The next morning started out just like any other day. I did my usual morning routine, then went downstairs to eat something. The others were already down there, it wasn't weird or anything though because I'm usually the last one at the table anyway.

I picked up a box of cereal, then poured some into a bowl. Dry cereal for breakfast it is. I thought apathetically and started to eat.

"We're gettin' low on supplies." Daryl was the one to say. "I was thankin' about goin' on a run."

"Yeah." My dad said. "Me too." There was a brief pause. "I was actually thinking about taking Abby with me." I looked at him when he said that, he was looking at me too. "So the three of us can go."

"Alright." Daryl said.

I was still looking at my dad. "W-why?"

"You wanted to go out yesterday, right?"

"But that was yesterday."

"What? You don't wanna go?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I mean…I'll go if you want me to." I said. "It's just a little strange after you've tried so hard to keep me home and then invite me on a run out of nowhere."

"Maybe he's trying to be nice." Michonne said. I looked at her. Of course she would stick up for him.

"You should be happy then." Daryl, to my surprise, said. I looked at him now. "You been wantin' to go out, now ya can."

I felt strange because it seemed like my dad was planning something and they were all in on it. "Why's everyone ganging up on me? I only said it was strange."

"No one's ganging up on you." Michonne said softly but her eyes were wide. "Your dad wants you to go on a run. So go with him."

I looked around at them, they were all looking at me, except my brother. "Fine, I'll go." I widened my eyes a little and continued eating my cereal. My mood was already soured so that will probably be how I feel for the rest of the day. I feel like it's not going to be a good day.

I walked outside with my bag. My dad and Daryl were talking to each other, but I hadn't said a word since this morning. I really hope we're not walking. I didn't know what my dad's plans were, but if he wants to go to a store or something that's not close then we better be driving.

"Sky's getting cloudy. I hope it doesn't rain." My dad said.

"We'll probably get caught in a storm no matter what." Daryl said. "That's what always happens."

"We can take a car." My dad said. Thank God. My dad got in the driver's seat, I sat behind him. I wish I could sit in the front, I hate the backseat.

"So where we goin'?" Daryl hopped in the passenger seat.

"There's a shopping center not too far from here, I wanna check around there."

"Alright. Do you still wanna secure the fence?"

"No. I was thinking that…we should probably leave soon. Find another place to stay, I mean. We should've left a long time ago after those guys found us."

"Yeah, good idea."

It was like I wasn't even there. They just talked the whole way. I kind of wish I wasn't here, I would've rather have stayed home with Carl and Michonne. I wonder why my dad even wanted me to come? He still hasn't said anything about it.

"Someone's being quiet." My dad finally said referring to me. I didn't say anything.

Daryl looked back at me, then at my dad. "I thought she fell asleep." I still didn't say anything. "Hey, I forgot you was there." He smirked. "You alright?" I just shrugged. "What's 'at mean?"

"It means…" I shrugged again.

Daryl snorted with a laugh. "Alright."

We got to the shopping center, there were more stores than what I was expecting. "I wanna check this little store here." Daryl said.

"Alright. Abby and I will be in this appliance store." My dad said. I looked at him. I wanted to go with Daryl, but I couldn't exactly say that.

"Isn't it better if we stay together?" I finally spoke.

My dad looked at me for a few seconds. "C'mon." He put his hand on my back and we walked to the appliance store.

We looked in the windows and pounded on them with our fists to check for walkers before going in. The store seemed to be clear so we went inside. I don't really know why my dad wanted to come in here, he did find some tools but other than that…it was all things that we didn't have a use for anymore.

I just kind of looked around at different items. "Find anything?" My dad snuck up behind me.

I slowly turned to look at him. "No. What are we even doing in here?"

He gave me a look. "I wanna talk to you." I knew it! Here it comes. I rolled my eyes. "Hey, that's exactly the thang I'm talking about." He scolded me. "What's with the attitude?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I shook my head and walked away a little. "I haven't been any different than I was before."

"Yes you are. You seem mad all the time. Are you mad at me?"

"…I'm mad at you for not believing me about the ghost." I turned and looked at him again. "Why all of a sudden would I start having seizures? Has it ever happened before?"

"No, but you have two brain injuries and you've been sick all your life."

"We don't know that I have another brain injury. I just hit my head a little too hard."

"Well, still…I'm not gonna take the chance. I worry about you, you know that and I just don't want anything to happen to you." He put a hand on my shoulder. I calmed down a little.

