After the walker incident the camp had a general feeling of unease about it. The children stayed close to their parents, as if a walker would come out and grab them, and the adult's were not acting much better. Lori had come out of her tent of her own volition and was watching Carl closely as she did laundry with the other woman. She hadn't said anything rude, or disparaging in over an hour, even as Rick and Daryl organized the group that they had been training and Shane did a perimeter sweep in an attempt to make sure that there were no other walkers nearby. Amy looked guilty as hell as she sat with Dale though.

She'd been playing hide and seek with the children when they had found the walker earlier that day, and it been her turn to be the one who was counting to a hundred so she hadn't seen it happen and hadn't been able to help them at all. Rick had told her that everything was alright, but she still almost broke into tears every time she caught sight of one of the kids or their parents, which is why she was with Dale. The older man was trying to calm her down, but it wasn't helping much to tell the truth.

Merle was the one who broke the somber mood, clapping his hands as he walked over to an area close to where Rick and his brother were instructing some of the other survivors on how to kill walkers with instruments other than the firearms they had in camp. Everyone looked at the older Dixon brother when he did so and the normally standoffish man smirked at them before motioning to the children.

"Listen up. Those kid were lucky today, damn lucky. Grimes' boy had the sense ta actually get them away from the danger, but that aint always gonna be an option, ya'll understand. And it's fine and dady the so called grown ups of this place are finally getting inta the game and learning some self defense but these kids need ta do tha same. I don't give a damn if the parents want them ta learn or not they're gonna learn. Now git over here ya ankle munchers." He announced. Lori was the first parent to speak up, of course.

"You aint teaching my son anything Dixon." She hissed, her docile moment over apparently. Merle snorted, but it was Rick who spoke next, after he excused himself from the lesson he'd been helping with.

"It's either Merle, Daryl, Shane or Me doing it Lori, but he's gonna learn how to defend himself. I aint letting what happened today happen again without him knowing what to do in case he can't run. All of those kids are learning." He told her, looking her straight in the eyes. She huffed, and looked around to the other parents for support after a couple of moments. When she noticed that all the children, minus Sophia, were already heading over to Merle she huffed and glared at Rick. But Rick didn't notice as he was heading over to Ed and Carol's area already. He wasn't going to leave Sophia out of this lesson.

That little girl needed the training more than the others in his mind at the moment. She was the one that he had lost to walkers when she had been cornered. Sophia needed the self confidence she would get from the lessons, and she needed to know she could defend herself from anything. With her father being the asshole that he was Rick prepared himself for a fight though. Ed was already glaring at him and he didn't look like he was going to give into the training order. Rick was fed up with the asshole, because even with the second round of the adults training he had refused to do a damn thing.

"Come on little miss, when I say all the little ones are learning that means you too." Rick told the skittish little girl softly. She looked at him with wide eyes, then looked at her father who was turning red. Carol was holding herself tense behind her daughter and Rick couldn't wait for Ed to be gone. Not with how his friend and her little girl were acting. He'd forgotten over the years just how battered Carol had been, but it was all too apparent now- looking at her while she was still stuck in that hell.

"She aint going anywhere. The little bitch wasn't even supposed ta be out there with yer boy and that little minority group he's running around with. She don't need no lessons. Mind yer own damn business ya stinking fag." Ed spat at him, spittle flying through the air as Rick stared at him unimpressed. He might have only been in this camp one day but things like this were were long over due for change.

"Sophia, sweetie? Can ya head over to the others for me so Merle can start his lesson? Your pa and I need ta have a little talk." The cop asked the scared child in a soothing tone, keeping an eye on her father. She gave the man one more scared look, before Carol patted her shoulder and motioned for her to go. When Ed looked like he was going to grab the child as he ran past him Rick stepped forward and he stopped.

