Sophia sat on the bicycle, pedalling furiously to maintain all of the electric lights on in the house. It was hooked up to the wiring and though she didn't know how it worked, it was enough to know that it did work. She was still upset about hearing what had happened to Shane and Dale but she didn't want to stop and think on it. So she cycled as fast as she could, which was pretty fast, since her legs didn't cramp anymore, and tried to think of nothing but the spot on the wall that she was pretty sure was an old bloodstain.

She groaned. She hadn't wanted to think about that.

"Hey Sophia," said Carl. He'd been leaning against the wall and looking at her for awhile with that kinda forehead lowered, gazing up kinda way that he probably thought made him look grown up. "Maybe I should have a go on that bike."

Sophia spared a glance at him then looked over to where Lori sat on the couch, deep in conversation with T-Dog and Andrea. She returned her attention back to the wall. "Thought you couldn't talk to me, huh?"

"What do ya mean?" asked Carl, sounding hurt. He stopped leaning up against the wall and came over to her.

Sophia felt a bit bad, but her guilt was nothing compared to her anger. He was meant to be her friend, him and Lori, but they'd both backed off from her like she had the plague. "You heard."

Carl grabbed her arm and whispered, "You weren't there. You don't know what it was like. Mom's just scared."

Sophia gave him a withering look, and felt smug when he backed up a little. "You weren't there," she echoed, and saw his face fall. "You don't know what it was like. Where were you?"

"We looked for you," he said in his lost little boy voice. She hated that voice. It made her feel guilty when she wanted to be angry. If she were angry, she wouldn't have to feel that tugging on her insides that made her feel like crying.

"Sure," she said, and slid off the bicycle. "There you go. Your turn."

The lights started flickering and everyone looked over at them. Sophia felt her cheeks flush. At least that might make them realise she wasn't a walker.

Carl hung his head and got up on the bike. "Sophia, I…."

Sophia couldn't stand everyone looking and the room was too small to say sorry or anything like that without everybody hearing, so she just headed into the kitchen to get a juice. The kitchen was already pretty full. Rick was leaning toward Katie, saying something in hushed tones, while Daryl looked on curiously and Carol stood back, wringing her hands. Sophia bit her lip to keep from scolding Carol for not saying whatever the hell it was she wanted to say. Her mom couldn't help being like that. It was what made her so sweet … and so frustrating.

"What're you all talking about?" asked Sophia innocently.

"The adults are talkin'," said Rick. He sounded irritated. Obviously the conversation hadn't been going well. "Why don't you go back to the living room?"

"Adults are done talkin'," said Katie, mimicking Rick's drawl for a minute and flashing him a humourless smile. She grabbed the juice out of the fridge and clutched three cups by the handles. "Carol, wanna have some girly time? About time we had a heart to heart about your daughter."

Rick stepped out in front of her. "If you've got anything to say about that, you can say it in front of me."

"You really want to know what Sophia's puberty is going to be like?" asked Katie, with that big grin on her face that she only got when she was real angry. "I dunno if a pre-teen's periods are something a man should be privy too."

Sophia gaped at her, amazed that she'd say such a thing, and to Rick of all people. Sophia liked Rick. She respected him. She didn't want to be some pawn in whatever kind of argument they were having. "I'm right here, guys."

Rick backed off a step. "Right. So that's what you'll be talking about?"

"You can always interrogate Carol later if you doubt me," said Katie. "She's fragile. I'm sure she'll capitulate."

Now Sophia really wanted to kick her, but she held back. Katie could be mean but she wasn't normally that mean. Something was wrong and that meant the conversation would be important.

Rick glanced at Carol and Sophia saw the look in his eyes. He was weighing up his chances and he obviously found them favourable, because he nodded. Sophia sighed inwardly. No one thought much of her mother, which wasn't fair. Carol was sweet and kind, but that didn't make her weak. If any of them knew how much her mother had been through….

"Come on Sophia, Carol," said Katie, swinging her hips in a cheerful stride as she walked past Daryl and Rick. At least Rick had the good graces to look away. Daryl just took the opportunity to perve.

Sophia made a point to catch Daryl's gaze and shook her head at him, silently letting him know her disapproval. He just met her gaze dead on, like he didn't know what he'd been caught doing, or at least didn't care. Sophia rolled her eyes and followed Katie, taking her mother's hand in her own. She felt much better now her mom was here. Stronger. More adult even. Someone had to take care of mom.

Katie waved them into her bedroom and shut the door.

"I don't like how you talked to Rick about my daughter," said Carol.

Sophia smiled, glad to hear her mom standing up to someone.

"Fine," said Katie. "But that can wait. I've got some important facts to give you about your daughter. I don't know you real well and I don't intend to, but I do think that you've accepted your daughter unconditionally and that's good enough for me to leave her in your care."

Sophia stared at her. "You're not leaving."

"I thought you'd head off," said Carol quietly.

"I can't believe this!" said Sophia. "You're always saying we need more people around. Isn't that why you keep looking for walkers?"

