I drummed my fingers on my thigh as I listened to Michonne and Daryl tinker around in the hood of the car. Grunts and annoyed grumbles were coming from the front end of the stagnant SUV. My feet dangled a few inches off the concrete, rain pattering down around me. The car's trunk door was opened above, keeping me sheltered from the water drops for now.

It was the type of cold outside where, before the turn, little kids would deliberately disobey their moms and go splash around in mud and puddles, ruining their school clothes. I remember specifically that, since I was one of those kids once upon a time. Now, however, I didn't exactly confide in cloud showers the way I used to.

"Danny!" Michonne's voice cut through the spatters of raindrops from the front. I pushed myself onto the ground and flicked my hood up, peeking around the back end of the car. Michonne waved me to her.

"What's up?" Rain ran down my leather jacket in streams as I approached her. Daryl had his hands working in the engine, staring down at the clumped metal. Michonne set her jaw and went past me, pulling open the driver's side door and plucking her bag up from the seat.

"Car won't start. We'll have to go on foot. I've gotta finish up a little here," She gestured to where Daryl was presumably harvesting what parts he could from the broken-down engine. I nodded in understanding.

"Who should I tell?" I asked, sparing her the trouble of having to tell me to alert everybody else. Michonne slung her back on her shoulder, then her sword's strap over that. She pointed towards where Carol, Rick, and Maggie were shielding themselves from the rain and staring at a map, covered with somebody's spare coat to keep the water away.

"Alright. Seeya later." I gave her a brief, two-finger wave and tromped through the puddles of collected mud and rainwater until I was standing a few feet from the three and squinting through my rarely-worn glasses. They were already foggy with droplets and hard to see through, but I figured it better than my eyes stinging from the irritation of watery pellets.

"Hey," I began. They all looked up simultaneously. "I'm Michonne's delivery boy. She wants me to tell y'all that the car's broken and it ain't gonna start again. She said we're going to have to make it on foot from here."

Rick exchanged glances with Maggie and Carol in turn, then looked back to me. Carol offered a smile, but Maggie kept her resting neutral expression as rain soaked her hair and ran down her face in rivulets.

"Thanks for the notice." Carol spoke first, rolling up the map and covering it in the coat. She tucked it under her arm and looked to her two companions. "I'll tell the rest of the group if you both can get them ready."

I turned on my heel and walked away before I heard their responses; In all honesty, I didn't really care. I'd done my job and now I had to report back to Michonne and get myself ready to go as well.

"Michonne!" I called from a few feet away. She glanced up and slid her katana blade out of the soaked skull of a limp biter that had snuck up on her.

"I told 'em." I reported, wiping raindrops off my face. Michonne smiled her usual supportive smile.

"Thanks. I'll make sure they know to wait for you, alright? Go get yourself ready."
I nodded and went back to where I began, the back of the broken-down SUV. The rain was beginning to drizzle away, but the dark clouds up ahead looked like it was only a partial clearing. Still, I took it with a grain of salt and grabbed my bag from against the back of the seats. I did a quick check through of it, making sure everything was still there. While I did, one particular change caught my notice. Everything was there, except for my sleeping pills I'd taken a few weeks ago. However, I brushed it off as a miscount and simply shrugged my backpack onto my shoulders, calling up to Michonne that I was ready.

That night, we were still walking along the road. The sun had already gone down about a half-hour ago, but we didn't stop moving. Despite the lack of usable refuge along the streets and backroads, Rick had said it would be better if we could pack in some more travel if we went through the night just tonight. I wasn't opposed to it, and after awhile, I'd come to respect Rick and his decisions.

I didn't know exactly where we were, but by the road signs, I'd say we were just inside of Virginia. I'd never been here before the turn, but I could tell just from the scenery that we weren't in Georgia or either of the Carolinas anymore. I didn't mind the large amount of travel lately, honestly. The farther away from my home it was, the better.

"You doing okay?" Michonne fell in-step beside me. I glanced up from watching my feet move to see her eyes looking at me calmly.

"I… uh, yeah. I'm fine." I felt a little awkward with her gaze focused on me, but I hid it and gave her a smile. She smiled back.

"Just checking up on you. Rick said we're going to split up at the crossroads just ahead, see what we can see both ways. Both him and I are going to lead a group; do you want to be in mine?" Carl, who was walking just ahead of me, heard Michonne and I talking and looked back.

"Sure, I'll go with you." I agreed as casually as I could.

"I'll join in too, if that's okay." Carl offered, only briefly looking at Michonne before making eye contact with me. I was glad it was dark, or else both would've seen my blush.

"I guess so." Michonne replied as we came upon the X in the road. I tried to read the street names, but the metal signs were too badly shot up to read. I took that as a bad omen, but kept quiet about it. When Carl gently nudged me, I glanced over at him and realized that Michonne and the rest of her group were already beginning to leave.