"Ya aint got no right ta tell my girl ta go to that asshole's lessons fucker." Ed growled at him as soon as Sophia made it to the others. Again Rick ignored him, instead he looked at Carol, getting her away from Ed was his next priority since he didn't want to chance the man taking his frustrations with Rick out of her as soon as he walked away. Immediately he thought of the group that Daryl was leading still, kick starting Carol's training wouldn't hurt a thing and Daryl wouldn't let her get hurt. Even if he had to keep her from going to her husband when the asshole hollerd for her when Rick was done with him.

"Ms. Carol? Daryl'd like to run over some hand ta hand stuff with ya, just so yer prepared if ya ever need it ta protect yerself or that little girl." He informed her softly. She shot her husband a scared look, before straightening up and nodding- showing Rick a sliver of the woman he had known and depended on for so long. She started to go over to the Hunter, but Ed didn't resist grabbing her arm like he had with Sophia. Rick grit his teeth as his hand shot forward, grasping the other man's writs tightly.

"What the fuck? Let go of me ya damned pillow biter. If I don't want my wife going any where that nancy boy of yers then by god she aint going." Ed snarled at him as Rick dug his fingers into the joint of the man's wrist, warning him that if he dared to tighten his hold on the woman there would be trouble to pay. Carol didn't make a single noise through all of this though and that felt like a knife to Rick's gut.

"I don't know what the hell you've been able ta get away with involving the way you treat this lady and her little girl, but it aint going ta keep happening. Now you're going to let Carol here go so she can get about ta doing what she wants ta and ya aint gonna try a thing again or I will put you down here and now and not one person will ask me why. Not when it's clear yer a woman beater." Rick replied with a snarl, speaking under his breath as to not alert everyone that he was threatening the other man's life. Ed stiffened and Rick felt his fingers relax ever so slightly through the grip he had on the man's wrist.

"Are you really threatening ta kill me ya asshole? Over this cunt?" Ed squeaked, sounding incredelous. It was like he couldn't believe that anyone would think that Carol was worth making a threat like that. Rick tightened his grip, hoping to god that Ed was the chickenshit he thought he was. Over his years he'd seen men like the piece of shit he was holding onto- both on the job and while they were surviving. They had no problem knocking around woman and children behind closed doors or in front people who didn't say a thing about it, but once someone confronted them, they folded. Ed snorted, and then he let go of Carol.

"That's more like it. Carol why don't you head over to Daryl over there, he'll probably want ya to see Morgan to get that arm looked at before ya get started on the lessons though." Rick said in an even voice, not letting go of the man's wrist as he nodded to her. She nodded her head, rubbing her arm and he could already see red marks that would darken into bruises. And No matter what anyone said Rick had caused those by provoking Ed. His grip tightened without him meaning to, but Ed couldn't die quick enough.

"Is everything alright over here?" Shane's voice broke through the red that was taking over Rick's rational mind. The other cop had a hand on his gun, and was watching Ed closely in case he made any move to go after Rick. Carol looked at him before heading over to Daryl and leaving the three men.

"I'm just having a chat with Ed here Shane. He was a little reluctant to let the ladies join in on the defense lessons. I think I've set him straight for the moment though." Rick replied, his voice still eerily calm. Ed jerked his hand, trying to get Rick to let him go as he swung to look at Shane. Rick tried not to tense, knowing that Shane had been the one these people had been looking to. And by defualt he had let the abuse that this man had been dealing to his family continue by not stepping in. Ed might think he had an ally in his partner because of that, even if Rick trusted Shane to have his back.

"Your woman's fairy husband just threatened to kill me Shane. What the hell are you going ta do about that?" He demanded, puffing up once again and acting like an idiot. Rick tried not to smirk as he saw Ed rub at the wrist he had grabbed though. He hoped he had damaged something that would make the bastard think twice about raising that hand towards Carol or Sophia any time soon. The amount of anger that Rick held for this man was scaring him. For once he was hoping for a herd of Walkers to show, and that was ridiculous. Shane shifted on his feet, glaring at Ed and the wife beater seemed to deflate.

