"Is there anything you would not do for your family?" -Khan; Star Trek Into Darkness

Charlotte spent a good two more minutes in the church, relaying what she prayed for before she decided to leave. Being in the church, knowing there were dead rotters on the ground and blood spattered everywhere, Charlotte couldn't stand being in there a moment longer. Standing up, she silently walked out, barely regarding the others in there. She had faintly heard Carol's prayer to the Jesus statue at the front of the church—probably something regarding Sophia—but Charlotte couldn't bring herself to pay attention. As much as she would've liked to have found Sophia at any point during the day, the chances of the little girl being dead or worse were steadily becoming more and more of a reality than finding her alive.

When the humid Georgian air hit Charlotte, she felt herself become even heavier. The sun was starting to show how late in the day it was, how much time Rick, his people, and Charlotte wasted at that goddamn church.

Finding a tree, Charlotte walked over to it, leaning against it in slight exhaustion. She was feeling more emotionally and mentally drained than any physical drainage.

"Are you OK?" Glenn approached Charlotte, looking a little worried. Nodding, she tried for a smile, but she was certain it came out as a grimace. Glenn's brows furrowed, his lips pursing.

"We've spent too much time here," Charlotte said after a moment's silence. "The day's wasting. Sooner or later, I'll have to make a decision." She looked at Glenn. "Besides, churches make me uncomfortable."

Glenn studied Charlotte for a moment before he nodded slowly, not entirely sure how he wanted to respond.

It was only a few minutes after she exited the church that Carol, Rick, Lori, and Carl exited, too. Neither of them said much, but it was obvious by the puffiness in Carol's eyes that she had been crying. Daryl eventually showed up not long after; Andrea sauntering up as well.

That poor woman. The thought lingered in Charlotte's mind for a moment before fluttering off.

While the others came by the tree Charlotte and Glenn were under, Rick had started wandering off toward the edge of the cemetery, looking at the trees with a solemn look on his face. He was dedicated, convinced that Sophia could be found; Charlotte had to wonder whether or not he was aware of the growing possibilities on what could have really happened to her. Had Sophia been bit? If so, had she turned? What if she got kidnapped, never to be seen again? Or just straight-up killed? As much as Charlotte found Rick's devotion to the search a little admirable, she couldn't help but also think how pointless it was. It was like watching a chicken with its head cut off.

Don't say anything, she reminded herself. The least you can do is be respectful and do what you can. These people need this.

It would only be a few minutes of silence before Shane would saunter over, looking almost irritated. "Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back, OK?" he ordered. "Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up," Daryl exclaimed. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you," Shane sighed.

"Charlotte, I know this is pushing it for you," Rick added, "but I do want to talk to you later on, OK?"

"You just read my mind, Rick." She flashed a forced smile.

"I want to stay, too," Carl said, stepping forward. "I'm her friend."

Lori walked up to her son, hugging him. "Just be careful, OK?"

"I will."

And that was that.

—Us Against the World—

The trek back down the creek bed was long and silent. Charlotte made sure to stay aware of every noise she heard, the movements of the people around her, and he movements she thought she saw out of the corner of her eyes. Sure, she might be a little paranoid, but she had reasons to be. The world wasn't a friendly place—it barely was before. Taking a deep breath, she tried her best to keep her mind clear and her focus on what she needed to do, and that was to keep an eye out for anything that might resemble a lost little girl.

Charlotte was thankful that the heat was starting to die down a little. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the more nighttime critters were beginning to make their appearance. Insects chirped and the sounds of birds were starting to become more and more quiet. The shade of the trees felt nice with the cooling air. Nudging the straps of her backpack a little higher on her shoulders, Charlotte paid attention to how it felt. Heavy, but nothing she wasn't used to. It had everything she needed, minus the medicine she left with Dale for T-Dog. She took a split second to just gaze down at what she was wearing—old, bloodstained, dirt-stained, ripped blue jeans; a filthy, oversized t-shirt; tennis shoes that were just as worn out. Charlotte had gotten so used to what she was wearing that it hardly processed in her mind just how worn they were.

"So this is it?" Carol asked, breaking the small group's silence. "This the whole plan?" She sat herself down on a fallen tree, crossing her arms anxiously over her chest.

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups," Daryl mumbled.

"Seems like the best plan at the moment," Charlotte added. "To cover more ground." Removing her backpack, Charlotte unzipped it and took out a half-empty water bottle. Opening it, she took a long sip.

"We might as well be carrying knives and pointy sticks," Andrea said sarcastically. She looked over at Lori, who removed her backpack, as well. "I see you have a gun."

