++++++ I do not own the Walking Dead or any affiliated characters apart from my OC's ++++++

Twenty-One

Two hundred and seventeen days ago that herd that ripped through the farm was only forty strong-now as I sat there in the bathroom of an abandoned house staring out the window I could barely believe it.

There were so many walkers.

"Get down!" Daryl hissed. He grabbed the bottom of my shirt and pulled me down so that I fell on his lap. We both grunted when I fell down hard but there was never any uncomfortable awkwardness between me and Daryl no more. A few months ago as we squatted in what was left of a burnt down house T-Dog had called us a fine tuned machine of destruction. "How many?"

"Hundred and fifty head at least," I reported to him in a hushed whisper. "Maybe closer to two hundred. We need to get out of here and tell the others."

Daryl shook his head. "We'll wait till the herd blows through."

Daryl, ever the level headed bastard. He had a head on his shoulders that's for sure. When Carol had said that Rick had chosen his hands I sort of just went with it but in the past seven months he came to rely on us more and more to protect the group. We'd go out on scouting runs, often getting trapped by a herd and forced to hid for hours-perhaps days at a time, or we'd go on supply runs-we were forced to go further and further away from the group at all times. Spending so much time with Daryl made me see what Ebony had seen in him-he was something special all right.

I think it was safe to say we were pretty good friends.

"What if they catch them?" I asked Daryl. "They've got barely an ammo...I think we should aim for that town we saw on the sign a few days ago."

"Woodbury?" Daryl asked me. "It'd be a bust, PJ. They always are."

I sighed. I was tired, we all were tired. Tired of running and hiding, we needed a place to set down some roots instead of running around in circles escaping the giant herd that was now chasing us. The past winter had been hard on us, especially the children who were now just as armed as the adults were. Carl had become extremely proficient at using a small fire arm and Sophia was adept at using a hunting knife that she had found. I had argued with Rick over Jade being given a knife but he was adamant that everyone needed to be armed. He sprouted some shit at me about how his word was law and so obeyed.

Until Jade fell sick.

When my rabbit fell sick, just as she always did, I ignored Rick and made a run into Atlanta to search for antibiotics. Disobeying his orders had knocked me down a few notches on the totem pole considering I also lost them for a week when I returned. I found them later, hunkered down in a desolated, small town where Glenn almost mistook me for a walker. Rick berated me in front of the entire group. I told him I didn't care considering my rabbit was sick and when I shoved a bag of looted food in his face-literally-he laid off me. Rick had his own problems to contend with. The entire group was now aware that Lori had been sleeping with Shane and that the baby-which was growing fiercely every single day was Shane's. Rick barely even addressed Lori anymore except when he was issuing orders.

"You ok?" Daryl asked me, seeing the look on my face that he was now so familiar with. "You've got that little squinty thing going on-you get it when you're thinking about something."

I slid down beside him and put my head up against the crappy pink and white tiled wall. "Just tired is all," I told him. "Just tired."

The two of us sat there in total silence until nightfall and then we made a run for it. Easier to run from a heard in darkness but it doubles the risk of being caught and eaten alive. These days it was failure after failure after failure but we hadn't lost anyone yet.

When the two of us returned back to the car convoy the following morning, the beaten look me and Daryl wore told the group what they didn't want to hear.

"We've got no place to go," T-Dog announced as we gathered around the hood of the Tucson to take a look at the map Rick rolled out.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off, we'll never make it south," Maggie frowned, looking at the two red circles on the map.

"I got new for ya," Daryl cut in. "Herd's already about two hundred strong."

"This river could delay them," Herschel piped up. "If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through this."

"Yeah, but if this group joins up with that one, they could spill out this way," T-Dog argued with him, tapping the map.

"So we're blocked," Maggie sighed.

"Only thing to do is double back at 27th and swing towards Greenville," Rick sighed. He sounded defeated.

"We picked through that already," T-Dog argued. "It's like we spent the winter going in circles."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Rick nodded. "AT Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through the area. We can't keep going house to house. I can't keep sending Daryl and PJ out on runs, we can't afford to be separated anymore. We need to find some place to hold up for a few weeks."

"Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out?" T-Dog asked Rick. "It won't take long. We gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later."

"I'll keep watch," I told Rick. "Maybe you and Daryl can see if you can find any food or something."

Rick stared at me with those intense blue eyes. "Knock yourself out." He shrugged.

I headed down to the creek with an arrow notched in my bow, ready for any walkers to attack. T-Dog, Maggie, Glenn and Carol set to filling up the canteens full of water whilst I watched guard from a high advantaged point. Once we had enough water the group headed on back to the convoy. I stopped by Herschel's pickup and tapped on the window to catch Jade and Sophia's attention. "How's it hanging rabbit and dove?" I asked them.

Sophia shrugged. "Ok I guess."

Jade launched herself out the window to hug me. "I miss you Aunty Jay," she whispered in my ear. Her fifth birthday had come and gone-we had nothing to celebrate with. No cake but when she told me that she understood it almost broke my heart. Jade had started calling Daryl Uncle Daryl and Carol Aunty Carol. Sophia and Jade were as thick as thieves. It was cute.

"I miss you too, rabbit," I smiled.

"I miss mama," Jade whispered.

My face dropped and I hugged her back. "I miss her too."

At the sound of Daryl and Rick coming back from their little scout I could see the two men were grinning from ear to ear. "What did you find?" I asked them.

"Prison," Rick replied. "High walls, huge. Only problem is we've got walkers. If we clear out the outer yard we can spend the night and clear out the rest in the morning. PJ we'll need to use the rifle."

I put Jade back in the car and went to the back of the Jeep where I had a Remington Model 700 that T-Dog had found in the back of a destroyed cop car several weeks ago. Rick had suggested saving it for a special occasion since T-Dog had only found half a box full of .30 caliber rounds to go with it. I think that liberating a prison is a very special occasion.