A/N: Friday as promised! I am here with my third chapter in one week! I'm gonna go back to once a week on Friday after today because it is a lot of effort writing these. But I'm quite pleased with this chapter and it's quite pivotal for the series I think and where I got the name of my fic from!

Bit sad no one reviewed! I know people are reading this story and I have lost my regular reviewers which is on me but it would be nice to hear some thoughts!

Thank you for the faves and follows: becks121, NymphadoraBlackMalfoy and CandiLover!

Enjoy this chapter folks!

The mood of the group was solemn. The whole group sat on the floor by our last truck which had just a little bit of gas with no food or water. We made it 40 miles but there was still 60 to go.

We had separated into smaller groups for the last day or so, the rest of us came back with nothing. We were just waiting for Sasha, Maggie and Daryl to return. Hopefully with something.

The backpack was still around me and inside, that wedding dress I had picked up back in Richmond. It was stupid to hold onto something non-essential.

And I honestly tried to get rid of it. But I just couldn't let it go. So I hid it inside my pack, not thinking of the embarrassment if I got caught with it.

I slumped my head against the truck and let it fall on Rick's shoulder, who's arms were hugging his knees.

"Hungry." I said grumpily.

"I know sweetheart." Rick replied, staring straight ahead into the road.

"Haven't been this hungry since those 6 months in Atlanta." I commented.

I glanced over the other members of the group. We were all malnourished and weak. I looked Judith who was sitting in Carl's lap, a frown on her face.

"She needs food soon." I looked worriedly at the quiet toddler.

Rick followed my gaze and nodded placing his hand on mine.

"They're back." I said as everyone looked up, seeing Maggie, Sasha and Daryl trudge towards us.

The hopefulness disappeared.

"Oh shit." I grumbled.

"What?" Tara asked.

"They didn't find any food either."

"How do you know?" Rosita asked.

"Their faces."

...

The car rolled to a stop in the middle of the road.

"We're out, just like the other one." Abraham opened the door.

"So we walk." Rick spoke.

The hot sun was bearing down on top of us, it was a Georgian summer alright.

I walked beside Carol, Rick holding Judith in front with Daryl. We were all drenched in sweat, covered in grime and dirt. I could barely lift my feet to walk and my head didn't want to stay straight on my shoulders.

There were growling sounds coming from behind our group, but at this point? I don't think anyone cared.

"We're not at our strongest. We'll get 'em when it's best." Rick spoke to Daryl.

"High ground, something like that. They're not going anywhere." He finished as Daryl remained quiet.

"It's been 3 weeks since Atlanta." Rick struck up conversation again.

My eyes shot up to the back of his head.

"Rick," I said warningly.

I knew Daryl and of his special relationship with Beth. Rick glanced back at me as I shook my head.

"I know you lost something back there."

Dary looked at Judith who was struggling in Rick's arms.

"She's hungry." Daryl said quietly.

"She's okay. She'll be okay." Rick emphasised.

I loved him but his unwavering optimism was pissing me off. But then again he had to be strong for the rest of us.

"We need to find water, food." Daryl said.

"And we will." I spoke causing both men to look back at me.

"It has to rain eventually." I looked up at the cloudless sky glaring.

"I'm gonna head out, see what I can find." Daryl handed the rifle to Rick who placed it around his shoulders.

"Hey don't be too long."

I looked at Carol and nodded. She was thinking the same.

"We'll go with you." Carol said as Daryl turned to us and continued walking off towards the forest.

"I got it." He replied gruffly.

"What, you gonna stop us Dixon?" I challenged him as he said nothing. I shared a sly smile with Carol.

"Be careful." Rick called out. I turned back to him and smiled. I jogged over with what little energy I had and pulled his face down to mine, capturing his lips in a searing kiss.

Due to our situation, kisses were far and few in-between especially with the lack of privacy.

His lips moved roughly against mine, his hand grasping my hair as I abruptly pulled apart. I was breathing heavy and Rick's eyes were swimming with lust, his gaze boring into my own.

"What was that for?" He asked slightly breathless.

"Just something to remember me by." I winked at him before walking back over to Carol who was waiting at the forest entrance.

I heard wolf whistling and a few claps as I eyed Abraham grinning.

Carol had her arms crossed over her chest and was smirking at me.

"What?" I said pointedly walking past her with a sly smile.

"Confidence looks good on you." She commented.

"I'm not confident." I scoffed pushing the branches back.