I looked down and thought for a moment. "Then, why am I here? Why wouldn't you leave me at home where it's safer?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you." He raised his eyebrows.

"We couldn't've done this at home?" I shrugged. He gave me a look and sighed. I was going too far and I adjusted my attitude. "Sorry."

His expression seemed to change too and he gave me a nod. "I love you."

"I love you too." I gave him a small smile. He returned it then I started walking again.

He hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek, I cringed but still smiled. "C'mon, let's get outta here."

We left that store and met Daryl by the car, it looked like he found a lot more than we did. "Hey." He said. "Where to now?"

"We should check the big one together." My dad said.

"Alright." Replied Daryl.

My dad went in first, then Daryl, I was last. I just realized that, I've never been on a run with both of them before.

There were no walkers that we could see, but it was a pretty big store so…anything could be in here. "Alright, let's look around but try to be quick. This is a big place." My dad said. Daryl headed off in one direction, I was about to go in another. "Abby." My dad stopped me. "You make sure you stay close by one of us, ya hear me?"

I ignored him and began looking around. I found some medical supplies like over the counter meds and bandages and stuff and put them in my bag. I also found some shampoo and soap. Next, I found some bowls and stuff that might be useful. There was this cute little water bottle that I liked but I wasn't sure if I should take it or not. I was just staring at it when Daryl walked down my aisle. He poked at my sides and made me laugh causing me to almost drop the bottle.

"How come you've been so quiet?"

I shrugged. "I feel funny." I said.

He gave me a concerned look. "Last time ya said that…"

I shook my head. "It's not like that. I'm just…tired, I guess."

He nodded. "Well, I see yer findin' some good stuff." He said and gave my backpack a pat.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need a new a bag." I looked around. "I'm sure I can find one in here."

"What's 'at?" He pointed to what I was holding.

I looked at it. "A water bottle." I shook my head. "I'm not sure if I'm gonna take it though."

"Take it." He nodded. "Ya should."

I gave him a surprised look. Well…okay." I shrugged and stuffed it in my bag.

"Yeah, we really gotta get ya a new bag." He said. "C'mon—

Just then, there was the sound of breaking glass. Daryl and I immediately had our weapons up. He put a hand back telling me to stay behind him. I followed close behind Daryl. "Rick?" He called. "Was that you?"

"…yeah." My dad called. "I knocked something over."

We both relaxed and I laughed a little. "He's such a clutz."

"He is, ain't he?" We both laughed.

I walked around with Daryl for a while. He was looking at an item up on top of a very tall shelf. He looked down at me. "Get that." He said.

I looked up at it. "What? How?"

"C'mere." He lifted me up and onto the shelf, I held on tightly. "You got it?"

"Yeah." I handed it down to him, then I started climbing down myself. He helped me down when I was in reaching distance. I gave him a smile once I was back down at the bottom.

"Hey, I just thought of something." I said. "Can we look for a new portable DVD player?"

"I don't see why not." He started walking again.

"And maybe some movies too." I grinned.

"Whatever you want."

So, Daryl and I headed over there and we found what we needed, I grabbed some new movies that sounded interesting and I also grabbed a few books too. I ended up with four bags myself. I call that a successful trip.

"We better get outta here before ya stuff the whole store into yer bag." Daryl teased me. I let out a laugh. "C'mon, let's go find yer dad."

"Already found 'im." A voice said. Daryl and I immediately dropped our bags and had our weapons up. My eyes widened as the stranger emerged. It was William, he was holding up my dad. "Hey." He grinned. "Slide them weapons on over to me and I won't have to blow his brains out."

I looked up at Daryl, he gave me a nod. We put our weapons down and kicked them over. "Great." William said. He pushed my dad over to us. "You people are probably sick 'a me by now. I would be." He laughed, then he became serious. "John's dead. Was that you people?"

"Yup." I couldn't help but smirk a little.

William looked down at me. "I missed you, darlin'." He smiled. "You killed John, huh?" He nodded then laughed. His expression turned real mean and ugly real fast. William reached out and grabbed me before anyone could do anything. I squealed.

"No!" My dad yelled.

"Let 'er go!" Yelled Daryl.

"See, now this is what I call an eye for an eye." He said. "She killed John, so now I'm gonna kill her." My eyes widened and I looked at my dad and Daryl. "It's only fair. Someone has to die, someone has to pay."

"Kill me instead." Daryl said.