"Why?" Lori snapped. "You want it? Here, take it." She handed a gun Daryl had given her to Andrea. "I'm sick of the looks you're giving me. All of you," she sighed. Looking over at Carol, Lori's features softened slightly. "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia ran, he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did, or make the hard decisions that he had to make, or that anybody could have done it any differently. Anybody?" Lori shook her head, taking out a water bottle from her backpack. "Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect," she went on. "If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."

"We should keep moving," Andrea murmured, handing back the gun.

They started walking again, not even making it three feet when a gunshot rang out.

—Us Against the World—

Charlotte had been the first to react. She stopped, looking around to find out where the gunshot could have come from. It sounded relatively far, but still a little close at the same time. Lori was the next to do the same, stop and check.

Swallowing thickly, Charlotte bit her bottom lip. "That could've been Rick or Shane," she said.

Lori shook her head. "They wouldn't waste the bullets."

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked.

"Someone fired," Charlotte exclaimed.

"We all heard it," Daryl said.

"Why one?" Lori exclaimed. "Why just one gunshot?"

"Should we head back? See if we can find them?" Charlotte looked at Daryl. The two hadn't had much interaction since Charlotte stuck around, but Shane put Daryl in charge, so whatever he said would go.

Shaking his head, Daryl let out a sigh. "Can't afford it now," he sighed.

"Shouldn't they have caught up by now?" Carol asked.

"There's nothing we can do about it anyway," Daryl exclaimed. "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."

"So what do we do?" Lori asked.

Daryl threw a look Lori's way. "Same as we've been," he sighed. "Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Andrea comforted.

Charlotte watched as the others started walking. She hesitated, looking back to where the gunshot had echoed. What if it had been Rick or Shane? Wasn't Lori worried about the possibility of something happening to them or her son? Sighing, she followed after them.

—Us Against the World—

The walking continued without much trouble. There was still the lingering tension of the gunshot, of the thoughts about something happening to Rick or Shane—it felt like the tensions were getting thicker. With the search for Sophia still going on, the group tried keeping that as their top priority. No one talked, just listened—very carefully—and kept a very close eye on their surroundings.

"We'll lose the light before too long," Daryl sighed. "I think we should call it."

"Let's head back," Charlotte said.

"We'll pick it up again tomorrow?" Carol asked.

Charlotte looked at her, trying to not look so conflicted. "Of course."

They turned and started heading back to the highway. Before they could get too far, a shrill scream echoed nearby, and everyone turned to see Andrea on the ground, a rotter grabbing at her, being shoved back by her feet. Charlotte had her knife out right as the others got their weapons ready; but before any of them had a chance to move from their spots, the rotter had been knocked onto the ground. A woman on a horse, holding a bat in one hand while trying to balance the reins of the horse she was riding and one that was accompanying her, looking at the group with wide eyes. "Lori Grimes?" she asked. "Charlotte Covington?"

Lori ran forward. "I'm Lori."

"I'm Charlotte."

"Rick sent me," the woman explained rapidly, "you've got to come now."

"What?" Charlotte sputtered.

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive, but you two need to come now." Charlotte and Lori stood there dumbfounded, looking at the woman before looking at each other. "Rick needs you," the woman exclaimed. "Just come!"

Lori dropped her backpack before rushing over to the woman. Charlotte kept hers on, following right behind Lori. While Lori jumped on the same horse the woman was on, Charlotte jumped onto the extra one.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Daryl cried. "We don't know this girl! You can't get on those horses."

"Rick said you had others on the highway?" the woman asked. "That big traffic snarl?"

Glenn, who'd been looking at the woman quietly the entire time, nodded wordlessly.

"Backtrack to Fairburn road," she instructed, "two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox! The name is 'Greene'!"

And just like that, they were off.

(A/N):

Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, but I had homework I needed to finish first. Other than that, I hope you enjoy this upload. Carl's been shot and Maggie's been introduced. We all know how this season goes down, but there are going to be a few changes to how season 2 happens. Thanks to a Guest reviewer, who left a very long and well thought out suggestion on how things could be altered and I will be applying some of those changes to how I write season 2 into this story. Hopefully I can write it in a way that makes sense. If there was any confusion on this chapter, or if it seemed too similar to the episode, I do apologize for that.

TWD isn't mine.

So, apparently, Scott Gimple, who helps with TWD television series, says that a possible movie adaptation of the series could happen "one day". While the thought of TWD becoming a movie sounds interesting, I'm going to assume this is a rumor. If it is true, I would be interested in how they could condense everything that's been in the show and comics into a single movie or a series of movies. I'm happy with how the franchise is going so far, both as a television series and a comic series, but if it's made into a movie of some sort, I would watch it and hopefully it would be well-written (and hopefully with the same cast as the show [as well as those from previous seasons] but I know it's probably unlikely, if it were to happen). But, like I mentioned, I'm going to assume it's a rumor. What do you think?

Leave a thought on anything I can improve on.

Sincerely,

Alek Haydn