Author's Note

I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update in a while. College is a real hassle, especially if you want to keep up your social life and not become some kind of hermit (which, admittedly, I've kind of become lol). Anyway, I plan to write a few chapters this weekend, in case it happens again and I'm not able to write during the week.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!

Caterina sat with the remainder of the group around the fire pit. Even Andrea had curled up in one of the lawn chairs, although she refused to look at or talk to anyone. But no one could fault her for it. After all, she had to shoot her own sister in the head.

Caterina sat in a lawn chair next to Carol and Sophia, cleaning her arrows and her crossbow. There really wasn't any need, but it kept her occupied. She really didn't want to think about Amy or Jim or any of the others had had fallen victim to those walkers. She didn't want to think about how she had recognized one of the walkers from the city, and how it might have been her and Rick's fault that they'd been drawn from the city to their camp.

She looked up as Rick, Shane, and Dale approached the group, having returned from their circuit.

"I've, uh…I've been thinkin' about Rick's plan," Shane started, gaining everyone's attention.

Caterina heard footsteps coming up behind her before two hands appeared on her shoulders. She didn't need to look to know that it was Glenn. He was the only person that she couldn't see clearly.

"Now look, there are no, uh…no guarantees either way," Shane continued. "I'll be the first one to admit that." He looked across the fire at Rick. "I've known this man for a long time. I trust his instincts." He glanced around at the others. "I say the most important thing here is we need to stick together. So, those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the mornin'. Okay?"

No one said anything, but they all seemed to understand. This little oasis that they'd found was no longer safe, and they had to move before another group of walkers stumbled upon them.

The next morning, everyone gathered around the line of cars. Caterina stood with Dale and Daryl to the far side of the group, her crossbow strapped to her bag, which was hanging off one shoulder. Normally, she would two-strap it to keep from hurting her back (she might be spry, but she wasn't exactly young anymore), but she would be putting it down soon anyway, so there was no real need.

"Everybody, listen up," Shane called out as they got ready to head out. "Those of you with CBs, we're gonna be on Channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now, you got a problem—don't have a CB, can't get a signal—anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales stepped forward almost hesitantly. "We're, uh…we're not going," he informed everyone, much to their surprise.

"We have family in Birmingham," his wife explained. "We wanna be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane told him, trying to talk them out of leaving. He didn't want them to go off and end up getting hurt. After all, they had two kids. Morales might be tough, but his wife sure wasn't. He would be doing all of the heavy lifting if they ran into any trouble, and it would be easy for them to be overrun.

"We'll take the chance," Morales said. "I gotta do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick asked, thinking along the same lines as Shane.

"We talked about it. We're sure."

Rick nodded. "All right. Shane?" he asked, motioning to his duffle bag at their feet. Shane nodded his assent, and Rick knelt down to rifle through his collection of guns. Caterina's had been added to it, to make room for anything else that they might come across in time. ".357?" he posed as he pulled a Model 586 Smith & Wesson from the bag along with a box of .357 Magnum ammunition.

"Yeah," Shane nodded. He took the box from Rick, and the two of them approached Morales, each of them presenting their gifts. "Box is half full."

Morales took the gun and ammunition gratefully.

Daryl scoffed as he started to pace next to Caterina, who reached out and elbowed him in the ribs once he was within range. He placed his hand over the spot where she'd hit him, even though she hadn't hit him nearly hard enough to actually hurt him, and glared back at her. He looked away, however, when she didn't stand down.

Caterina looked up at Dale when she spotted his amused expression from the corner of her eye and winked at him, earning a silent chuckle from him.

Lori leapt down from her perch on the hood of one of the vans and walked over to Morales' family.

"Thank you all for everything," Morales' wife said tearfully.

Lori didn't say anything as she just took the woman into her arms, allowing her to cry into her shoulder.

Morales held his hand out to Shane, who shook it. "Good luck, man," Shane said.

"Appreciate it," Morales replied.

Caterina just watched awkwardly as everyone said their goodbyes to Morales' family. She wanted to say goodbye as well, but she had never been really good at them. Not to mention that she hadn't really spoken to any of them, so she felt as her goodbye wouldn't have much meaning, even if she did see them as friends.

"Channel 40 if you change your minds," Rick reminded Morales. "All right?"

"Yeah," Morales nodded.