We walked through the thick undergrowth and caught up to Daryl. The walk was silent, the sun was hard on our skin, we were covered in sweat. But who cared? I don't know how much time passed but our quest for food looked glum. There were no animals or signs of anything that could be eaten.

We came out into a small clearing surrounded by tall grass. The ground was dry and barren, no signs of water either.

"Anything?" Carol asked.

"No it's too dry, there ain't nothin' here." Daryl said adjusting the crossbow.

"Maybe we should head back." I suggested wiping my hand on my face.

"You two go." He said gruffly turning around.

"I think she saved my life. She saved your life too right?" Carol spoke to Daryl.

She walked over to him, handing him a sheathed knife i recognised as Beth's.

"It's hers." she handed it to Daryl tentatively.

I followed Carol and moved to Daryl's other side.

"We're not dead. That's what you said." Carol said.

I slipped my hand into Daryl's as he turned slightly to look at me through his hair, his eyes were downcast and follow of sorrow.

I squeezed his hand and wrapped my other one around his shoulder, he leaned his head slightly into me and I knew he was grieving, because there was no way he would readily accept my comfort.

"You're not dead. We know you. We're different, I can't let myself-" Carol's voice broke.

"Daryl," I took over.

"You have to let yourself feel it. Do what you gotta do to deal, but you need to. And we are always here." I placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You will." Carol leaned on her tiptoes and pulled his head in to place a kiss on his forehead. She brushed the hair back from his forehead and rubbed his cheek comfortingly before walking off.

"I'd do anything to take that look of your face right now." I smiled sadly at him as he scoffed.

"If you don't say anything I'll kiss you." I threatened.

"You can try. You'd be lucky." He shrugged me off playfully and went to follow Carol.

"There he is." I called out with a grin and followed them back through the forest area.

...

"Everyone okay?" My machete was out as we re-joined the group who were standing on the bridge. We heard the increasingly loud growling sounds and feared the worst. My eyes fell to the dead walkers on the bridge.

"Yeah." Rick nodded as I re-sheathed the machete into the side of my trousers.

We continued walking for the next hour, the occasional walker following. I was walking beside Tara and Rosita towards the back of the group. We had nothing but time to get to know each other. If only I had more energy to talk.

"Sounds like you an' Rick found the time," Rosita commented.

"No we haven't Rosita." I laughed.

"Judging from that goodbye kiss, I would've thought different." Tara kept her gaze forwards.

"That's all its been at the moment, kisses." I shrugged.

"Are you disappointed?" Rosita asked.

"Nahh, I just don't wanna do my first time in the forest surrounded by walkers." I laughed as Rosita and Tara both looked at me.

"You haven't had sex yet?" They asked as I shushed them.

"It's not exactly prime time sexy times is it?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah but what about before?" Rosita said.

"I was just so busy all the time. Scientist in the CDC and all that. Late nights, never had time." I answered.

"Fair enough." they shrugged.

"Gotta say though. The mountain man look works for him." Tara said her eyes on Rick making me and Rosita laugh.

"Dad, look." Carl said capturing our attention.

Ahead were a few cars abandoned and parked haphazardly on the road.

"I'm gonna head into the woods. Circle back." Daryl said.

"May I come with?" Carol asked.

"No. Just me." And like that he was in the woods, gone.

I caught up to Maggie who was looking into one of the cars.

"Anything good?" i asked as she rubbed the dust off.

"Not yet."

We checked in the car and found the keys, walking around to the back we opened the car boot and my face fell.

It was a walker, tied up with fabric around her mouth with her arms and legs bound. She was growling softly at us and my heart went out. She died alone and scared, locked up in this car.

Flashes of my own memories caused be to take a few steps back. Memories of being shoved in the back of the car, no air and suffocating in the darkness.

"Pol, are you okay?" Maggie asked.

"I-I-I, just take care of it." I turned around to blink the tears away that had formed. I heard the crunch of the knife into the neck and the growling and thumping stopped.

It suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. My father's face came into my mind, his smile. His hands all over me. The burns, the belt. Scars. A hot iron. Screaming.

I started hyperventilating and felt my vision starting to blur. I bent over and put my hands on my knees, trying to regain my breath. I felt a hand on my back and jumped back falling on the ground.

I looked up with wide eyes, to see Michonne looking at me in concern. I breathed evenly and sat on the ground, hugging my knees. Michonne kneeled in front of me.

"Pol," She said as I met her eyes. It had triggered memories I thought I had buried away, I felt small. Like a little girl again.

