker."

"No, but ya did the right thing by runnin' away."

I gave him a questioning look.

"One of ya could've gotten hurt or worse." Daryl cleared his throat. "But…ya shoulda told me so I could've taken care of it."

Tears started to fall again.

"But I don't want ya blamin' yourself fer this." Daryl wiped my tears with his thumb. "Ya didn't mean fer anyone to get hurt."

I shook my head.

"…but I am gonna have to punish ya. Ya cain't be wanderin' off like that."

I looked at him sadly. "What are ya gonna do to me?"

"I'm gonna talk to Rick about it. This wasn't all you. I'm not gonna punish ya and then have Carl roamin' around here all the time so it just happens again."

I nodded.

Daryl and I walked back to camp together. He had his hand on the back of my neck, I felt like a naughty child being sent to the corner.

We found Rick over by the barn.

"Ay, Rick!" Daryl called. Rick looked over at us. "Gotta talk to ya."

"I think I already know what this is about." He said walking over to us. He stopped with his hands on his hips.

"The kids went on a little adventure." Daryl said.

Rick nodded. "Carl told Shane, Shane told me."

"What do ya think we should do? They cain't be runnin' around like that."

Rick sighed. "I don't know."

Suddenly, we heard someone yelling. Shane came out of the woods with blood on his face.

"We'll talk about it later." Rick said. The three of us ran over there. The others were already there.

"He's armed! He got my gun!" Shane said talking about Randall. "He clocked me in the face and took off!"

"Everyone get back to the house!" Rick said. "Shane, Daryl, Glenn and I will go look for him!"

Shane and Rick split off and so did Daryl and Glenn. I started following them. "I'm comin' too!"

"No, Le!" Daryl said. "Get back to the house!'

"No, Daryl! I have to come with you!"

With that said, the three of us went in search of Randall.

Glenn, Daryl and I were quietly looking around in the woods for any clues.

I heard Daryl sigh. "This is pointless. Give me a light."

Glenn handed Daryl the flashlight. Daryl flashed the light around and groaned. "Come on."

"Le?"

"Right here."

We walked farther into the dark forest.

"We're just back to square one." Glenn said.

"If you're gonna do a thing, ya might as well do it right." Daryl said.

"How far are we from the house, Le?" Glenn asked.

I briefly looked around. "I cain't tell."

"What do you mean you can't tell?"

"I ain't got super powers." I snapped. "It's too dark but we haven't been out here fer very long, so I'd say we're not too far."

"There's two sets of tracks right here." Daryl said. Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said." He shined the light around more. "There's fresh blood on this tree." He shined the light down. "And more tracks. Looks, like they're walking in tandem."

"Tandem?" I questioned.

"One right behind the other." Daryl said.

We heard an animal in the distance and Glenn jumped.

"Sorry." He said.

"Yeah, there was a little dust up right here." Daryl said.

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked.

"I mean, somethin' went down." My brother said.

"This is gettin' weird." I said.

"Had a little trouble." Daryl said and shined the flashlight at the ground ahead of us.

We heard leaves rustling like someone was walking over. We quickly hid behind trees. I heard Daryl whistle. It was a walker, we could tell.

Glenn stepped out and shined the light at the walker's face. It was Randall. He struggled with the walker and it fell on top of him. Daryl pulled him off Glenn. I wanted to be the hero. I wanted to redeem myself for not killing the walker that killed Dale. I pulled out my knife and stabbed it in the head as hard as I could. I must not have been strong enough because it didn't die.

"Shit." I said. It grabbed onto me and we both fell onto the ground. I heard Daryl shoot an arrow from his crossbow but missed. I thought I was done for…but then Glenn quickly beat its head with his tool and it finally died. Daryl shined his light down at him.

"Nice." He said.

Glenn pulled my knife out of its head and gave it to me.

"Thanks." I said. Daryl helped me up.

"I couldn't do it." I said disappointed.

"It was a good try, though." Daryl tried to assure me.

Daryl examined Randall's dead body. "Got his neck broke." He turned it over. "He's got no bites."

"Yeah, none that you can see." Glenn said.

"Nah, I'm tellin' ya he died from this." Daryl said.

"How'd he turn then?" I asked very confused.

The three of us just looked at each other.

We made our way back to the farm. We heard a gunshot on the way back.

"Rick and Shane ain't back yet?" Daryl asked everyone.

"No." Lori said.

"We heard a shot."

"Maybe they found Randall." She suggested.

"We found him." I said.

"Is he back in the shed?" Asked Maggie.

"He's a walker." Daryl said.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Said Glenn.