With that, he and his family loaded into one of the Jeeps. Caterina noticed Daryl turn to watch them as they went. She had a feeling that he'd wanted to say goodbye to them as well, but that would ruin his bad-ass, "I don't care about anyone" image, and he struck Caterina was the type that liked to keep up appearances, even if who people thought he was wasn't who he was actually was.

"What makes you think our odds are any better?" Shane muttered to Rick, who looked at him in an exasperated way. "Come on, let's go!" he called out to the others. "Let's move out."

Rick broke away from Shane as he approached the van that his wife and son had filed into, along with Carol and Sophia. He paused once he realized that Caterina hadn't moved to join them, and he turned to look at her. "You comin' with us?" he asked.

"Actually, I was thinking that I'd ride with Daryl," Caterina said. Rick looked at her in surprise and confusion, and she shrugged. "Someone's gotta watch him."

Rick nodded, seeming to think that it was a good idea. "All right. If you change your mind, you'e welcome to join us," he assured her.

Caterina nodded and watched as Rick walked around to the driver's seat and got in. Once he was in his car, she turned to look over at Daryl. She hadn't told him of her plan to ride with him in his truck (she had found out that from Shane it was actually his brother's, as was the Triumph Trophy that had been loaded up in the bed of the truck), so she wasn't surprised at the glare that he was sending her way.

She just smiled innocently and went to join him by the truck.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them as they drove behind the others towards the end of the convoy, between T-Dog and Shane. Caterina didn't mind the silence much, but it seemed to be putting Daryl on edge. He kept fidgeting in his seat. She was tempted to reach over and still him, but she figured that it would push him over the edge if she touched him, so she kept her hands to herself and just stared out of the window, trying to ignore him.

They'd only gone a little over three miles when they had to pull over.

Half of the group gathered outside of the RV. Dale had to stop the convoy once his radiator started smoking. From how much it was smoking, Caterina guessed that it wouldn't do to just patch it up and move on. He really needed a new hose.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose," Dale told Rick as he tried to wave away the smoke with his patrol hat. "I said I needed the one from the cube van."

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see somethin' up ahead," Shane called as he scouted the area ahead with a pair of binoculars. "Gas station if we're lucky."

Jacqui suddenly came running out of the RV, looking harried. "Y'all! Jim—it's bad," she said. "I don't think he can take anymore."

Caterina glanced around at the others before she followed Jacqui on to the RV. She noticed Daryl starting to follow them, but he paused in the doorway, seeming to decide against it. He watched the two of them as they made their way to the back where Jim laid—his eyes specifically focused on Caterina, although she didn't realize it—before he stepped back out.

"Hey, Rick, you wanna hold down the fort?" Shane suggested. "I'll drive up ahead, see what I can bring back."

"I'll come along too," T-Dog volunteered. "Back you up."

Shane nodded. "Y'all keep your eyes open now" he told the others. "Be right back." He motioned for T-Dog to follow him, and the two walked back to where Shane had parked his Jeep.

By this point, Caterina had settled into the chair next to Jim (Jacqui had elected to stand in the hall rather than get too close). He looked worse than the last time that she had spoken to him. His eyes were blood-shot, and he was covered in seat. He looked miserable. Caterina reached out and placed her hand on Jim's forehead only to pull it back. His skin was scorching. It wouldn't be long now until the fever burned him out.

Caterina looked up as Rick appeared in the hallway behind Jacqui.

"We'll be back on the road soon," he assured Jim.

"Oh no," Jim groaned. "Christ. My bones…my bones are like glass. Every little bump—God. This ride's killing me." He paused to nod out the window next to the bed. "Leave me here."

Caterina exchanged looks with Rick. She could tell that he didn't like the idea. She didn't like it much either, but she had to admit it was better than one of them having to shoot him once he was dead. Still, it wasn't too comforting thinking of him wandering the Earth as a walker once the fever burned him, the very thing that they had been fighting against for so long.

"I'm done," Jim said hoarsely. "Just leave me. I wanna be with my family."

Rick knelt down next to Caterina. "They're all dead," he reminded Jim. "I don't think you know what you're askin'. The fever—you've been delirious more times than not."