In some ways I was her again. Weak. Vulnerable. Unable to defend myself. The iron shaped scar on my back starting hurting, like it was happening all over again.

I stood up on shaky legs as Michonne watched me carefully. I nodded at her and stalked off to the edge of the road. I sat down against the bushes and brought my knees to my chest.

The rest of the group came over tiredly and joined me, all of us despondent. Rick sat beside me, his eyes trying to search mine, but I focused my gaze on the rock in front of me. I knew he wanted to say something, to ask. I knew Michonne had told him or Maggie what happened.

But he wouldn't not in front of anyone. And that we had bigger problems.

"So all we found was booze?" Tara asked as Daryl joined us again.

Abraham was downing a bottle of whisky.

"Yeah." Rosita said.

"It's not gonna help." Tara watched him.

"He knows that." Rosita said softly.

"He's a grown man. And i truly do not know if things can get worse." Eugene spoke.

"They can." I said firmly not looking at anyone else.

Suddenly we had large growling coming from the woods as my eyes shot up to see.

A few large dogs came out of the woods, barking and snapping their teeth at us. My hand rest over the machete as we readied ourselves to attack. But Sasha beat us to it, shooting them all.

As we sat back down we stared at the bodies with one thought.

Dinner.

...

I cradled Judith in my arms rocking her from side to side. Daryl had skinned the dogs and the meat was now cooking over a small fire. It wasn't a lot for all of us but after days of no food it was enough. I had lost my appetite. The walker in the back of car playing on my mind, along with other memories.

Carol seemed to sense something was up, she came over and took Judith from me, smiling gently. I was sat in between Rick and Carl who were eating quietly.

"Pol, you need to eat." Rick said, resting a hand on my back.

I recoiled from his touch and shifted slightly closer to Carl. A look of shock passed on his face before he drew his lips into a fine line. He gave me an apologetic look before taking some of the dog meat of his stick.

He held it out to me as I stared at it. He ripped a small piece off and brought it to my mouth asking for permission. I opened my cracked lips and accepted the food, its warm, rich taste enveloping my mouth. I swallowed, my mouth parched for water which I knew we didn't have enough of.

Rick picked off another piece and placed it into my mouth. Feeding both himself and me, as we sat silently. Then too soon, the meat was gone. I was grateful for this. Rick didn't push, he waited until I was ready and even after ignoring him, he still cared.

We finished our food and trudged on the road. At least the clouds had covered the sky. I walked ahead and noticed as Rick caught up and walked by my side. He held out the water bottle to me which had a sip left. I shook my head as he gave me a hard look.

I accepted the bottle reluctantly and took a small swig of it, handing the rest back to him.

"Pol," Rick said firmly. I looked at him, seeing Judith asleep in the bag on his shoulder.

"Don't go disappearing on me. Please." He said softly.

I held back the tears that formed in my eyes, my bottom lip shaking, unable to hide my sadness. We had members from our group dead, and here I was crying about my dead father.

"Pol, sweetheart." Rick held a hand out to me.

I turned to him, the tears rolling down my cheeks and threw myself into his chest, burying my head there. He wrapped his arms around me. I felt protected, safe with him. He slowly rubbed his hands around my back, and I didn't recoil. I sobbed quietly into his shirt, knowing the tears were staining them.

"Dad, is she okay?"

"Yeah, Carl. Go on, keep walking." Rick's chest rumbled as he spoke.

"Shhh." He said, his hands combing through my hair.

"My d-dad." I blubbered.

"No. You don't have to speak." He said.

We stayed like that for a few minutes as I untangled my arms from his back, seeing Judith watch me curiously. Her blue eyes were gazing up to me as I smiled at her.

Rick lifted his hand up and rested it on my cheek. He bent down and placed a kiss on my forehead, his face inches away from mine.

"Okay?" He asked as I nodded.

"Thank you." I whispered. He wiped the tears away from my cheek and we walked in silence once more.

After a short while we saw something stuck down on the road from a distance. Coming close to it-. No. It couldn't be.

There were 10 bottles of water sitting in the middle of the road, with a large sheet of paper over the top of it. Rick picked it up.

"From a friend." He read as we looked at each other quizzically.

Who out of the goodness of their heart would leave bottles of water for free, with nothing else but a note? A small part of hope flickered inside me.

Rick handed the note to Daryl who had just come back from the woods. We were all looking at the water lustfully, but waiting for Rick to speak.

"What else are we gonna do?" Tara asked adjusting the rifle.

"Not this. We don't know who left it." Rick said. That was a good point.