Katie shrugged and sat down on the edge of her bed, on top of the bundle of blankets she'd likely kicked down there at the end of the night. All her spare clothing was in a sprawl across the floor as well. Anything that couldn't fit in her travel cases, that is. Katie didn't like to tidy. "Look, these people know you and they'll make an exception for you but they're sniffing around like paranoid hounds as it is. Anyway, that's irrelevant. What matters is that she understands things a bit better."

Carol clasped her hands before her and pushed her shoulders back a little like she was expecting bad news. "What is it?"

"Don't worry," said Katie. "I've been like this since two weeks after the infection spread and I'm fine. She'll likely be as well … at least for several months. I don't know how we'll age – faster, slower, not at all. I don't know how long our organs will cope with all of this excess adrenaline. For now, I'm fine. My body repairs faster than normal. I only vaguely feel pain. I need to eat about thrice as much as a double first, but that's about it."

"What's a doubt first?" asked Carol.

"That's what I brought you in to tell you about." Katie leaned back on her bed and looked Carol up and down. "First stage of the first infection. You do know that everybody has the virus, or whatever it is, that has the dead walking?"

"Yes."

"The second stage of the first infection is when you die and get up again. Me and Sophia are First-Seconds. The first stage of the second infection. Far as I'm guessing, maybe some military or alien race or whatever created a two-stage mixture. The first sets up the framework in your mind and your musculature so that you can die and get up again – although hungrier. The second uses that framework and re-starts your body again so that you can live faster, stronger, and more resilient than before. Plus side is we already took the first infection's hit so we're not going to become walkers."

Carol squeezed Sophia's hand. "So what happens if you get bit?"

Sophia looked up at her mom, wondering how her mom would take this. "It's not what happens when we get bit. It's what happens if we get hungry."

Carol looked down at her.

"I'm not … I don't want to eat people. Any bit of people. I'm just…." She lowered her head, unable to meet her mom's eyes. "Our bodies need a lot of food and if we starve, well, the lizard brain takes over or something. I don't really remember all she said but it basically means that we kinda revert. But only kinda." She looked back up at her mom and saw anxiety tightening her mom's face. "It takes a week or two of no food before it gets that bad. It's not gonna happen overnight."

"It won't happen at all if you're clever," said Katie.

"So what happens if you revert?" asked Carol in a very small, very weak voice.

"We don't become walkers," said Sophia.

"No," said Katie. "We run. We run and we fight and we climb and we can take a bullet and keep on moving. Hell, if you don't get an instant kill on a shot through the brain than we might just get up again."

Carol gasped, raised a hand to cover her mouth and squeezed her daughter's hand extra tight with her other hand.

"But that doesn't have to happen," said Sophia. She hoped her mom would still love her after this.

"So you see now why I'm keeping this quiet," said Katie. "You see why I'm only telling you. If anyone out there were to find out about it then they would probably kill Sophia just to ensure that it doesn't happen because they don't want to have to deal with that."

"Rick might…." Carol paused. "Lori wouldn't take that risk. Rick wouldn't … I …. You're right, Katie. I mean, Caitlin. We should go. We should leave now. I don't want to stay here anymore. This group is broken and it's so scared right now that I believe they could do anything. I don't trust these people. The only person I trust here is Daryl…."

"Rick's lackey?" asked Katie. "You're kidding me."

"No, you don't know him. He's good and pure and he means well."

Katie shook her head. "Listen, lady, Sophia told me about her dad. You don't have the best taste in men."

"You don't understand," said Carol. "He looked for Sophia even when it hurt him. He had an arrow wound and he still kept looking. He cared more than anyone in that camp. He believed she was alive even when I'd … even when I'd given up hope." Carol's lower lip trembled and Sophia gave her hug to try to clear away some of that pain.

"Well, as far as understanding goes than we'll keep this simple," said Katie. "Your friends out there are probably not going to be all that keen on losing some of their membership out into the wilds with a stranger. They'll probably stop us from going. Hell, I doubt Rick would even let me leave."

"Maybe if you gave him some of the cure…."

"We can't do that, mom," said Sophia.

Carol looked down at her. "But why? Don't you have enough?"

"We just … we can't." Sophia hated withholding it from Carol but she doubted her mother would understand.

"If we gave him some, he'd want it all," said Katie. "At least one shot per member of his group, even though the odds aren't good that they'd all be receptive to it. Look, if you want to sneak out with us than fine but we do it my way. And please, no telling anyone on us. We'll give it four days. By then they should have started to relax and assumed I was staying. We'll have to abandon my motorcycle but I have a fuelled up 4 wheel drive not far from here and my perception is sharper than it used to be."

"I'm going to miss Carl," said Sophia.

"Yeah, I know, but its best if everyone stays alive," said Katie. "Sometimes the best thing you can do for people is to just stay away." She looked over at Carol. "So are we agreed?"

Carol sucked in her lower lip, and nodded. "All right. I agree."

"Good. Four nights time."