"I know. Don't you think I know?" Jim struggled to sit up a bit more, crying out in pain when he did. He paused to get comfortable before looking back up at Rick and Caterina. "I'm clear now," he assured them. "In five minutes, I may not be. Rick, Cat—I know what I'm asking. I want this. Leave me here. Now, that's on me. Okay? My decision. Not your failure."

Caterina nodding slowly. "All right." She stood and looked down at Rick, who was staring at Jim. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on," she urged him. She waited until Rick was on his feet before she walked out of the RV. "Get Lori and Carol," she told Glenn as she stepped out of the RV.

Glenn nodded and went to do as she asked, no questions asked, which Caterina appreciated.

By the time that Carol and Lori had joined everyone outside, Shane and T-Dog had returned to the convoy. They had apparently been able to find a hose, but the need to fix the RV was put on hold as everyone gathered to hear what Rick and Caterina had to say.

"Cat and I think we should leave Jim here," Rick told them. "It's what he says he wants."

"And he's lucid?" Carol wondered.

"Seems to be," Caterina said.

"Back in the camp, when I said that Daryl might be right and you shot me down, you misunderstood me," Dale spoke up. "I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here?" Shane asked, unsure. "We take off? Man, I'm not sure I can live with that."

"You don't have to," Caterina replied. "It's Jim's decision to make, not yours."

"Cat's right," Rick agreed. "It's what he wants."

Shane sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. "All right," he relented after a moment. "Fine. Come on," he said, motioning for Rick to follow him as he clambered into the RV.

Rick glanced at Caterina, who nodded encouragingly, before he followed Shane.

The two came back out a moment later with Jim in between them. Everyone stepped aside to allow them access to the woods on the side of the road. They carefully lead Jim up the side of a steep hill and placed him down next to a tree, allowing him to lean back and rest against the trunk. Jim was panting from exertion, even though Rick and Shane had done most of the work. It was only a matter of time before he was gone.

Everyone (including Sophia and Carl) climbed up the hill to join them.

"Hey, another damn tree," Jim joked with a smile. It was amazing that he was still able to retain his sense of humor with what he must be going through.

"Hey, Jim," Shane said. "I mean, you know it doesn't need to be like this."

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice."

Shane's head dropped in despair. "Okay," he muttered. "All right." He reached out and patted Jim on the knee before backing up down the hill so that anyone who wanted to could come up and say their goodbyes.

Jacqui was the first to go up. She knelt down and grabbed Jim's hand, a soft smile on her face. "Just close your eyes, sweetie," she said. "Don't fight." Jim did as she said, and Jacqui leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before quickly making her way back down the hill.

Rick was the next to step up. He pulled a Model 10 Smith & Wesson from the back of his pants and held it out to Jim for him to take. "Jim, do you want this?" he asked.

"No," Jim answered. "You'll need it"" Rick looked down in distress, so Jim reassured him. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

Rick patted Jim on the shoulder and walked away.

Next was Dale, whom Caterina had guessed that Jim was the closest to in the group other than Jacqui. She had always seen the two of them together, working on the Winnebago.

"Oh, hey."

"Thanks for, uh…for fighting for us," Dale said as he knelt down in front of Jim.

"Okay."

No one else seemed to be able to find the courage to approach him now, so they all started to make their way back to their respective cars. Caterina and Daryl, however, didn't move. The two of them stayed where they for a moment before Caterina approached Jim. She paused a few feet away from him and shuffled her feet.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you," was the only thing that she could find to say.

Jim smiled kindly, seeming to understand that was hard for her. "Yeah, me too," he teased, earning a slight smile from Caterina. Then his gaze turned serious. "Thank you," he said earnestly.

Caterina didn't need to ask what he was thanking her for. Instead, she just nodded and gave him one last smile before she turned away and walked back to the truck. She heard Daryl following her a moment later, but she didn't pay him any mind. She just slid into the passenger's seat and placed a hand over her mouth as she felt tears starting to well up behind her eyes. She swallowed roughly and closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay. She was glad that she wouldn't have to shot Jim, but it upset her to just leave him like that, even if it was his decision. She might not have known him very well, but she still felt that he'd become a friend to her over the short amount of time they'd been a part of the same group, just as Morales and his family had become her friends. Friends were a rare thing nowadays, so you wanted to make as many as you could in the time that you had.

It hadn't been so upsetting that Morales and his family had left. It was their decision to make. But Jim hadn't chosen this. He hadn't asked to be bitten. And now all Caterina could think about was the possibility that they would meet Jim again, but as a walker.