"I aint going ta do a damn thing except help him if he needs it Peletier. I made a damn mistake in not sticking up for Carol and Sophia when i first met yer dumb ass, but you aint hurting them again. I'd keep that in mind if I were you, cause it won't just be Rick and I after yer ass if you decide to chance it. There's more than a couple guys here that don't appreciate a wife and child abuser." Shane told the paling man with a sneer. Ed looked between him and Rick before spitting on the ground at Rick's feet and storming off towards the road into camp. Rick listened to him cursing under his breath and watched him kick stones like a five year old that hadn't gotten his way. Once he was out of sight, and away from his wife and child, Rick turned to Shane and grinned at him. It felt nice having not to worry that the other man was just waiting for the right moment to stab him in the back. He only hoped that he could keep this Shane sane.

"Thanks for that. I noticed the bruising on Carol and Sophia's skittishness and it brought back memories of the domestics we used to get. This world's screwed up enough without having to deal with people like that. We need to make sure that those girls aren't alone with him again, cause even with the warning he's not going to stop. He's gotten away with it for this long after all." Rick murmured, then winced as he realized that had come out wrong. Shane could take what he just said as a criticism and the returned cop didn't know how his partner would handle something like that right now. Shane grimaced.

"I should have put a stop to it the moment I had a suspicion, but I didn't. At first there was just too much going on, and then. Fuck Rick. I looked the other way because it was easier then standing up to him, so I should be thanking you for stepping up. There's no way in hell he would have taken me seriously if I had been the one to step in since I had let it go on so long without saying a damn thing about it." The darker haired man replied, shaking his head, and running a hand through his hair. Rick grinned inwardly at the fact that Shane had taken the unintended critique in stride. He had to stop thinking about the other Shane when he was anticipating how this one would react. He'd already proven that he wasn't off his rocker yet.

"Don't sweat it brother. Ya did well in keeping these guys together and alive and that was a tall order considering everything that's happened and all." Rick hummed, trying to ease any guilt Shane might be feeling. The other man snorted, looking in the direction Ed had stormed off in.

"I coulda done more ta keep Carol and her girl safe from him Rick and ya know it. We'll need to convince her to stay away from him, but I'm sure we can get together a tent for the two of them so their out of Peletier's little camp. If you, Morgan and Daryl don't mind I think we should set her up in your area. That way if our friend decided to try to come after them in the night Carol has three guys within earshot." He said suddenly, looking at Rick for approval of his plan. Rick did grin this time, instead of the sudden shift of people looking to Rick for the answers he was more than okay with sharing the reigns.

"That sounds like a good Idea. I take it Lori's asked you to stay around for her?" The cop replied, switching the conversation from Carol to what was going on in his friend's life at the moment. Shane grimaced, his hand clenching at his side for a second. Then he took a breath and sighed.

"I can't have Lori tearing into you at every turn Rick. Not when yer finally making a choice for yourself, doing something that will make you happy. If Dixon's half as good for ya as I think he'll be then it's worth being her shoulder to cry on. But I made it clear to her last night that's all it's gonna be. I think I explained it as being too weird being in a relationship with her after everything that happened. And she agreed surprisingly enough. Well it really isn't that surprising considering she still blames me fer you deciding the marriage was over. But she needs someone ta 'see her side' and I'm willing ta do that if it means you get ta be happy." He replied under his voice. Rick nodded, his eyes a little wider than normal as he listened to Shane speak. Damn it to hell, he could hear how much his ex still cared for him.

Shane wasn't playing around when he said that he wouldn't be able to walk away this time, the time traveling leader realized unexpectedly, like a punch in the gut from a weight lifting midget. And his partner was willing to do anything to see him happy, even play the shoulder to cry of to his ex if it meant keeping her from stopping him from being happy. Damn, he'd never done anything to deserve that kind of behavior. Or at least he didn't think he had. He reached over and grabbed Shane's shoulder.