"His neck was broke." Daryl said.

"So he fought back." Said Patricia.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were on top of each other." My brother said. "And Shane ain't no tracker so he didn't come up behind him. They were together."

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asked Daryl.

"Ya got it." Daryl said.

"Thank you."

I looked at her. She gave me a look that I couldn't figure out before I followed my brother outside. We stopped on the porch. There was a huge herd of walkers coming!

Hershel told Patricia to turn off the lights and Andrea went to get the guns.

"Maybe they'll pass like the herd on the highway." Glenn said. "Should we just go inside?"

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about." Daryl said. "A herd that size will rip the house down."

"Daryl?" I whispered and grabbed his arm.

"It's alright, baby girl, just stay close."

"Carl's gone!" Lori said. "He was upstairs, I can't find him!"

Maggie picked up a gun.

"They got the numbers, it's no use." Daryl said.

"You can go if ya want." Hershel said and cocked his shotgun.

"You gonna take 'em all on?"

"We have guns, we have cars." Hershel replied.

"Kill as many as you can." Andrea said. "Then we use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."

"Ya serious?" Daryl asked.

"This is my farm." Hershel said. "I'll die here."

"All right." Daryl said. It's as good a night as any." He hopped down off the porch.

"Daryl, wait!" I jumped down and followed him.

Daryl got on his bike. "Stay here!" He yelled to me. "Kill as many as ya can. I'm gonna ride around and try to draw 'em away."

"I wanna go with you!"

"No, just do what yer told fer once, Le!"

I took a step back.

"Listen, if I ain't back, don't wait fer me! Find someone and get outta here! Get to safety!"

"I won't leave without you!"

"Le! Ya will!" He shouted. "Now go!" He took off and I ran away.

I stayed by Hershel. We killed as many walkers as we could. We killed them for a long time.

I couldn't see the others anymore. I couldn't hear Daryl's bike either. The only person I was near was Hershel.

"I'm out!" I yelled to Hershel.

While he was reloading his shotgun. We heard a gunshot right behind us. It was Rick and he had Carl with him.

"I don't know what happened, Rick." Hershel said. "They just keep coming!"

"Did you see Lori?" Rick asked.

"No!" Hershel yelled.

"She got in a truck!" I yelled.

"We have to go." Rick said.

"It's my farm!"

"Not anymore!" Rick dragged Hershel away. I followed them.

We got into a red truck and drove away off the farm.

Rick drove us back to the highway where the mess of cars was. It was starting to get light out. We parked and got out.

"Wait, where's mom?" Carl asked. "You said she'd be here."

"Well she ain't." I said.

"We gotta go back for her." Carl said.

"Carl—" Rick tried.

"No, why are we running?" Carl said. "What are you doing? It's—it's mom. We need to get her and not be safe a mile away."

"Shh. We need to be quiet all right?" Rick said. "Please."

Carl Hesitated. "Please…it's mom."

"Look, Carl, listen…"

"No!" Carl ran off.

Rick tried to go after him but Hershel stopped him.

"Rick. You've got to get your boy to safety…and Le." He said. "I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places. We'll meet up at one of them later."

"I'm stayin' too." I blurted out. "Yer crazy if ya think I'm goin' anywhere without my brother."

"Where?" Rick said. "Where is safe? We're not splitting up."

"Please." Hershel said. "Keep your boy safe. I'll hide in one of the cars. If a walker gets me then so be it. I've lost my farm. I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters."

"You don't know that." Rick whispered. "They'll be here."

"And you don't know that."

"You're a man of God." Rick snapped. "Have some faith!"

"I can't profess to understand God's plan," Hershel started, "but Christ promised a resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something…a little different in mind."

"Pfft." I said.

"We stick together." Rick said and went to get Carl.

"My brother's still alive, I know he is." I said to Hershel. "We ain't goin' anywhere til the others get here."

Hershel gave me a look and squeezed my shoulder.

There was a walker. We hid behind the truck to avoid it. Once it walked passed, Rick gave us the signal to go around.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispered.

"I'm not leaving without mom." Carl said.

"And I ain't leavin' without Daryl." I said.

"So we're just gonna walk away?" Rick asked Hershel. "Not knowing if my wife or Le's brother or your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?"

"You've only got one concern now—just one—keeping him alive." Hershel said. "Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true."

Rick thought for minute and looked around before getting down to Carl and I's level and saying, "It's not safe here. I'm sorry. We'll—"

We heard the sound of a motorcycle!

"Daryl?" I tried looking around but the cars were in my way.

"Le, wait!" Rick yelled.

I saw Daryl ride up on his bike with Carol! Followed by a truck and a car!