Glenn, Maggie, and Daryl were among the half-group, all clumped together at the front. Carl and I hung back, since he had been making sure I wasn't going to be left behind. He silently offered me Judith, and I hesitated before allowing him to nestle his baby sister in my arms.

"Hey…Maybe, you know, since you have Judith…" Carl began, glancing around warily. I didn't trust that look and narrowed my eyes at the ground, waiting for the same excuse he's been using the past few days. "Maybe you should hang back if we find something. Just to keep Judith safe."

I could hear the blatant lie in his voice, but I just gave him a strained smile and nodded. I was sick of him telling me to lay low and keep away from the fighting by now, but I'd humour him.

"Oh, good. Thanks." Carl gently pressed his lips to my cheek and I sighed. He didn't seem to notice.

After about five minutes, we came across a collection of still-standing houses. I zipped up my jacket and held Judith closer in her little swaddle, wondering if Carl was right. I couldn't very well fight with a baby. A bitter vapor stung my heart when I realized that he had only given me Judy to make sure I would listen. I cast him a glare, but he was looking away.

Suddenly, everything happened at once. The calm streets took a dark turn as biters began to swarm out of the spindly forest, surrounding us. I heard Michonne warn us to split off, to fight as long as we could and run when we couldn't anymore. Carl gave me a look that almost commanded me to choose the latter, but I cast him a dark glare and pulled out my knife, shifting Judith onto my hip and lunging for the nearest biter.

"Goddammit!" I heard Carl curse when I stabbed the biter through the eye, but it kept reaching for me. I sunk the blade deeper and it went limp. I glanced back to see Michonne giving Carl a brief disappointed look and I almost smiled.

I didn't have time to revel in that, however, as I was a little too slow to dodge the next biter looking for fresh meat. Its rotting hand grabbed on to my sleeve and began to pull me forward with all its might. With Judith occupying my other arm, there was little more I could do that trying to kick and pull myself free. The cadaver tugged me closer and closer, its wormy teeth snapping closer and closer to my neck each time I struggled to get myself away. A shot went off and the biter dropped, limp, to the concrete.

Carl grabbed my wrist and began to run. He looked shaken at the close call, but I had to sprint to keep up with him, which wasn't easy with a baby girl on your hip. Judith was surprisingly quiet as we ran.

We went through a few yards, Carl urging me to keep up by picking up the pace, until we came across a shed in somebody's side-yard. He glanced around to see if anything was close enough to see us. I followed his gaze to the crowd of biters just barely rounding the fenced corner. Carl's grip tightened on my wrist as he shoved the door open and practically threw me inside, shutting the door quietly as he could and dropping to his knees, panting.

I was breathing just as hard at the beginning, but while mine slowed with time, Carl still looked shaken. I plopped to the floor across from him, the darkness pressing in on us as I watched him stare, wide-eyed, at me and Judith.

"…Did I ever tell you about my family's dog?" I asked in a whisper, hoping a story will calm Carl down. His breathing slowed at the sound of my voice, and he slowly shook his head. I waited as he glanced down at his gun, then back at me.

"He was the dumbest fuckin' dog in the world," I began with a grin. Carl raised his eyebrow. I continued. "Golden retriever, you'd think he'd be smart. But, the stupid little thing didn't even know how to fetch."

"Really?" I could hear humour in Carl's whisper. His eyes were brighter now, and his breathing had slowed to a steady pace. Although he still had a tight grip on his pistol, finger over the trigger, I gently laid my hand over his.

"There was this thing he'd do when my mum and I were watching TV," A biter passed with a growl, and I paused. Carl tensed, but the groans soon faded out. "He would jump up on the ottoman, right at our feet, and bite at my mum's toes. Wouldn't bite me, though. Don't know why. It was his thing."

Even though Carl didn't laugh, I at least got a smile out of him. I bounced Judith in my lap and adjusted her swaddle.

"Don't worry, honey." I reassured him softly. Carl met my eyes with an almost offended expression.

"What?"

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" He whispered, one eyebrow raised. I grinned and held Judith closer.

"You're scared. I'm not." I pointed out cheekily. He rolled his eyes.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Carl, you're paler than a ghost. You're spooked. Don't worry about it, I don't think you're a wimp or anything. We all get freaked out sometimes." Although I was trying to put his mind at ease, Carl looked insulted. Maybe he wasn't used to being seen as weak. I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, but he pushed me away.

"This is why I didn't want you to come." His voice was soft and strained. Now it was my turn to be insulted. I clutched Judy to my chest.

"Look, Grimes. I know you're... worried about me, or something like that, but... You can't protect me. You're smart. You should know that by now." I responded harsher than I needed to, but I think I got the message across, considering Carl flinched. He crossed his arms, setting his pistol in his lap.

"Maybe if you'd listened to me, then I wouldn't have to protect you." Carl stared me right in the eyes. Usually, the gunmetal blue in the darkness would've taken my breath away, but now I was so annoyed that I didn't even try to dwell on it.

