(Hello lovely readers! First I want to say a huge thank you to those who comment after each chapter, you are awesome! Secondly, we are going into the period of time after the farm and before the prison so now I have no limitations on what I can create in my story! Mwuahahaha! Please enjoy and thank you all so much for your support.)

A few days had passed since Rick's announcement that they were infected, every one of them. They were carrying the disease in their veins and each cell produced in their bodies led them closer to the monsters that haunted their nightmares. Layla had asked Rayne what this meant, but she couldn't find it in herself to tell her goddaughter that a time would come when she would turn into a walker, just like the rest of them. Rayne rolled over to watch her child sleep, a suffocating fear taking hold of her heart.

Layla's chest rose and fell steadily, her eyelids fluttered with whatever dream she was in the middle of having and Rayne wondered when she would be able to tell her. What kind of world was this for her to grow up in? The early morning sun was beginning to light the world and Rayne found herself unable to stay put with her thoughts any longer. She reached for her weapons, kissed Layla on the head and slipped out of the tent.

The camp was still slumbering except for Rick who was keeping watch from on top of the truck. Rayne tip-toed up to him, noticing the dark circles beneath his eyes and the tense way his shoulders bunched whenever he breathed. She cleared her throat, coming up behind him, "Rick, you should get some sleep."

He jumped at her voice and turned to look at her, "Is that your professional opinion, doc?" She smiled softly and nodded, "It is. You can't keep going like this." He shrugged and looked back over the horizon, "I have to keep everyone safe. I owe it to them." Rayne tilted her head, chestnut hair spilling down her shoulder, "Why? Because you didn't tell us about what happened at the CDC?"

Rick sighed and continued to stare out until Rayne placed her hand on his shoulder, "I believe you had your reasons for not saying anything. We know now and will have to work through that knowledge and just enjoy the time we have left. You've created a safe place for my girl and myself and I'm always going to be grateful to you. You are the reason we're still alive."

The sheriff shook slightly beneath her touch, the exhaustion clearly taking its toll on him, "I killed my best friend, Rayne. How do you expect me to just go back to normal when I see his face every time I close my eyes?" Rayne tried to remember her education, what to say when people were at this point in their psyche, but all her training seemed to elude her. Instead of offering the perfect solution, she put her arm around Rick's shoulders and just stood there for a few moments holding him in a way that wouldn't be threatening to Lori if she saw them.

Rick continued to look forward until his eyes seemed too heavy to keep open. It was nice having Rayne there, especially since his own wife couldn't seem to look at him, his son refused to speak to him and everyone was angry with him for not knowing about their plague. Rayne showed him the first bit of kindness he had in over a week and the feeling of her warmth was flowing through him, making him more and more drowsy by the second.

The sheriff rested his head on her shoulder, feeling his exhaustion engulfing his senses until sleep quickly took him. Rayne felt the man go limp and his weight pushed down on her. She sighed and shifted Rick until he was laying in the back of the truck with her jacket covering him. Rayne picked up the shot gun, climbed to the roof of the truck and sat cross-legged, watching the horizon for any walkers.

She felt for Rick, it wasn't easy to be the leader and make the decisions that no one else was prepared to make. Rayne shifted her weight, feeling chilly without her jacket, but not willing to wake Rick so she stayed put, trying to distract herself from the cold. The sun was quickly rising and it would bring warmth soon, besides if he had been up there all night, he had already suffered through the worst of the cold. She could do it for an hour or two.

Rayne searched the wood line; not a walker in sight. Her attention turned to the tents where a light snoring escaped and she wondered which one Daryl was in? She hadn't had much chance to speak with him in all the hustle of moving and she was very curious as to what was going through his mind. It seemed like every time she tried to talk to him, Carol would magically appear and divert their conversation. This was starting to become more and more annoying by the day and she wondered if the time was coming when one of them would snap.

The sound of a zipper broke the silence and Rayne noticed Glen stepping out of his tent, dark hair sticking up wildly. She smiled at him when grabbed a water bottle from the cooler and waved at her. Layla had taken to following Glen anywhere he went, which she doubted made it easy for he and Maggie to have alone time. He didn't seem to mind her though, which made her guardian pleased.