"I can deal with anything that Lori throws at me Shane. If it get's too much, back out I don't want ya hurting yerself trying ta protect me. Ya don't owe me a single thing Brother." Rick murmered in a husky voice. Shane chuckled and shook his head while giving him a bright smile. The other cop reached up and squeezed his hand before stepping away and looking to where Lori was sitting and watching them.

"I got this man, knowing that yer here and alive. That's everything I need ta let anything she can do just roll off. Ya can't imagine what it was like thinking that you were dead. One moment you were right there joking after catching a shot in the vest and then ya were down and bleeding everywhere and I had so many regrets that I wanted to fix. Only you wouldn't wake up and the world ended and I couldn't get ya out. I thought I left ya to die. So I did some stupid shit, but I can use that stupid shit ta my advantage now." He said cheerfully, before heading over to Rick's ex-wife, a bounce in his step. Rick shook his head before heading back over to the Dixon brothers and thier classes. This was turning into one hell of a day.


The first sign that Rick noticed that indicated things might still be going to happen like they had before was when Jim was found digging the graves. Because most of the camp's members were training this happened later in the of course, and the poor man was passed out in front of a grave with heatstroke when Dale came across him. He didn't look too good, and Rick shivered as he looked over the graves. They wouldn't be using as many of them as before, but having this repeat sent a shiver of dread down his spine. Daryl gave him a nod as he carried the poor man into the RV, indicating he'd stay with Jim in case the man died from the heatstroke and he'd take care of him if that happened.
It had been a close call before, and Jim had ended up dying after he got bit because he'd been secured away from the main part of the camp due to his delusional ranting. While Rick would like to see him make it this time, he knew some things were just not possible. And with the blistering skin Rick had seen Jim was half way into the grave, but his death would provide the group with the knowledge that the virus was already in them if anything since they had already checked to see if he'd been bit when they found him.

Rick turned away from the graves when there was a shout, one hand grabbing his gun and the other grabbing the Machete he had rigged to his belt automatically as he looked for it's source. Damn it, this was not when the heard had come through last time, so what was going on here? There was a scream this time and Rick took off running in it's direction, Morgan, Merle, and Shane not far behind him. The time it took to find the source of the screams seemed like an eternity. But when he found it he felt sick.

Jacqui was down on the ground and crawling backward as she tried to get away from a crawler. He shot forward and stabbed it, looking around for any others as quickly as he could. He could hear the African American woman sobbing, but nothing else. Then he spotted Ed, leaning against a tree while holding his arm. He was bleeding. A part of Rick felt victorious- the asshole was going to die. Then he remembered Jacqui, the woman who had committed dead by CDC the last time around. As Shane stomped over and started demanding answers from Ed he turned to look at the woman who hadn't moved from her spot. She was clutching her ankle, and it was bleeding. Damn it. He tore his eyes from her and looked at Merle hard.

"Get the ones that can't fight well together, and have the ones who can guarding them. This is the second one today and I have a bad feeling." He ordered, before looking at Morgan and motioning to the woman on the ground. God, he had hoped by skipping the CDC she would survive longer. She was a good woman, who had just been tired of surviving and now she didn't have a choice if she was going to live or not. Not if that wound was a bite because he had taken too long to get to her and he hadn't cut her leg off like they did with Hershal. The Doctor knelt down next to him, a tight look on his face.

"Hey there, Jacqui was it? I need to see what's going on with that ankle of yours. Can I have a look?" The other man asked gently, trying to calm her down. Rick watched him, feeling on edge. If that crawler was with the herd that had come through here last time they didn't have much time. Jacqui sobbed harder, her hands clenching over her bleeding ankle when Morgan went to move them. Rick looked up as Shane cursed, and had a feeling that the wound that Jacqui was hiding was the least of his problems.

"We have a problem Rick, get yer ass over here!" Shane called out loudly, and Rick gave Morgan a nod before getting up and jogging over. Shane was glaring at Ed, looking ready to end him right then and there. Tick didn't know how he was going to engineer Carol destroying the asshole's unlife at this rate.

