Waking up the next morning to the sun filtering through the walls of her tent, Evie lay there for a few moments. She took a short time to come to terms with yesterday's events and let out a sigh. She felt the tears building up and did her best to force them down. She knew nothing would change what happened. Her mother was gone or was soon to be. She couldn't change it and as much as it hurt she couldn't allow herself the time to lay around and mourn.

Pulling herself up off of her air mattress she shucked the tank top and shorts she'd worn to bed and started rummaging through her bag for her clothes. After a few moments, she pulled out one of her black sleeveless leotards from gymnastics, a pair of black leggings, socks, and a sports bra. Quickly changing into the clean clothes, she brushed her waist-length curly, brown hair and pulled it into two long braids that she pinned up around the crown of her head, something she'd done a million times before.

As soon as she was done with her hair she pulled on the sturdy hiking boots she'd had for a while and started pulling out weapons. They were in the woods, it only made sense to gear up for it. Plus, she wanted to go hunting today as soon as she got some breakfast. She'd promised her daddy the night before that she would set out some snares and intended to do that as well.

She picked up the KBAR knife Merle had gotten her for her birthday last month and even though she wasn't wearing jeans to clip it to, she pulled out a belt anyway and fastened it around her hips before clipping the knife on. Second, came a set of throwing knives in a thigh holster attached to said belt. Next came a quiver of arrows strapped to her belt. A Glock 19 was added in a shoulder holder before she picked up her compound bow, sliding the hook for it onto her belt last.

Once she was ready for a day of hunting she stepped out of her tent looking like she was armed for war. Something Merle was quick to find amusing.

"Damn Evie-girl, you planning on storming the city with all that?" he asked with a chuckle as he held out a bowl of beans for her breakfast.

"Nah, just the woods Uncle Merle." She said with a small grin as she took the offered bowl.

"Goin' out?" Daryl asked as he ate his own breakfast.

"Yeah, I want to see about getting a deer. I figured since we can't freeze anything out here we can use whatever's left for jerky." She explained, receiving a nod of understanding from both Dixon males. "Plus I wanted to get those snares set." She said, looking up to her father. "Unless you got antsy and did it this morning." She said with a teasing grin knowing her daddy well.

"Yeah." He said with a nod, a small smirk playing across his lips. "Already did it at first light." He said as he finished off his meal.

As soon as she had polished off her own breakfast, she dropped her bowl into the bucket of water for one of them to handle while she was gone, dropped a kiss on both their cheeks, and headed out into the woods to hung tor the much-desired deer.

As Evie walked through the woods she held her bow and an arrow loosely notched, not pulling back until she deeded to so she didn't gas herself too early in the day. It was a lesson she'd learned early in life when her daddy had first been teaching her to hunt.

This was her favorite place on earth, deep in the woods alone with only her own company. She loved her family, truly. But there was just something about seeking one's own counsel in nature that put a lot of things into perspective. She'd grown up in the woods with her daddy and uncle and it never got old. She liked things other girls did, movies and dates. She wasn't materialistic but could have fun shopping with her mom. She could deal with makeup and her hair and was actually pretty good at both but it wasn't a requirement or a part of her daily life. To be honest, while she could fit in just fine with the prissy girls, she usually didn't bother, didn't really have the desire to be one of the girly girls. She was more at home in the woods with a bow in her hand than she was in any mall, no matter how much she may look like a princess on the outside.

She may look like her mom but she was a Dixon through and through; a miniature Daryl is what Merle had called her most of her life. And it was true. She preferred silence to gossip and hunting to shopping. Boots were preferred over heels and jeans instead of skirts. She was a blend of both worlds, her mother's southern belle charm, and her father's backwoods knowledge.

She stood still for a few moments once she'd gotten deeper into the woods to just listen to the sounds of nature around her. Listening closely for the sounds of wildlife and the rustle of leaves. It was calming, the sounds of the forest. It was, unlike most girls, her happy place. She knew what to do out here and what could be waiting for her. It was a type of catharsis after the events of the previous day, to get back to something she knew and felt comfortable with. As she walked deeper into the undergrowth, she let her mind wander over the last conversation with her mother and for the first time, really let herself feel the loss.

Tears slowly streamed down her face as she paused and closed her eyes, turning her face up to the sky. She gave herself over to the feeling and allowed herself to mourn her mother for several long moments here in the safety of the woods.

After some time, she finally pulled herself back, wiped her eyes, and set back to the task of hunting. She let go of everything, yesterday's upset, the losses, the trauma, what was possibly happening with the world outside of their camp. She let it all fall away and gave herself over to her senses as she stalked through the woods and began to hunt in earnest.

Evie had been out in the woods for several hours, noon had come and gone, when she's found what she was looking for. Deer tracks.

She'd only been following the trail for about half an hour when she heard it. Distant rumblings, almost like explosions.

"What the hell?" She asked out loud, turning towards the sound instinctively. She stood there for a moment, indecision coursing through her when a second rumbling explosion broke the sounds of the forest. The need to find out what happened and make sure her family was okay won out over the thrill of the hunt and the love of venison.

It took her an hour to make it back to camp and when she arrived things weren't how she left them. As she broke through the trees behind their tents she paused, compound bow and loosely notched arrow still in hand. She was shocked. Their camp, which had once been their tents, firepit, truck, and motorcycle, had expanded. Now it was full of other vehicles and people pitching their own tents.

"What the actual fuck?" She murmured to herself as she looked around for her dad and uncle. That explosion had her on edge and now their safe campsite was crawling with strangers. She was instantly on guard, her back up and her hands tightening slightly around her weapon as she scanned the open space for the only two people she knew.