"Stop that. I'm not going to act like a scared little kid and huddle back because you tell me to. I know how to fight, I know how to kill, and I'm not a China doll. I won't break." I couldn't believe he actually thought of me like this. I might be blowing it out of proportion, but I needed to get this through to him, once and for all.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that it's completely fucking dumb for you to risk yourself, when...when..." Despite his agitation, Carl was at a loss for words. I narrowed my eyes.

"You're lying. You think I can't handle myself. Newsflash, Grimes, where do you think I was the past few years? Oh, that's right, I actually looked out for myself then. I know how to survive, and I don't need you tiptoeing around me like I'm on thin ice or some stupid shit like that!" My voice was rising, but I forced a harsh whisper. Judith was beginning to babble, and no matter how much I bounced her, she wouldn't calm.

While Carl tried feebly to justify himself, I stared down at Judith. A panic rose in my throat as her face began to pucker up, eyes squeezing shut.

"Carl..." I began, but it was too late. I don't know if it was our arguing or just a spur of the moment sob, but Judith began to wail as loudly as she could. Carl and I locked eyes, and just as we jumped to our feet, we heard snarls and growls begin to crowd outside the shed door.

"Fire twice, then run." I warned Carl, grabbing my own knife from my back pocket. He seemed completely against my idea, hostility still present in his expression, but he nodded and pointed his gun at the door nonetheless. I shoved the door open right as the biters began to close in.

I sunk my blade into the first corpse I saw, stepping back as it crumpled to the grass. Three more took its place, and I began to panic when I felt the biters closing in. I heard Carl shoot, but it was more than twice. I heard him curse aloud.

I glanced back, but I couldn't see Carl anywhere. I felt the age old fight or flight instinct begin to take over, and my luck was running out in the fight department. I cleared as many biters as I could, maybe half a dozen, without them touching Judith. I was extremely glad that I had the leather jacket on, or else I'd be bitten several times over.

I turned on my heel and shoved through the two beginning to press in behind me. The biters stumbled back and I took off running towards the street. I couldn't feel anything and felt light as air, but all that mattered right now was the baby I still had clutched in my arms. She was as out of breath as I was, bouncing against my chest as I ran. Nobody but biters were in sight, and I depended on my feet to lead me back to the road where we began.

I began to slow down when the biters' noise faded a little in the background, but I was still at a steady jog. My heart was racing and I hoped Carl had gotten out. I had to find Rick's group first, tell them that we were overrun.

I glanced down at Judith and saw her blood-spattered, chubby face begin to twist into a deep frown. Panicking, my mind sent me back to a memory of reading baby books to deal with my neighbor's shithead baby, and remembered that if a baby sees you frustrated or angry, it will panic as well, and begin to cry. And right now, more sound was just the opposite of what I needed. I let my lips curl into a faux smile and looked down at Judy, hoping she couldn't see the terror and hopelessness in my eyes.

Judith calmed, her balled hands relaxing and wrapping her fingers around each other. The growls pressing in on every side of me made me clutch the tiny body closer to my chest, my feet moving faster than I thought was humanely possible.

Figures began to appear from the dark as I approached the crossroads. I picked up my speed into a run again, heading towards the upright figures and hoping that this time, they weren't more biters.

I slowed down as neared Rick's group, panting too hard to get words out. But, once they saw the blood-drenched Judith and I, they didn't seem to need words. Either that, or, considering Carl had gotten back before me and was already speaking animatedly to his dad. I didn't realize how terrified I must have looked until Carol pulled me aside.

My hearing was buzzing, and I could still hear biter growls in the back of my mind. They drowned out Carol's words, but I could read her lips well enough to know to nod when she finished speaking. She gently took Judith from my arms. I was glad I wasn't responsible for her now, but from the amount of blood and gore on both of us, I wished I never was.

I was still in a slight state of shock when Carl grabbed my arm. I whirled around, ready to grab my knife. He stepped back and let go, but he still had his eyes narrowed.

"What the hell." Carl glared at me. I didn't understand what he was asking, and in my disturbed state, I only shrugged and shook my head with wide eyes.

"I told you to stay back. Why, out of all the times, did you have to not listen now?" He tried to keep his voice down, I knew, but hostility was raising his volume. Carol stepped away and pretended not to notice.

"I know how to fight…" My voice was quiet, but my vulnerable state didn't hold Carl's chastisement back.

"Apparently fucking not. You could've gotten Judith killed." He stressed the last word more than necessary, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. He was right.
"I'm sorry.." I began, forcing tears back. Carl had his arms crossed. He was angrier at me than he ever was before, and I wanted to just curl up and die there.

"Whatever." After a long silence, he finally breathed out that one word, and stormed away to join Rick and the rest of his group in going to help Michonne's group. I didn't notice until now that I was clutching on to the bottom hem of my jacket, something I did often when I was little whenever I was anxious.

Instead of actually going to help, I instead sunk to the ground, right in the ditch there, and cried. Useless.