She didn't bother opening her eyes as she heard the driver's side door open and close, knowing that it was Daryl (she could tell from the already familiar scent of cigarette smoke and sweat). She could feel his eyes on her for a moment before he turned away, and Caterina felt the truck rumble to life beneath her.

"There's no need to get so emotional about him," Daryl said as he threw the truck into drive. "It's what he wanted, right?"

Caterina opened her eyes and looked over at Daryl, who was looking out of the windshield with an almost determined look on his face. She stared at him in silent surprise. While he hadn't gone about it in the gentlest of ways, she understood he'd been trying to make her feel better, in his own "Daryl" way.

"Thanks," she said when Daryl started to fidget under her stare, a slight smile on her face.

Daryl threw her a quick glance before turning back to stare out of the windshield.

The convoy didn't stop again until they had reached the CDC. As soon as they'd stopped, Caterina leapt out of the truck with her crossbow in hand only to be hit by the smell of death. She paused at the horrid smell but, other than that, she didn't react. She waited until the stench was gone from her mind before she moved further up the line of vehicles to join the others, who were gazing around in horror at all of the bodies that littered the area between them and the CDC building. Apparently, the cordon had fallen, despite what had obviously been a heavy military presence.

Everyone armed themselves before they started to make their way to the building. Those who didn't have a strong stomach coughed and gagged at the odor.

"All right, everybody keep movin'," Shane urged them. "Go on. Stay quiet."

Caterina followed the others through the carnage. It was upsetting, seeing so many of her brothers-in-arms strewn across the yard as they were. But such was life, even back before the spread of what this disease was. During her tours, she had seen many scenes like this (not nearly the same level as decomposition, but the number of bodies had been either equal to or greater than this). You would think that she would have gotten used to it—had found a way to become detached—but she hadn't. It was still as troubling a sight as her first time.

"Okay, keep movin,'" Shane continued to push the others. "Stay together. Keep movin'."

Rick shushed them, worrying that some of these bodies might not be completely dead. The last thing that they needed was another attack like the one at camp.

It seemed like an impossibly long time before they reached the doors of the CDC. The shutters had been lowered, preventing either entrance or escape. Caterina hoped beyond all hopes that the building hadn't gotten overrun like the military barricade had, that there was at least still once person inside working on finding a cure for this outbreak.

Rick pounded on the shutters while Shane tried to find a way to raise it. When this didn't work, he joined Rick in hitting the shutters. Caterina flinched at the noise and turned her back on the group to stare out at the field behind them.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog sighed.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick threw back.

Caterina noticed a walker in a military uniform stumbling its way towards them.

"Walker!" Daryl cried, warning the others.

"I've got it," Caterina said. She aimed her crossbow, but she froze when she looked closer at the walker's face. Even beneath all of the decay, she recognized it. It was the face of David Jameson, one of the men from her unit. Caterina lowered her crossbow in pace with her heart as it sank. If David was there, then that meant that the rest her unit was here among this graveyard…

"What're you waitin' for? It to do a little dance?" Daryl quipped, unable to see the look of anguish on her face.

Still, his voice did snap some sense into her, and she raised her crossbow to aim at her friend. She took in a deep breath, and a calm mask fell over her face. "I'm sorry," she muttered, low enough that nobody could hear. And she fired an arrow into David's head, right in his third eye.

Satisfied that Caterina hadn't suddenly lost her nerve, Daryl turned on Rick angrily. "You lead us into a graveyard!" he shouted as he stalked towards him. This time, Caterina didn't have the mindset to stop him.

"He made a call," Shane defended Rick as he stepped between him and Daryl.

"It was the wrong damn call!"

Caterina shook herself out of her stupor and went around to Daryl, grabbing his arm. "Daryl, stop it," she said as she tugged on him. When he didn't react, she tugged harder, making him take a step back. "Stop it!" she ordered more forcefully. Daryl turned his glare down on her, and she met his gaze evenly. The two stared at each other for a moment before Daryl seemed to calm down. But Caterina kept her grip on his arm for a bit longer. She told herself that it was to make sure that he'd calmed down enough that he wouldn't attack Rick as soon as she let go but, seeing as the thought of how well-muscled Daryl was had just passed her mind, she was pretty sure that wasn't really the reason…

She pulled back her hand as if Daryl's skin had just burned her, and she took a few steps back from him. Daryl seemed to notice this sudden change of character, and he looked at her in confusion. She just turned away from him, shifting her attention back on the graveyard.

