Carol watched the Walker slide down the back of the car. One by one they all started to drop. Some by arrow, some my blade and some by unknown forces. No guns were used, at least none were heard. They had a couple of silencers that were possibly being used. Carol looked around the car before her eyes fell on Merle. He looked more relaxed, smirking as each Walker fell.

"They're dwindlin' more on this side," Merle stated.

"What's your plan?"

"When I say, we're gonna open the door and get as far away from the car as possible," he explained.

She didn't respond, but instead got prepared to move. There were minimum Walkers on that side of the car now. When there were only one or two more Merle suddenly opened the door and both of them were clambering from the car. Once they were out they set off running. They spotted most of the team at a safe distance, but they didn't stop running until they could no longer see Walkers, moving or not.

They both turned, taking deep breaths. Daryl, Maggie, Glenn and Rick had come to their rescue. Andrea and Michonne had stayed near the cars where Hershel, Beth, Carl and Judith were. Rick was using one of the guns that had the silencer and Daryl was using his crossbow. Maggie and Glenn were moving closer bit by bit to take away stragglers with other weapons.

"Was there even that many on the road?" Carol questioned.

"You saw them first."

"And you were driving!" she snapped, glaring at him.

He looked at her through squinted eyes. They both held their gaze for a moment before Merle started to laugh. As he did Carol felt her features soften a little more until she was smiling. She rarely saw Merle, especially at something like this. Normally he would smirk or chuckle, more often at someone's misfortune or at situations that most people wouldn't laugh at.

Carol opened her mouth to suggest they go back to the others when a hand gripped her shoulder. It felt too uncoordinated to be safe. Her hand went straight for her blade, but Merle acted first. As Carol was pulled back by the Walker and it's mouth came dangerously close to her neck, Merle struck his prosthetic forward. The blade of it driving into the side of the Walker's face. Both the Walker and Carol fell backwards but she managed to get her blade out as they hit the ground. Skilfully she rolled over and managed to drive the blade repeatedly into the Walker's head.

As it stopped moving she finally stopped striking it with the blade. She got to her knees and tried to catch her breath. Merle was there kicking the Walker aside as the others came closer. Daryl was in front, he skidded to a stop next to Carol and instantly dropped to his knees. He pulled her in, wrapping his arms tightly around her in a protective manner.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured. "We just lost sight of the road for a moment."

"We?" Daryl asked, eyes darting to Merle.

"I was talking too much, I stole his attention, it wasn't just his fault," Carol said.

"How's the car?" Daryl asked Merle but his eyes fell back to Carol.

"Couldn't get her to start, tried when we was swarmed," Merle sighed. "But maybe she might work."

"We need that car," Rick groaned. "Even until we get to the next town or until we find another car."

"I learned a couple of things from when we had the RV," Glenn spoke up. "I can help."

"You all try and fix it," Daryl decided, pulling both himself and Carol to their feet. "Takin' her back to the others."

Daryl kept an arm wrapped around Carol as he led her up to the other two cars. As they got closer Andrea and Michonne pushed away from the cars. Michonne stayed there but Andrea stepped closer. Seeing that Carol was alright, Andrea put a reassuring hand on her a back as she walked back up to the cars with them. They opened the front door and let Carol sit in the seat. Judith was in her car seat, Beth had slipped into the back to be with her while Carl and Herhsel were also outside.

"What do we do now?" Andrea asked, breaking the silence.

"They'll see if they can get the car to work long enough to get us to get to the town," Daryl explained.

"Let's hope there's a replacement," Hershel sighed. "That's most of our things in that truck bed. We could maybe squeeze into the other two cars but maybe not."

"If there weren't as many we would have just hit the Walkers," Carol mumbled. "But I saw them and just reacted... There were so many."

"That don't matter," Daryl assured.

"Nope, not now that the car is working." They all looked to see Maggie. "Well... Kind of... The front is hanging off and there's still smoke coming out of the hood but it seems to be hanging in there. We want to push it back onto the road though."

Daryl nodded. He kissed Carol once and went to help. Michonne and Andrea also went. Between everyone there they managed to push the truck back onto the road. After a while they were all ready to go, only difference was Carol went on the back of the bike with Daryl who would switch between driving behind Merle and beside him.

They managed to get to the next town. Almost. The car gave out literally just outside. They managed to push it within the boundaries. They all stopped there and decided to make a plan. Maggie and Glenn went in search of supplies, while they were doing that they also looked for shelter. Andrea and Michonne's main job was to look for places to hole up either permanently or temporarily. Rick and Hershel were trying to come up with a plan. Merle was taking watch and Daryl was doing a mixture of all jobs. Carol, Beth and Carl all stayed near the cars to look after Judith and to stay out of the way.

They were at their jobs for a couple of hours and everyone was getting more and more tense. A couple of places had been found but they really would only be temporary, not enough space for them to stay there and not get in the way of each other. Supplies weren't terrible but there seemed to be a road at the other end of the town that seemed to go through where the trees on the map were, only that there weren't any trees, at least no as many.

It was a long discussion before they decided they would see what laid where the trees used to be. Before leaving they searched for a cr and managed to find one. It wasn't as big but it would do the job. They managed to transfer the fuel and move all of their things. They got a few extra things and made note of the places that were either empty or had very few Walkers. Once they were sure, they were off again.

Not wanting Merle to feel bad or for anyone to blame him for the last car, Carol was back to riding with him. She was slouched in the passenger seat, looking out of the window. This drive would be a shorter one. The trees were growing closer. The open space where most of the trees used to be had foundations laid out and some vehicles. It looked like another building site. Carol studied it, it wasn't as well put together as their one, it wouldn't do but something seemed to have caught Merle's eyes.

"What is it?" she questioned, worried she might have missed something again.

"Those trees, why do you suppose they left those ones?"

"Maybe they didn't need the space."

Merle looked at her. "Or maybe somethin' is already there."

She looked at him but he was already driving forward. He didn't bother trying to ask what the others thought. He just went for it. He drove towards the collection of trees until he hit what looked like a driveway. Carol caught sight of the mailbox as they passed, it read "Lennix Farm." Merle got out of the car as he stopped it. He jogged over to the gate and managed to get it undone with ease. He pushed it open and went back to the truck. He climbed in and moved on, ignoring the shouts from behind him.

They drove down the long drive, passing through the trees. Nothing seemed to be coming at them. In fact it seemed deserted. They got through the trees and out into a clearing. Merle stopped the car as a building came into view. As Carol stepped out she realised what it was... A farm. Her eyes fell back on the others. They too had stopped and were out of their cars. Carol's eyes fell on the Greene's. They were staring wide eyed at the farm. It looked exactly like their farm, a slight difference in placement and colour but really you would think the two farms were twins. Carol watched as Beth's shoulders shuddered, like she was trying to hold in sobs. Hershel went a little limp and even Maggie showed some sign of weakness as they watched the building.

Carol looked back at Merle, finding his confused expression watching them too. "We can't stay here," she whispered, walking away from the building and leaving no room for argument.

A/N: in the past you guys have liked it when other characters get a bit more attention so I figured I could do that again by bringing them to a farm. I figured it would feel like home for the Greene's but also cause a bit of pain for them too. don't worry there will still be primary focus on Caryl for sure, I'm positive I'll find a way for this situation to help with adding more scenes between them ;) plus I'm not sure if the farm with will be a permanent thing for the rest of this story or not, opinions?

R&R