"No!" I said. William tightened his hold on me making me cringe.

"Nah, this'll have more of an impact." He grinned. "But first…" He put his hand down my shirt and touched my breasts. I whimpered. "Look at you with your tiny tits." He said grossly. "Let's see some more."

I looked away. I don't want this to happen again. It can't. My hand absentmindedly touched my pants pocket and I felt something in there. My eyes widened as I realized what it was. The bullet pen! This is what's going to get me out of this! I slowly pulled it out, he turned me towards him and I took my chance. I aimed for his neck, but he moved and I shoot him in the shoulder.

William cried out and grabbed where he was just shot. My dad and Daryl tried to charge him, but William recovery quickly and pointed his gun at them making them stop. Shit. It didn't work.

William grabbed me by my neck. "You tried to kill me?" He yelled. "I was just playin' around! I wasn't gonna kill you! And that night, I protected you from John! This is how you repay me?" He was screaming in my face.

"You didn't protect me." I spat.

"I should've let 'im rape ya." He growled. "You killed John!" He slapped me hard in the face. "Then you tried to kill me!" He slapped me again on the other side. "You stupid, little bitch!" He slapped me hard and fast on both sides of my face a few times, then he pushed me down on the last one.

I was bawling from the pain and crawled over to Daryl and my dad, I was able to grab one of our guns in the process. Daryl helped me up and comforted me. He held me and let me cry into his chest. "Shh shh." He whispered in my ear. He even kissed my temple. I looked up at him and moved away a little and showed him the gun. His eyes widened some and he took it.

"What a nice moment." William said. "But…I've decided to take all your shit instead. So how's about—" Daryl raised the gun and shot William without hesitation. I looked back and he was laying there with a bullet hole right in his forehead. He's dead, he's gone.

My dad ran over and checked to make sure he was dead. "You guys okay?" He looked at us.

"Yeah." Daryl said. I stayed quiet though and looked down. "Let's get outta here before the sound draws walkers."

We were on our way back home, I was stuffed in the back seat with all of our bags and haven't said a word for a while. I had a feeling earlier that day that something bad was going to happen, I was right. However, I still had that feeling and I didn't know why. I was also feeling a little uncomfortable about what just happened with William. Not to mention the headache I had now from that asshole slapping me around.

"It's good that guy is dead now." My dad said.

"They both are." Daryl corrected him.

There was a brief pause. I saw my dad look at me in the rear view mirror. "Abby? What was that thing you shot him with?"

"A bullet pen." I stated.

"Bullet pen? Where'd you find that?"

"In a little shop somewhere. It was a while ago, I forgot I had it."

"Well, it's a good thing you did."

"I missed."

Daryl looked back at me. "It was a good try." He nodded. "And it helped." I looked down. "You okay?"

"…my head hurts." My voice sounded small.

"I imagine it would after the way that sum bitch was beatin' on ya." Daryl said roughly. "What kinda guy beats up on a little girl?" He turned back around.

"…well, it's like you said, he's dead now." I said.

"Why don't you lay down if your head hurts, baby?" My dad asked me.

"No, I just wanna get home. There's not really room for me to lay down anyway." I dug around in my bag and found some Tylenol. Hopefully, this helps. I took two of them with a bottle of water. The bottle felt kind of cool, so I put it on my smarting face.

"We'll be home soon." Daryl spoke softly to me. "Just hang in 'nere."

It was just getting dark by the time we reached our neighborhood. "We'll need Carl and Michonne to help with all these bags." My dad let out a laugh.

"Yeah, it's good we checked that store. We sure did good in 'nere." Said Daryl.

As we were riding down the hill, I sat up in the middle seat and looked out the windshield because something didn't look right. My eyes widened as we got closer. The house was completely overrun! "Oh my God." I said. My dad stopped the car before we went any farther. It was like a whole herd!

"Shit." Daryl said. "What the hell happened? Where'd they come from?"

"What about Carl and Michonne?" I said panicky.

"We gotta hope they got out and they're some place safe." Said my dad.

"What if they're not?" I was concerned.

"Don't matter." Daryl said. "We cain't stay here, we gotta go."

"I'm gonna drive down the hill." My dad said with a nod. "Might lead some 'a them away incase they didn't get out." We started down the hill. My heart was pounding and I couldn't stop thinking about my brother and Michonne. I hope they're okay. I thought as I stared at the house.

