The next morning, I go downstairs with Daryl's vest and had the intention of washing it when I see Rick and Carol standing in the kitchen.

Carol looks at the vest in my hand and her eyes widen "You got it off of him!"

"I got him to shower" I tell her

"Give it here, I'll wash it" She says

"It's okay, you don't have too" I tell her

She looks at me with a smirk "Do you know how to clean leather?"

I look at the vest then hand it over defeated "No, I'm really not cut out for a domestic lifestyle"

Carol laughs and Rick smirks "That's what I'm here for" Carol says

Moments later Daryl comes downstairs quickly wearing clean clothes but he still ripped the sleeves off the shirt he found. I pull at the frays and frown "Why do you do that?"

"So I can move better" He replies

I sigh and get him and me some coffee "Wow, Daryl, you look so much better" Carol says

"Gee, thanks" Daryl says sarcastically.

I hand him one of the cups in my hand "I'm liking this whole coffee thing. We gotta stick around just for this" I say as I blow on my cup.

"Speaking of which. This afternoon we go out so we can talk more freely." Rick says

"For what reason exactly?" I ask

"Daryl is goin' huntin' with you and I'm teaching Carol how to shoot." Rick says.

"And we all happen to go out and come back together?" I ask

Rick nods "Yeah, we don't stray far from each other and meet up before heading back"

I nod and look down at myself "I'm gonna change then. Hunting in a skirt isn't exactly practical"

I put down my cup and run upstairs. I change into jeans and vest top and pull on my old, now cleaner, boots before running back down. "I'll meet you guys at the gate at three. I'm with Deanna and Maggie till then. I can't wait to hold my gun again, I've felt so naked without it" I say to Rick, Carol and Daryl.

I move to the bottom of the stairs "Maggie, let's go!" I call up.

"Coming!" She calls back.

Two minutes later she's heading down the stairs "See you guys later!" I call into the kitchen before heading out with Maggie.

She looks at me before saying "Why are you dressed normally?"

I laugh "I'm going hunting with Daryl this afternoon, I'm meeting him at the gate at three"

"Aw, it's cute that that is how you bond" Maggie says

I grin "Well Daryl is hardly the chocolates and flowers guy"

"It's cute" She says decisively

I tell Deanna that I'm going hunting with Daryl later and she says "Why hunting?"

"Daryl is a hunter and tracker. It's what he likes to do and sometimes he likes me to go with him. I guess you can say it's how we date. He's teaching me how to track today" I rely with a grin

Deanna smiles "That is very sweet"

I grin like a schoolgirl "It's what we do" I actually like Deanna. She appears to be sincere, honest and blunt. Qualities I admire in a person… maybe this can work.

I leave a little before three and head to the store where they keep our guns. Olivia greets me with a flustered grin.

"Mrs Dixon! Or do you prefer Doctor Dixon?" She babbles.

I smile "Just call me Gwen, peach"

She becomes even more flustered and her cheeks redden at the nickname and says "What can I do for you?"

"I'm going outside the wall so I need my gun" I say with a smile

She nods "Oh, okay." She leads me into the room with the guns "Can I ask why?"

"My husband and I are going hunting but it's more of a tracking lesson for me" I tell her.

Her eyes light up and she says "Oh! If you catch a boar out there can I have one of the legs? I used to cure meat in my basement before, never thought it would be so useful"

I run my eyes over the girl as I find my gun and pick it up, I grab my rifle to, for appearances sake "No problem, peach" I tell her.

I give people nicknames so I don't have to remember their names. I'm not being mean I'm just really bad with names and I haven't met new people in such a long time, especially this many at once.

She grins at me "Thank, Mrs… I mean Gwen"

I head out to the gate and Daryl is already there with Carol and Rick. Daryl is wearing his vest which looks a lot better now it's clean.