"Rick, this is a dead end," Caterina heard Shane saying behind her.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol asked fearfully. But no one paid her any mind.

"Do you hear me?" Shane continued. "No blame."

"Shane's right," Lori agreed. "We can't be here this close to the city after dark."

Rick turned to stare up at the building, obviously torn. He'd wanted to so badly for this place to be their salvation, but it seemed that the CDC had been shut down. Now, they were all exposed, in the middle of Atlanta city, and the sun had already started to fall below the horizon.

"Fort Benning—Rick, still an option," Shane said.

"On what?" Andrea scoffed. "No food, no fuel. That's one hundred miles."

"One hundred twenty-five," Glenn corrected her. "I checked the map."

"Forget Fort Benning," Lori snapped. "We need answers tonight, now."

"We'll think of sumthin'," Rick assured her, still not ready to let the idea of this place go.

Shane seemed to think that it was useless to try and talk Rick out of it, so he changed tactics and started to herd everyone back towards the cars. "Come on, let's go," Shane said. "Let's go, please."

"Come on," Daryl said, motioning for Caterina to follow him.

Caterina made to do so, but she hesitated upon seeing that Rick hadn't moved.

"All right, everybody back to the cars," Shane continued. "Let's go, move." He glanced back over his shoulder at Rick and saw that Caterina wasn't moving either. "Cat, come on."

Caterina looked between the others and Rick, still not moving. She wasn't about to just leave Rick. They'd already lost one person today. At any rate, she and Rick had been through too much together for that. She felt that she was indebted to him, just as much as she was to Glenn. After all, he had been the one to offer her a ride to Atlanta. Even though he'd pulled her away from her search for her family, she'd found another group of survivors thanks to him. Although she hadn't particularly minded being on her own, it was harder than it was to be with a group. There were thousands upon thousands of walkers out there, and they tended to travel in packs. There had been times where she hadn't been sure that she would survive. Now, she didn't have to worry about that as much. She had others looking out for her. And that was because of Rick.

"The camera!" Rick suddenly shouted. "It moved!"

Caterina looked up at the camera. It did seem to have moved a few inches from its original position, but it could've just been her imagination or the gears winding down.

"You imagined it," Dale said, not believing him.

"It moved," Rick argued forcefully, stepping towards the camera. "It moved."

"Rick, it's dead, man," Shane tried to convince him. "It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just windin' down. Now, come on." He pushed on Rick's shoulder, trying to get him moving, but he resisted.

"No—"

"Man, just listen to me," he pleaded. "Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick!" he shouted as Rick pushed away from him and started pounding on the shutters again.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori shouted.

"I know you're in there," Rick spoke to the camera, ignoring the others. "I know you can hear me."

Shane turned and motioned for the others to leave. "Everybody get back to the cars, now!" he cried over Rick's voice, even though he didn't move from his partner's side. He'd apparently decided to stay and continue to try and convince Rick that the CDC was a lost cause, but he wanted the others to get to safety.

"Please! We're desperate! Please, help us," Rick begged the camera. "We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

Lori left Carl with Carol and ran out in front of her husband. "Rick, there's nobody here," she tried to tell him, but he pushed past her just as he'd done Shane.

"We have nowhere else to go."

"Keep your eyes open," Shane warned the others.

Caterina looked away from Rick and the camera to the walkers that were meandering towards them. All of their yelling had drawn some attention, which wasn't at all surprising. They kept trying to yell over each other in order to be heard, and Rick kept banging on the shudders. Considering how silent the area had been before they got there, it was no wonder that the walkers had heard them.

"If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" Rick shouted almost hysterically. "Please!"

Shane grabbed Rick around the shoulders and stared dragging him away. "Come on, buddy." He waved the others towards the cars. "Let's go. Let's go!"

"Please, help us!" Rick continued to yell to the camera. "You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!"

Caterina spun around as the doors suddenly clanged open. She flinched at the bright light coming from inside and covered her eyes as she could stare into it, lowering her crossbow absentmindedly.

It seemed that someone had survived after all.