Glen came up to the truck and noticed a sleeping Rick in the back. His eyes turned up as he silently climbed to sit beside her and offered a sip of his water. Rayne gratefully took it and watched Glen when he said, "Wow, I'm surprised you finally got Rick to get some sleep. A few of us tried, but he just wouldn't listen. You must have used your counseling skills to ninja chop his brain."

Rayne smiled at the joke and shook her head, "No, I just let him know that I trusted him. That I believe he had his reasons for not telling us and it is only because of Rick that we have come so far. I know people are scared, but they shouldn't be so hard on him." Glen nodded, taking another drink, "I agree with you. It was a bit of a shock for me, but I have always just rolled with the punches. Our lives are too short to hold on to grudges."

That was why she liked Glen, he was so honest and simple in his beliefs. That would make him a good partner for Maggie in these troubling times. They sat and watched as the sun fully rose over the trees, more and more people from their camp waking up and stepping out from their tents. Rayne noticed how their food supply was depleting and passed her shot gun over to Glen, "I'm going to go hunt for a bit. Will you make sure Layla doesn't wander off?"

Glen took the weapon, but said, "Didn't you know? Daryl left last night to hunt. He always comes back with something when he's been gone for so long." Rayne's eyes widened, "You mean it's normal for him to just disappear for a whole night and nobody questions if he is all right?!" Glen gave her a funny look, "Have you seen Daryl? He's a lot more dangerous than any walker out there. Don't worry about it Rayne, Daryl always comes back and usually with a pretty big prize. I wouldn't stress too much about it."

Rayne felt a knot of worry take her stomach and she jumped down from the truck, "Even so, the group needs food to hold them over. I'll see if I can find some berries or small game just to give us some breakfast." Glen looked down at her, "Suit yourself, I'll keep an eye on Layla." She saluted him and then took off on a trail that looked like it had been carved out by a deer not too long ago.

Walking through the woods used to be a favorite past time of hers, but now the forest seemed dangerous, too many places for a walker to hide. She kept her steps light as she walked over downed branches, past stumps and around the occasional carcass though she didn't dwell on them for too long. Rayne was no where near the tracker Daryl was, but she had learned a few things from going hunting with her father and she dropped down to touch a trail where the leaves had been flattened.

It could have been Daryl or something else, either way, Rayne knew she wasn't alone. Her eyes scanned the trees, trying to pick up any movement, but when she found none, she continued on her way. To her delight, she found a tree growing supple fruit just over the river. Rayne tightened her back pack and started to climb the black cherry tree marveling at her luck. Cherries only grew in Georgia in the late summer and she doubted this tree would produce it for much longer. This would be a nice treat for the group.

Her fingers went to picking, trying to grab as many as she could and fit them delicately in her pack. Her legs were secured around the limb and she reached for another handful of the tart fruit. Little did she know that she was being hunted as she found safety in the tall tree. There was a crunching as the walker drew closer to her, his mindless quest for food driving him further.

Rayne heard his footstep and looked down, shocked that he was so close. She pulled her legs up just as he reached for her and climbed to a higher branch. The dead man snarled and gurgled as he tried to reach for her, his decaying face pulling each time his jaw dropped. Rayne held tight to the trunk hoping he would lose interest in her after too long.

She was wrong.

The walker seemed to only grow more and more fixated as he tried to reach her, fingers splitting on the tree whenever he would run them down its bark. Rayne didn't want to use her pistol for fear of the noise bringing more walkers, but she would have to get closer if she were to use her knife. Rayne's blue eyes searched around for another weapon source until they rested on a branch just above her. It had broken off, most likely from a storm a while back and was wedged between the trunk and the limb. If she could remove it, she could either try to stab the walker's head or knock him away enough for her to get her knife into him.

Rayne reached for the branch but found it too far from her grasp. She shifted to her knees, fingers reaching, reaching, reaching until with a smile they rested on the limb. Her smile was short lived when suddenly the branch beneath her started to bend from her weight and she felt herself sliding. Rayne's legs clamped around the cherry branch, squeezing with all her might in an attempt to slow herself down though the force made her body turn upside down.