"What's going on Shane?" He asked, and even he could hear the edge in his voice as he spoke. Shane glared at Ed a little harder, before looking at Rick and the other man stiffened at the fear he could see.

"When this asshole stormed off he stumbled into what he describes as a big group of walkers. They're not far behind him from what he said Rick and he led them right back here. Jacqui knocked the one you killed off of him when she heard him hollering for help." Shane hissed out. Rick looked over to Morgan and nodded to him. The Doctor picked up the hysterical woman and started towards camp. When he turned back to the two men Ed flinched, clutching his arm to his body.

"We need to get back to the others." The cop informed his partner. Shane nodded, looking at Ed.

"What about him? He's bit man, I confirmed that much before he yanked his arm back from me." Shane growled. Rick looked at him, debating on the importance of Carol ending Ed. That had been her carthetic release. Damn it, he was going to regret this, he just knew it.

"He's still alive. We don't kill the living Shane, not unless we have to in order to protect our own." Rick finally replied, a hard note in his voice. Shane gave a frustrated noise before grabbing Ed's arm and dragging him to camp and leaving Rick to follow with dark thoughts racing through his mind. They had one member bit, one potentially bit and one who might be dying from sunstroke. That was three lost members and the herd hadn't even hit the camp yet. The cop started jogging, wondering what the hell was going to happen now and if he'd even be able to change a damn thing this time around. He wasn't doing too well so far after all. The sun was starting to fall, and they had a damn herd on the way.


"Secure him to a tree over there." Rick ordered Shane as they entered the camp, motioning in the direction that Jim was tied up in the last time around. Shane froze, before looking at him and shaking his head as he started smiling. Ed was protesting, trying to break away but Shane wasn't phased.

"You're evil man." The other cop murmured, an approving note in his voice. Rick rolled his eyes.

"I don't know what you mean Shane, he's bit and that means he's gonna turn right? I don't want him loose when that happens and we don't have time ta keep track of the bastard with those walkers coming in now do we? So tie him up. We don't have the time to mess around with him." He replied, trying to brush it off. He didn't know what the reason Shane was assuming that he was having him tie Ed up was, and he was pretty sure that he didn't want to know. Not when his reason was that he wanted Carol to beat the man's head in after all. He should feel sick about planning this shouldn't he?

"Sure you don't man. Sure you don't. He deserves it though." Shane replied with a smirk, before motioning to Martinez to being over some rope and dragging Ed towards the trees. Rick watched them for a second, before shaking his head. He needed to make sure all of his people that couldn't fight were secured and then he needed to get ready to take care of this herd. He found Morgan tying an unconscious Jacqui up.

"She passed out, and I can't tell if the wound on her ankle is a bite or of she cut it on something. Until we have a chance to find out I'm not taking a chance. Not with that problem yer stalker was hollering about coming in. Duane's with the kids, the young blonde, her sister, that bastards wife and yer Biker's brother so I'll keep an eye on her during this mess. Yer ex-missus is over with the Martinez family and Dale's bringing them over to the kids." He reported. Rick gave a sigh of relief, and was even more grateful he had Morgan here. The man was honestly a godsend because he didn't have to go running about looking for people now.

"Watch yourself Morgan. I'll keep an eye open for ya, but all we got out of Peletier was its a big group of walkers. He did tell us she pulled that walker offa him. I'm hoping she caught something sharp and it didn't get her. She's one of the one's I got outta that store in Atlanta." He replied. Morgan sighed.

"She shouldn't have bothered trying to save that bastard. I looked over his wife and girl. They're covered in bruises Rick. If she's bit them we lost a good woman because an abuser was an idiot." He spat out, one hand on his hand gun. Rick grimaced at the truth in that sentence. Ed Peletier wasn't worth anyone's life plain and simple, but if Jacqui died then he was taking one final victim with him.

"We got Walkers!" Merle's voice cut through the dusk, drawing both men from their respective thoughts. Rick shared a look with Morgan, before getting his ass in gear and heading over to incoming walkers. There had already been enough losses today, they didn't need anymore.