We rode away and picked a house for the night, it was far enough away that we would be safe from the walkers but not too far that it would be a struggle for Michonne and Carl to find us.

I stared out the window watching for them. "Abby, come lay down." Daryl told me.

"I can't."

"Yeah, ya can. C'mon, get some rest." He said again. "They're fine. They'll catch up with us tomorra."

"But they could come tonight…and they won't be able to find us—

"Abigail! Come away from the window and lay down like Daryl said." My dad yelled at me. I turned and gave him a sad look. He sighed. "I'm worried about them too, okay?" He spoke softer. "But there's nothing we can do until it's light out, it's too dangerous right now. So, come get some rest. It'll be one less thing I have to worry about." He nodded at me.

I looked down and slowly walked over to where they were. I laid down on the couch facing away from them. Daryl rubbed my back for me. "Yer head still hurt?"

"A little."

"Maybe you should take somethin' fer it."

"I already did." My voice sounded small again.

"Oh. Well, then…try to get some sleep, okay?" I felt him touch my hair. "You said you was tired."

The truth is, I am a little tired. I tried to get comfortable, then soon drifted off to sleep.

Narrator's POV

Daryl Dixon still sat by his young friend and continued to comfort her even after she fell asleep. "They should be able find us." He said. "Michonne will see the car, she'll know."

"I hope so." Said Rick. "I hope they're okay." There was a brief pause. "She listens to you more than she does me."

It took Daryl a moment to realize that his friend was referring to Abby. He looked over at him and shook his head. "No, she don't."

"Yes, she does." He nodded.

"She listened to you just now. When you told 'er to come lay down."

"That's because I yelled, which I don't like. She does listen to you. And that's okay." The man nodded at Daryl.

Daryl stared at Rick for a moment, then looked down. "Hey, man. Why don't you get some sleep? I can keep watch."

Rick knew it was a nice gesture because of the situation they were in, he was worried about his son and girlfriend. "…I appreciate that." He got up, walked over to his sleeping daughter, gave her two kisses on her temple, then went to lay down himself on the other sofa.

Daryl watched his friend lay down and thought. If Michonne and Carl weren't okay, then it would just be the three of them from now on. And…it would be really hard on Rick and Abby losing their family. Hopefully, that won't be the case.

Speaking of the girl, she started to stir in her sleep. "Shh." Daryl whispered and continued to rub her back.

Some time through the night, there was a strange noise outside. Daryl looked towards the window, Rick woke up too and so did Abby.

Abby's POV

A noise outside woke me up, I sat up and looked towards the door. My dad and Daryl were also awake. They shared a look, then quickly got up and headed for the door. I followed trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. My dad made sure I was behind him. He opened the door while Daryl had his crossbow up ready to kill whoever was there.

We quickly realized it was Michonne. My eyes widened at her appearance. She was covered in blood and didn't look good at all. Her eyes looked dead. And I couldn't help but notice that my brother wasn't with her.

"Michonne." My dad said. He ushered her inside and sat her down. I handed her a bottle of water. She started drinking immediately.

"We…we…" She kept trailing off.

"Catch your breath first." My dad told her.

She took a few deep breaths and calmed down before trying to speak again. "…we were out back when it happened. They just came out of nowhere." She coughed. "We had no choice but to go back inside and try to wait it out."

My eyes widened. So they were still inside when we drove by.

"Michonne, where is my son?" My dad asked.

She looked up at him with her dead eyes, then started to cry. My eyes widened again and my hand went to my mouth. Is he dead? I felt a hand on my back and looked up at Daryl.

"I tried…" She trailed off and cried. "I tried to get us to escape out the bedroom window upstairs." She said. My room. "We were out but…Carl fell." She teared up. My eyes began to fill with tears. "I tried to get him, I tried to, but they got him." She said quickly and cried. "I couldn't do anything."

My dad looked down and put his hands on both sides of his head. "Oh…no." He said like he was in pain and started crying. "No, no."

I was upset too, but something made me hold it in. My dad lost his son. I needed to be strong for him. Walking over to him, I wrapped my arms around him from behind. He grabbed my arm tightly and continued to cry. I laid my head on top of his.

"I'm sorry." Michonne said. "I'm so sorry, Rick. Abby." She touched my arm.

I knew it wasn't her fault, I don't blame her. I wanted to cry so bad and it took everything to hold it in, but I had to be there for my dad. I had to.

Looking up, I saw that Daryl was giving me a concerned look. I just held onto my dad. We all cried together.