DARYL'S POV:

We figured she was just going to go to the town's edge and then run out of steam, turn around and come back, but sitting around waiting for her for an hour was making me anxious.

"Shouldn't we go look for her?" Glenn asked in a distressed voice.

Shane sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "We cant risk it. There are too many of us. We cant all go and if one of us goes and gets lost, it'll make us weaker. Don't worry, Glenn. I bet she'll be back any minute." I was surprised he had something to say that wasn't the least bit condescending toward the Asian boy. He was actually being nice for a change.

I ran a hand impatiently through my hair. "Fuck that," I said, careful not to be loud enough to let the kids in the other room hear me. "I'm goin' after her." I grabbed my crossbow and threw the door open before anyone could object.

"How're you gonna get there?" Rick asked, thinking himself safe in the fact that I had no mode of personal transportation.

I cocked a brow at him and climbed into Shane's Jeep. The keys were still in the ignition. I started the Jeep and peeled out into the street as Rick, Shane, and Glenn ran after me and the rest of the camp came out of the house to see what the commotion was about.

It was my fault she left in the first place, I would bring her back. I just hoped it wasn't too late and she was already a walker. Why had I been so stupid? Why had I said that? Why had I even thought that? Especially right after Miguel's death. Below the belt.

I pulled up next to the spot where I saw Kaiya's truck, a feeling of relief washing over me. But then I saw a couple walkers milling about close by and my heart dropped. I grabbed my crossbow and exited the Jeep, slinking close to the ground until I reached Kaiya's truck. I looked inside, but Kaiya was nowhere. Her other two guns were there, but her pistol was gone. She must've taken that one with her.

I moved closer to a building I saw ahead of the truck and waited for a nearby walker to stumble its way past. As I stood beside the dumpster by the building, I looked down. Kaiya's gun was laying in the space between the brick wall of the building and the back of the green dumpster. I gave an internal groan and picked it up, tucking it into the waistband of my pants.

The air smelled terrible and the sun was still hidden beyond the horizon, but navigating the streets was a lot easier than I had anticipated it to be. I was able to make my way around the outer edge of the town and came to a spot in front of a law firm situated between a frozen yogurt shop and a Shipley's outlet.

There were tire marks on the pavement in front of the law firm and I could see something colorful on the ground a few feet in front of the black skid marks. There were a bunch of walkers around there, but I had to make sure it wasn't what I feared it might be.

I dropped my crossbow behind the tree I was standing by and ran out into the street, drawing the attention of quite a few walkers. I grabbed the colorful thing without looking at it and ran back to the tree, walkers on my heels.

I ran back to the Jeep, my rib cage sore and a burning stitch in my side. I drove away from the walkers who beat on the outside of the Jeep, hightailing it back to the house where I could successfully determine that the item was indeed what I had thought it was… Kaiya's fruit loop necklace.

Oo0oO

When morning rolled around, Rick was ready to give us the news. "We're leaving," he said firmly.

None of us wanted to admit it to ourselves, but we all knew that Kaiya was gone. She had already been lost out there once and lived. The chances of her doing that a second time, especially if under the "care" of random street people, were very, very slim.

Even Glenn, though he still had tear stains on his face, gave a hesitantly depressed nod. I had cried last night, too. The little guy wasn't alone on that. Even Emily seemed a little worried about Kaiya, something all of us found surprising.

Merle was ready to go into town and shoot up every living person he saw until he found her, thankfully, however, he needed my help with only one hand to aid him and I wouldn't do that. It would probably just be putting Kaiya into more danger if she was even still alive.

I found it very hard to believe that she was dead, but I also found it hard to believe we would ever see her alive again. No, she was alive, I knew that much. I could feel it in my heart. The heart that had grown to be hers. But I wouldn't see her again. None of us would.

Shane drove Merle and I back to town to drive Kaiya's truck and we all formed the caravan again, missing one person we didn't think we would be able to efficiently function without.

A few hours before nightfall, we had reached Fort Benning.

I shut the truck off with a sigh.

It looked like people were here, but there were walkers around us. The guarded walls of the Fort looked like they were perfectly capable of holding off walkers. There were cameras mounted atop the posts of the walls. It was like a repeat of what happened at the CDC except without the uncertainty of human life on the inside. And without Kaiya.

We made it inside to be greeted by a man in an army suit holding a gun who introduced himself as Captain Hanson. I tried not to think about what Kaiya would've said in this instance and followed everyone around to where we would be staying.

I'm sorry if this feels a little rushed. I'm not too fond of this chapter, probably because they just up and left Kaiya behind on the chance that she's not alive anymore. Anyway, i hope you guys liked it, please dont kill me for the suckishness of this chapter, and review! :)