"It's them!" I yelled and ran to my brother who just parked. "Daryl!" He lifted me and held me close. "I knew ya were okay! I just knew it!"

He let out a little laugh. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. He put me down and kissed the top of my head. He and Rick shook hands then Rick went to Lori.

"No." I said and made a gesture for him to pick me back up.

He chuckled. "Ain't ya gettin' a little too old fer this?" He still picked me up anyway.

"Oh well." I said wrapping my arms around his neck.

Maggie and Beth ran to Hershel.

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl.

"Well, this guys' tail lights zigzaggin' all over the road—figured he had to be Asian drivin' like that."

Glenn laughed. "Good one."

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked.

I looked around. "Oh yeah."

"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick stated.

"Shane?" Lori asked.

Rick just shook his head.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked.

"She saved me, then I lost her." Carol said.

"We saw her go down." T-Dog said.

"Patricia?" Hershel asked.

"They got her too." Beth started crying. "I was holdin' onto her daddy, she just—" Hershel hugged her. "What about Jimmy?" She asked. "Did you see Jimmy?"

"He was in the RV." Rick said. "It got overrun."

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked.

"There were walkers everywhere." Lori said.

"Did you see her?"

No one replied.

"I'm gonna go back." Daryl said and put me down.

"No." I grabbed his arm.

"No." Rick said.

"We cain't just leave her."

"We don't even know if she's there." Rick said. "She isn't there. She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead."

"There's been walkers crawling all over." T-Dog said. "I say head east."

A walker was coming towards us.

"Stay off the main roads." Daryl said. "The bigger the road the more the walkers, more assholes like this one. I got him." Daryl shot it with his crossbow. I ran over and collected his arrow.

Then we all got back in our cars and headed out. I rode on Daryl's bike with him. We were leading the parade.

We weren't driving for very long until we heard one of them honk the horn. Everyone pulled over and got out of their cars.

"You out?" My brother asked Rick.

"Running on fumes." He replied.

"We can't stay here." Maggie said.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn said.

"We'll make a run for gas in the morning." Said Rick.

"Spend the night here?" I asked.

"I'm freezing." Carl complained.

"Ya go out lookin' fer firewood, stay close." Daryl said.

"We'll find shelter somewhere." Said Rick. "There's gotta be a place."

We all kind of looked at each other.

"Rick look around, okay?" Glenn said. "There's walkers everywhere."

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up." Rick said.

"Even if we do find a place." I said. "Ya think it'll be safe?"

"We can never be sure for how long." Maggie added.

"We'll camp here tonight." Rick said. "Over there, get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked Daryl.

"What if walkers come through or another group like Randall?" Beth said.

"Ya know, I found Randall, right?" Daryl said. "He had turned but he wasn't bit."

"How's that possible?" Asked Beth.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asked.

"Shane killed Randall." My brother said. "Just like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked.

Rick was silent for a moment. We all looked at him waiting for a response.

"We're all infected." Rick finally said.

"What?" I looked up at my brother.

"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

I was horrified.

"And you never said anything?" Carol said.

"What it have made a difference?" Rick asked.

"Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone." Glenn said.

"Well, I thought it be best if people didn't know." Said Rick.

Everyone looked at Rick. He finally walked away and Lori followed him.

"Daryl?" I whispered. I looked at him with desperate eyes.

"It's okay. Ya just stay by my side and don't worry, okay?"

I wasn't convinced.

Later that night, we were sitting around a campfire. Daryl was sitting on a log next to Carol and I was sitting on his lap.

"We're not safe with him." Carol said to Daryl. "Keeping something like that from us."

"Nah, Rick's done all right by me." Daryl said.

"You're his henchman." She said. "And I'm a burden. We deserve better."

"What do ya want?" Daryl asked her.

"A man of honor."

"Rick has honor." Daryl said roughly. He threw some twigs into the fire.

I heard a noise in the woods. "What was that?"

"Could be anythin'." Daryl said. "A raccoon. A possum."

"A walker." Glenn said.

"We need to leave." Said Carol.

"What are we waiting for?" Maggie asked.

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running around in the dark." Rick said. "We have no vehicles. No one's traveling on foot."

"I'm not sittin' here waiting for another herd to come through." Maggie said.

"No one is going anywhere." Rick said. "I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!"

What? Shane? He killed Shane?

"You saw what he was like." Rick continued. "He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice."

Rick was acting crazy! I never saw him like this. He said some other things that just kind of shut everyone down. He walked away.

I looked up at Daryl. He just put his arms around me and rested his head on top of mine.