"Oh, Gwen, honey. Daryl says you two are going hunting together." Carol says all sugary sweet, it's not natural "Rick is taking me out for a shooting lesson"

I smile as the gates are opened "That's good you're keeping it up. You're getting pretty good"

Carol waves her hand "I'm trying"

Once we are a decent distance from the gate Carol screws the smile off her face "Uh, that's better. Smiling all the time hurts"

I laugh "You chose to go all Betty Crocker on us"

Carol laughs quietly as Rick leads us through the woods. We stop next to an abandoned house.

Rick starts off by saying "I think we need to get guns. Not a lot but if things don't work out we need weapons to take the community with"

I hear a growl. Daryl looks around then comes back.

"I don't see it, but it's close. There's just one of 'em." He says

"We won't be here long. So what do you think?" Rick says

"It's a good idea but how do we get them? The place is locked down at night and Peach is there all day" I say

"Peach?" Rick asks confused

"It's what I call the lassie who works there when I forget her name" I tell him

"We can go in when it's empty." Carol says

"How is that? It's locked up at night." Rick says

"The window. There's just a latch. I can leave it open." Carol says with a shrug

"A latch?" Rick repeats looking dumbstruck by the stupidity of these people

"Yeah." Carol replies

"What if one of those pricks shuts it?" Daryl asks

"Wait a couple of days, leave it open again." Carol says

Daryl walks away a little "It's getting closer." He says, referring to the walker

"We need to do it sooner than later. Right now, they're not watching us. Not worrying about meetings like this. We may need the guns, we may not." Rick says

Carol frowns "We will whatever way it goes."

"They're the luckiest damn people I ever met. And they just keep getting luckier." Rick says

"How's that?" Daryl asks

Rick shrugs "We're here now."

"Have you noticed how modest we are?" I ask sarcastically

"Tell me I'm wrong" Rick challenges

I put my hands up "I ain't challenging, just stating an observation it's what I do best right?"

"They've got a couple of footlockers just full of 9 millimetre autos, Rugers, Kel-Tecs. Just tossed in there. They don't use them. They're never gonna know they're gone." Carol states

Daryl indicates to the abandoned blender that Rick had said he hid a gun but now it's missing "Someone's got one now, right?"

"Mmm. Listen, the others, we want them to try." Rick says

"You, too." Carol says to Daryl

I take Daryl's hand and smile up at him "He is" Daryl looks down at me and nods.

Rick nods "So we keep it quiet. Just us."

The walker's growling is louder. I see it coming through the trees behind me.

"Here it comes." Rick says, we don't even blink anymore, when it's just one or even a handful, it's like swatting mosquitoes at this point. I bet a pound and a penny that when those inside the walls see just one, they freak right out… and that's why they need us. They can't handle this world and facing it is inevitable no matter how safe you think you are.

"I got him." Daryl says

"Hey, wait." Carol says and steps forward and just starts shooting the crap out of it then finally popping it in the head "We said we were taking me out shooting. I couldn't go back with a full mag."

"Lucky he came by." Daryl says

"Oh, yeah, wait a minute" I lift my rifle and fire at a tree twice, the silencer mutes the sound of the bullet. "Damn I missed"

Rick frowns "Missed what?"

"The imaginary animal Daryl and I were hunting" I say with a grin.

Rick grins and shakes his head "We should get back." We start walking back "You'll pull the latch, we'll pick our moment. Us, we don't need to be lucky."

Daryl stops at the walker Carol took down and stares at it "What the hell is that?" He asks moving around to look at it better.

"What is what?" I ask looking at the walker.

Daryl points to its forehead where something is carved "Is that a W" He says it like double-ya.

"Yeah" Carol says

Rick leans down and looks at the walker then up at us with worry before we walk off again "You say W weird" I say to Daryl, pronouncing it double-you.

"What?" He asks

"W, you say it weird" I repeat.

He looks a little baffled "People are carving letters into walkers and that's what you're thinkin' about?"

I shrug "What? People are doing creepy and disgusting things. What's new? Hearing you say W for the first time however, is new"

Carol laughs before saying "Nothing fazes us anymore, does it?"

"Touch wood" I say touching a tree as I pass it "We have seen the worst humanity has to offer"