-Earlier at Camp-

Both Dixon brothers heard the explosions coming from the direction of the city. Sharing a look, they ran around the top edge of the quarry to a break in the trees from which they could watch the chaos unfold. Atlanta was being bombed.

They had heard the broadcasts about the refugee camps in the city but neither Dixon had trusted them to actually keep them safe, not when Evie's life was at stake. So they had stuck with what they knew and took to the woods.

They had never appreciated their instincts more.

"Evie will have heard that." Daryl said, turning back towards their camp. He spent a couple of moments of the return trip contemplating heading into the woods for his daughter before deciding against it, knowing she would already be heading back to camp.

"Yeah, pretty sure they heard it all the way to 'Bama." Merle said with a snort. Though part of him was worried about his niece too. "She'll be fine."

'Yeah." Daryl said with a nod and dropping down onto a log he'd pulled over by the fire. "She'll probably circle back to see what that sound was."

"Girl's smart. She'll hurry back then ya'll can rustle up some little critters for tonight." Merle said taking a drink of water.

It wasn't more than 20 minutes later when what looked like a convoy of cars started pulling into their campsite. Both Dixons jumped to their feet grabbing weapons in case these newcomers weren't friendlies.

As people started exiting cars Merle and Daryl noticed that most of them looked soft, like weak city folks with no clue how to survive out in the woods. Housewives and sheep. Neither Dixon had much need for these sorts. There were a couple of them that didn't look as green as the others but still made both Dixons uneasy. Especially when they noticed the word 'POLICE' written across one man's tee shirt.

Both Dixons kept their respective weapons trained on the cop, Daryl's anxiety rising as he realized his daughter was more than likely heading back to camp at this moment and could walk in on some sort of standoff and get hurt in the crossfire if these city people decided to shoot first and ask questions later.

"Woah there." Said the more build man with dark curly hair. "No need for hostilities." he said holding one hand out towards Merle and Daryl, the other slowly reaching for his own holstered gun.

'Not at all. So why don't you people get back in your cars and get lost." Merle said though it was less of a suggestion and more of a demand.

"We need a place to camp at least for the night." the man said, looking between both brothers. "My name is Shane Walsh, I'm a Sherrif's Deputy out of King County."

"Merle Dixon, this is my brother Daryl." Merle said tilting his head in an indication of the other Dixon without taking his eyes off of the cop.

"We were trying to make it to the refugee center in the city and saw them bombing the place. We decided to try and get off the road and find somewhere to set up camp." Shane said hoping the men would be reasonable.

"Yeah, well this quarry is occupied, find another." Daryl said, speaking for the first time. He wanted these people gone before Evie walked out of the woods and into this clusterfuck of a Mexican standoff, he didn't trust the cop not to shoot his kid on accident if he got spooked.

"Come on, be reasonable. There's plenty of room. You know what's happening out there?" Shane asked.

"Yeah. People dying, coming back, and eathing each other. We know." Merle said he thought furiously before letting a grunt. "Fine. Yall keep over there to yourselves. You leave us be and we'll leave you be."

"Fine." Shane said with a nod. A little surprised yet relieved things were settled. "Well keep to this side, but you should stay close. The bigger groups will be safer."

"No thanks, officer." Merle sneered the title. "Us Dixonss are fine on our own."

"We cone kin out hunting." Said Merle before lowering his rifle finally. "Shoot my kin, I shoot you. Should be heading back this way since the explosions were heard clear to the next county."

Shake nodded, another one of these rednecks would be easy to spot, though Shane wasn't thrilled about having a third Dixon to deal with nor the threat in those words. However, he chose wisely and kept his mouth shut with a nod before turning to help people set up camp.

Daryl and Merle moved over to stand in front of their tents. "I don't trust 'em." Merle grumbled. A part of him wanted to pack their shit and haul ass out of here as soon as Evie was back. Another part of him realized the quarry was too good of a spot to just leave.

"Me either." said Daryl softly. The youngest of the two only really cared about two people, his daughter and his brother. In that order. Merle was the same. They both put Evie before anything or anyone else.

"Wait and watch." Merle said just loud enough for Daryl to hear. "If they cause problems we shoot or bail or both."

Daryl nodded as they both looked over the clearing, watching people pitch tents and start settling in. Merle snorted when he saw a skinny brunette telling what looked like her son to stay in her sight, that the woods was no place for a kid. The boy was Evie's age, 16 if he was a day, and rolled his eyes at his mother's words.

Carl, for his part, had watched the scene between the rednecks and Shane and couldn't help but think they looked like people you didn't want to cross. The crossbow was pretty impressive as well.

His mother's warning had him rolling his eyes. He wasn't a kid and he'd been hunting with his dad before. He wasn't thrilled with his mom at the moment. Since his dad got shot she's been spending more and more time with Shane and carl had noticed the way his dad's best friend looked at his mom. He wasn't blind to the looks his mom gave either.

Carl gave another roll of his eyes an hour later when he'd finished setting up his own tent and caught Shane staring at his mom. Looking away, his whole body frozen when his eyes landed on the most incredible sight he'd ever seen.

A girl stood at the edge of the camp having just stepped out of the woods. She was shorter than him by at least half a foot, slim build, tiny waist. Everything about her was petite except for the impressive chest straining the clothes she wore. Which seemed like a second skin of black spandex, leggings and what Carl thought was some sort of leotard. Her skin was smooth and clear with a faint tan. Her hair was raven black, pulled back into some braided style that kept all but her bangs out of her face. Electric blue eyes were the most startling, almost too blue to be real.

She was armed to the teeth and holding a bow with an arrow loosely held, though she looked tense and ready to fire at any second.

To Carl, she was absolutely gorgeous. She was perfect.