Beneath her the walker reached and snarled, seeing his prey dangling just above him. Rayne's heart started to race when she made ready to smack the walker with her weapon until to her overwhelming relief the sound of an arrow snapping from its bolt cracked the wind and pierced the walker's brain. It fell to the ground and Daryl stepped out from behind it.

Rayne smiled, "Haven't we learned our lesson about you shooting walker's heads next to my legs?" He walked a few feet closer and grabbed his arrow out of the carcass. His gaze turned up to Rayne who was still hanging upside down, "I guess, but you seemed to be havin' some trouble." Rayne shook her head, trying not to look at him, "Nope, I had everything under control. Had you not interrupted me I would have killed the walker myself."

Daryl leaned against the cherry tree watching her dangle from the branch that was about ten feet from the ground, "Uh huh, so how were you planning to do that when you can't even touch the ground?" Rayne rolled her eyes, trying to shift her weight so she could pull herself up, "Obviously I was going to hit him with the branch, knock him off guard and then use my knife to end it."

The hunter cleaned off his arrow and twirled it in his fingers, "Not a bad plan, though unless you were gonna to drop like a ninja, I don't think you would have made it very far. You're stuck ain't you?" Rayne glared at him, trying again to raise herself up and failing, "Certainly not, I just have to put my leg there and twist this way...and..." To her horror the branch snapped and she felt the air rush around her as she prepared for the pain of hitting the ground until she landed on something different.

Daryl rushed to catch her, but the force of her weight knocked them both over. They laid there with Rayne on top of the hunter, both wincing in pain until she looked behind to him, "See? Told you I had it under control." He coughed a laugh at her, "Completely." She turned to look at him, "Thank you for catching me, sorry I knocked you off your feet."

He sat up, pulling her with him, "No problem, I'm sure you do that a lot." She tilted her head to look at him, "Do what now?" He looked away from her and walked over to where he had hidden a large stag, "Never mind, I gotta get this back. It's been a bitch to carry." Rayne popped her back from the fall and went to join him, "Let me help. It's the least I could do for you breaking my fall." He looked her way, "You sure you don't just wanna take credit for my kill?"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh please, you will still be the top dog. I'm the one who has the...oh no!" She exclaimed running back to her pack. Daryl watched her curiously as she ripped open the bag and felt his heart melt at her excited smile, "Oh good, they didn't get squished." He waited until she came over, "What you got?"

Her smile was sunshine as she presented him with fruit, "Cherries! Don't they look great? I haven't had fruit in forever." Daryl shrugged, "I guess so." Rayne's eyes narrowed and she reached into the bag to produce a big, black cherry. She held it up to him, "Open up and taste this." He watched her carefully, her face so determined that it was possibly one of the cutest things he had seen. His jaw opened and she placed the warm fruit in his mouth.

Daryl chewed on it, tasting the way the juice pooled on his tongue and he couldn't deny that it was one of the best things he had tasted in a while. He pulled out the stem and spit the seed out, "Not bad." Rayne watched him spit out the stem and asked, "What are you doing? You are supposed to tie it in a knot with your tongue."

The hunter's brow furled, "Why would I do that?" Rayne's fair skin reddened slightly at her cheeks as she stammered, "It's supposed to prove that you...um...well...are good with your tongue." He watched her carefully, "Good at what?" Rayne's eyes searched everywhere except at him, "Never mind, forget it."

She walked over to assist him with the stag until Daryl caught her hand and spun her towards him. Rayne's heart fluttered as he held her in his eyes, "Good at this?" With that he bent down and brushed his lips along the outside of hers, the faint traces of stubble he had brushing against the smoothness of her cheek. He kissed the side of her cheek and it was all Rayne could do not to melt at his touch. Suddenly she felt something in her hand and she looked down to see it was a knotted cherry stem.

Her eyes turned up to him as he smiled, "I'm country, not stupid." He walked over and picked up his side of the stag, "Come on now, let's get this back." Rayne trembled where she was and shook herself off, blushing furiously, she took her side of the deer and walked along after him, dragging it back to the group.