Shane and Anna raced back to camp kicking up gravel as they sped up the quarry road. Shane was driving Daryl's truck and Anna was following closely behind in her Jeep. The SUV, once black, was now coated in a thin layer of dust. Dale spotted them through his binoculars and went over to meet them.

Shane got out of the truck and ran back to the Jeep. He grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. "Holy shit! What the hell were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed back there."

Anna drew back as Shane leaned into her. "I got distracted for a moment. I'm fine. Everything's fine."

Dale couldn't help but notice the banged up Jeep. He glanced at Anna, a frown crossing his face. "What kind of trouble did you get into out there?"

"Nothing I couldn't get out of."

Dale's chest rose, his tone now serious. "That's not a good enough answer."

"Okay" she sighed. "A walker grabbed me while I was trying to get into the back of my Jeep. I'll admit it was close. I know I should have been more careful." She took a deep breath. "The good thing is all the supplies were still there."

Shane shook his head. "Maybe next time you'll listen when I tell you something." "Women" he muttered under his breath.

Anna cut her eyes at him as he walked around to unload the SUV. She followed behind as he carried the supplies into the camper.

Once inside, Anna glanced over at Daryl lying motionless on the couch. He looked so peaceful. She on the other hand felt completely wired. You've got to pull it together. You need to be at your best right now. He's never failed you once and you can't fail him now.

Dale stepped in, closing the door behind him. "What can I do to help?"

Anna turned to him. "You can assist me during surgery."

Dale rubbed his neck, uncertainty showing on his face. "Me?"

She gave him a reassuring look. "I promise it's not a big deal. You'll just have to hand me the instruments as I ask for them."

"Okay. I can do that."

Anna took Dale's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I have no doubt you can...I'm going to go ahead and get scrubbed up. I'll need your help with that."

Anna went to the sink and put a large drop of antiseptic soap in her hand. She asked Dale to pour out some water from one of the plastic water bottles. She thoroughly lathered up all the way to her elbows. She looked to Dale when she was done. "I'm ready to rinse."

Dale poured the remaining water over her hands. When she was clean, she began shaking them out. She let them air dry not wanting to take the chance that she would contaminate them on a hand towel. She grabbed a pair of small rubber gloves from one of her bags and put them on. She glanced at Dale. "I need you to scrub up exactly as I just did. There is a set of large rubber gloves in that box over there for you to use. Shane I'll need you to help him rinse."

Both men nodded.

"I've got to sterilize my tools. Once I do that, we can get started."

Anna opened her surgical kit and began taking out each instrument one at a time. She took cotton pads doused with hydrogen peroxide and wiped down each implement thoroughly. She then laid them out on a tray. Dale, freshly scrubbed, came to her side. She met his eyes. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay, let's go through the items I have here, just so there's no confusion during the procedure." She pointed to the tray. "The first and most obvious thing is the scalpel, next is the forceps, then the hemostatic clamp, scissors, sponges, antiseptic, cotton swabs, tape and sutures. We'll also begin the procedure by administering an IV. Do you have any questions before we get started?"

Dale shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Let's do this then."

Anna went to Daryl's side and laid out his left arm. She tied on a rubber tourniquet a few inches above his elbow. Having found a good vein, she wiped down the inside of his arm with an alcohol pad. Pulling the skin taut, she inserted the needle catheter. Once she was sure she hit the vein, she removed the needle and the tourniquet. She then attached the IV to the catheter and taped the line to his arm. "Okay" she said to Dale. "We'll let this get going for a few minutes and then we'll begin."

Once enough time had passed for the IV to take effect, Anna removed the bandage from Daryl's abdomen. She took the antiseptic and a cotton swab and thoroughly coated the area. Using the scalpel, she made a clean incision into the wound. Dale handed her the forceps. After she removed the bullet she began to look for the cause of the hemorrhage. It was his liver. The bullet had nicked it and there was a slow steady trickle of blood emanating from it. She called for the clamp and then pinched off the blood flow. Using the sponges, she absorbed the excess blood. She then took the suture and began to close the tear. When she was finished she clipped the excess thread and removed the clamp. Good. The hard part is over. Finally she stitched closed the incision and applied a clean bandage.

She looked over her shoulder at Dale. "That's it."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over."

"Me too. Lucky for us, we didn't have any complications. Thanks for the help Dale. I couldn't have done it without you. Now all we can do is wait."

Anna began loading the supplies back into her Jeep, when it dawned on her, the note. How could she have forgotten about it? She ran around to the front of the SUV and climbed in. Now where did I put that thing? I must have dropped it in the struggle.

She fumbled around looking for it, finding it in the floorboard in the back. She read it one more time.

Anna,

If you are reading this that means you're alive. Michael and I made it out of Atlanta. We got separated from Steven so we are leaving a note for him too. We are staying at the Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. This place is safe and we have everything we need. On the back of this paper is a map to our location. Find us.

David

A week and a half ago Anna couldn't have imagined anything that would have made her happier. She truly believed she would never see them again. Now there was a whole new set of circumstances that confused the matter. She liked these people she was with. Dale and Jacqui treated her like family and then there was Daryl. Daryl had complicated things most of all.