"How are you doing?" From behind Jennifer felt a comforting hand rest itself on her shoulder. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now, but her mangled knee left her little choice but to sit and listen. That, and Beth was stubborn when it came to people's feelings. She just had to make everything better. Then again, there were a few things that she wanted to get off her chest and this might be her last chance to do it.

"I didn't even like him, you know. I think I hated him."

Sitting down next to her, Beth crossed her legs. "I'm sure we all hate Farley right now. It's alright."

"Not Farley. Riley." That stopped Beth cold. "I think it was on the fourth day. It was so long ago I can't even remember it right. My partner, Martin, and I were getting out of Athens. The whole town was infested with walkers and our precinct had fallen. We stole one of the police cruisers sitting out in the street and were getting out of town as fast as we could when we saw this kid, this stupid kid in a hoodie, trapped on top of a car."

"Riley?"

"Yeah." Unconsciously, Jennifer's hand went into her pocket and pulled out an old police badge with the name "Martin" stamped into the fabric. It was torn and stained with months of wear but she held it tight as she continued quietly. "There were maybe a dozen of them trying to get him. Martin stopped the car and said we had to help. We got out, started shooting, but then the kid thought he saw an opening. He jumped for it but messed up the landing and went face first into the cement. We hadn't killed them all yet so they went for him.

"But Martin, fucking good guy Martin, he rushed in to save the day like he always did. He threw himself on top of the kid just as the remaining walkers reached them. They bit him instead of the kid. They bit him a lot. His last words before I made sure he didn't turn were 'Take care of the kid. Get to Atlanta and keep yourselves safe.'"

"Riley got Martin killed? But you two seemed so close. Like brother and sister."

"I almost killed him. Some nights I would stay up on watch, even after we met up with you guys, and I'd just think about how Martin wasn't here because of that stupid nerd." She sniffled. Tears burned her eyes and she turned her head away from Beth. "Fuck, Beth, in High School I beat kids like him up. Called them names, threw their things to the floor. The works." Reaching into a pile of Riley's belongings, she pulled out a thick book. On the cover was an illustration of a scarred man holding what looked like a futuristic rifle of some sort.

Jennifer didn't look as Beth took the book from her. "Starship Troopers?" she asked. "By Robert Heinlein?"

Jennifer nodded while she kept looking at Martin's badge. "Yeah. It's science fiction or something. I thought it was stupid but he refused to let it go. He was always such a nerd."

Beth handed the book back to Jennifer, slowly, and the officer set it down behind her. "What changed between you two?" Beth inquired.

"He never talked at first. He was as quiet as Conner. He didn't like strangers."

"When you two first joined us, I thought he was a mute." Beth chuckled. "Who knew he was so funny?"

Jennifer cracked a faint smile. "We had that in common. After we'd been traveling together for a few days he finally opened up. It took me a while, but after I stopped thinking of him as the person who killed Martin, I started thinking of him as Riley. He was the one constant in a world gone to shit. Like the little brother I never had. Annoying, sarcastic, geeky, but in the end I could always count on him to try and lighten the mood." Her smile faded. "God, I wish he were here. We could use something to laugh about."

After a few seconds of silence Beth spoke again. "Do you feel better?"

Jennifer continued to rub Martin's badge as her gaze settled on Melissa's covered body lying at the edge of the camp. "I feel like murdering every one of the fuckers who did this."

"Before you get all fired up, Rambo, I found something in Farley's stuff that you might like." Digging through the ashen remains of a tent, Beth found it.

Conner had been back in camp for nearly an hour by now. At the edge of the camp the bloody soldier was leaning against a tree with the machete in hand. A few feet away, Tanner was doing the same. He hadn't mentioned Conner's fingers, or rather lack thereof, unlike Beth. After she'd bandaged his wounds, he left her to her own devices. Currently, she was having a heart to heart with Jennifer.

"You killed Willard, didn't you?" Conner kept staring ahead, masking his emotions, but he replied.

"I did. How'd you know?"

Tanner nodded at the machete. "Charlene. If Willard were still alive, he'd be after it. The only way you got this far with that blade is if you killed him."

"Upset that one of your friends is dead?"

Jack's face twisted into an expression of pain and disgust. "Not in the slightest. It's good that Willard is dead. He was an animal. It's been too long coming if you ask me."

"What about Lynch? Will you feel sad when I get my hands on him?" Conner asked, weaving the machete through the air by his side.