"If that's a trap we'd likely already be in it. But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend." Eugene reasoned. That was also a good point.

"What if it isn't? They put something in it." Michonne said.

"There's only one way to find out." I commented, causing several members of the group to look at me incredulously.

Eugene had the same thought and lurched forwards, grabbing one of the bottles of water.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Tara asked,

"Quality assurance."

He began opening the bottle but Abraham was faster and knocked it out of his hands, it clattered on the floor. He stepped back silently.

"We can't." Rick gave him a firm look.

The clouds rumbled with thunder above us and the heavens opened. The rain poured on us straight away. The cool wetness on my skin, almost made me forget where I was. I closed my eyes and spread my arms wide, looking up into the sky. Rick glanced at me and smiled.

Michonne laughed and flicked water at me. Tara and Rosita lay down on the road, letting the rain cover them.

"I'm sorry my lord." Gabriel was crying as he welcomed the rain.

"Everybody get the bags. Anything you can find. Come on." Rick said.

We got our empty bottles and began placing them on the road to fill up. The thunder starting cracking in the sky as it got louder, lightening flashed in the deluge and suddenly we were in a storm.

Judith began crying as Carl covered her with his had.

"Lets keep moving!" Rick shouted over the rain.

"There's a barn!" Daryl called out.

We reached and cleared the barn of what walkers were there and settled in. It was soon dark and the storm raged around the barn. We let a fire and some lanterns. Carl was asleep, his head in my lap as he cradled Judith close to him. I took Carl's hat off and slowly brushed some of his hair away, leaning against the wall.

"He's gonna be okay. He bounces back more than any of us do." Carol commented as I looked up to meet her gaze.

"I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now. In this." Rick picked at the twigs in his hands.

"But I was wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them." He continued.

"Because this is all they'll ever know." I said.

"This isn't the world. This isn't it." Michonne said, looking at Rick.

"It might be. It might." Glenn said.

"That's giving up." She defended.

"It's reality." He countered.

"Until we see otherwise, this is what we have to live with." Rick said.

I watched Daryl sitting by himself in the corner of the barn. He was grieving.

"When I was a kid, I asked my grandpa once if he killed any Germans in the war." I perked up at Rick's story.

"He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown up stuff. So I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him. But he got real quiet." Rick chuckled.

"He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day he told himself rest in peace. Now get up and go to war. And then after a few years of pretending he was dead, he made it out alive. And that's the trick of it I think. We do what we need to do and then we get to live." Rick said, as I turned to look at him.

"But no matter what we find in DC. I know we'll be okay, because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves, that we are the walking dead." he finished, his words echoed in the barn. The fire crackling and storm still raging on outside.

"We ain't them." Daryl spoke up before snapping more branches.

"We're not them." Rick bent down to meet his eyes.

"Hey, we're not."

"We ain't them." Daryl said before standing up and moving to the front of the barn to keep watch.

"We can't be them." I grounded out as Rick nodded.

"That's how we make it."

My eyes snapped open with a large flash of lightening and the crack of the thunder in the sky. I had fallen asleep at some point, I sat up from Rick's legs, gasping a bit and heard the barn doors struggling. We shot up and ran towards the doors, where the chain was barely holding.

The growl of the walkers were pushing and scratching against the door. Daryl and Maggie were already there trying to hold the doors shut. The rest of us all knelt down and slammed our hands against the doors. We were all over each other pushing it for all our worth.

The doors struggled to break as our feet slipped in the mud, we held the door. Judith was crying inside the barn. The lightening illuminating everyone's face every now and then. We struggled against the walker and the barn doors.

...

My eyes opened as light streamed in from the cracks of the walls. I could hear soft talking coming from one side of the barn, Maggie's and Daryl's voices.

I was face to face with Judith, fussing in her father's grasp. Rick's eyes were closed, his one arm wrapped around Judith and the other were grasping my fingers tightly. It was a long night. Who knows how long we held the door for, but eventually it did subside.

It was barely sunrise, but birds were tweeting outside. I heard the barn doors open slightly and sat up looking at Maggie and Sasha.

"Where you guys going?" I whispered.

"We're fine it's okay." Maggie smiled reassuringly as I nodded.

"Need me?" I asked slowly untangling my fingers from Rick's.

"No, I got it." She said as the doors closed.

I sat up from my sleeping position and stretched by back out. Looking over at everyone's sleeping forms.

Once again, against all odds.

We survived.

A/N: LMK what you think! See y'all next Friday!