Jack just shrugged. "I don't think so. Willard was sick, but Lynch let him do what he did. He's even worse because he's not just sadistic, he's smart. Willard may have been an animal, but Lynch is a predator. I think he let Willard cut up Riley like that to serve as a warning to you guys. To let you know he wasn't playing games when he asked for me."

"He wasn't," Conner confirmed, placing his empty hand before Tanner's face. The man looked away, ashamed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "A guy who keeps walkers in a barn doesn't fuck around."

"He didn't get the walkers until after I left," Tanner said. "We were mostly on the move when I was still with them. They must have found that farm after I left."

Conner's voice was stern with a bit of impatience creeping through the carefully chosen words. "And why, exactly, would he have a barn full of dead people?"

Tanner brought his hand to his chin in thought. "Intimidation?" he guessed. "You said there was a ladder in front that led up to the loft. I'd guess that he takes prisoners up there when they don't want to talk, dangles them over the walkers and gives them a final chance to speak, then throws them in if they stay quiet."

"They were about to do that to me," Conner stated. "It was hard to catch because I was pretty much passed out, but Willard said something about taking me to the barn to hang out with all of the other guys who didn't talk."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"You just find the greatest friends, don't you, Jack?"

"It's Tanner." It was a few minutes before he spoke again. "So…" Tanner ventured, uneasily kicking his shoe against the ground, "What do we do after this is all over? If we live, what happens to me?"

Conner kept staring straight ahead as if Jack wasn't there. "You go your own way Jack. You do your part, don't fuck us over, and you get to live."

Jack sighed. His voice was wrapped in sorrow as he agreed. "I suppose that's for the best. Not even a chance, though? Did you even consider me staying?"

For the first time Conner turned to him. His tired green eyes were menacing in a way he had never seen the man capable of and emanated an aura of what almost seemed to be insanity. "I want to kill you," he stated flatly. "Every time I see you I see Alex, Riley, Melissa, and these," he cursed, holding his empty hand up again and waggling his remaining fingers. "I want to stick this blade in you and watch your life drain like I did to Willard, and I want to-" He cut himself off. On the inside, Tanner was ice cold. He tried not to show it.

"I learned something today, Jack."

"What's that?" Tanner asked timidly.

"I'm good at killing. When I shoved this knife in Willard's gut I sat there and watched him. I watched him die, saw his life fade away, and felt like I just won. Not survived, but won something. Like I was the center of the world for a few moments. In fact, I look at you right now, and I have to push it down, you know?"

"Jesus… Conner…"

As if on cue Beth stepped between the two men. In her hand was a glass bottle, half full, with the label "Parsen's Whiskey" plastered across the face of it. She handed it over to Jack who, uneasily and with eyes locked on Conner, took a tentative sip. Beth took it back then passed it to Conner.

Surprised, Conner took a deep drink of the warm alcohol. "Son of a bitch. I can't believe he still had this."

Beth attempted to take the bottle back, but Conner held firm, taking another gulp of the flat whiskey. "Yeah," she said, "I found it in Farley's things. I figured we could all use something to take the edge off." Once again she grasped the bottle, but this time Conner relented.

"He found that when we were on our way out of Macon," Conner chuckled. "He said he was 'Saving it for a special occasion'. He stowed it in his pack and I never saw it again. I figured he'd finished it off months ago."

Beth took a small sip, but nearly choked on the taste. Conner smiled at her as she attempted to regain control of herself. "Yeah, paint thinner would have tasted better, huh?"

From behind the trio they heard Jennifer dragging herself over. Aggressively, she snatched the whiskey out of Beth's hands. "Are we doing this or what? I'm ready."

Jack shrugged, still uneasily observing Conner. "I guess I am. Any objections?" A chorus of "No" resounded through their small group. "Everyone know the plan?"

"Let's go over it again, just to be sure," Beth asked.

"Okay," Conner said stepping forward. "Jen, you go get the truck from where we stashed it after we got out of the city where Bradley died. While I was escaping I saw a hill behind Lynch's compound, so you park the truck there, turn on the lights and just do everything you can to distract them." Jennifer nodded.

"Tanner, Beth and I will give you a boost over the wall near the barn. Once Jen has most of the guards distracted you move up to the barn and bust the lock. The walkers should take'em by surprise. I'll get in from the other side and you and me will catch the ones who survive the walkers in a crossfire. Beth stays outside the main gates with a rifle and picks off any of them who manage to make it that far and escape. Got it?" Tanner and Beth nodded as well.

Jennifer began to stride out of the camp as well as she could but was only able to muster up a determined limp. "Let's get going," she growled as they slipped into the darkness.