The whole truck is quiet except for the few times Morales told Rick a direction to get to camp. After an hour of Rick beating himself up, the other Alpha speaks up.

"Don't worry to much about Merle getting left behind. The Beta wasn't well-liked around the others. the Alphas get angry cause he wouldn't submit to them, always bucked them on everything. The Betas thought he played Alpha too much and he pissed them off when he would try to make them do stuff for him. The Omegas… most of them fear him, a few can tolerate him. Nobody's going to mourn him cause he didn't come back." Morales pause, then sighs, "Except Daryl."

"Daryl?" Rick asks.

"His brother, another Beta. Those two fight a lot, but family is family. And they only had each other." The Alpha answers.

….

Glenn pulls into the main camp area first, and as the man steps out of the car, an older man gets his attention.

"Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!" the Alpha yells down from his place on the RV.

Glenn raises his hands. "I don't know how!"

"Pop the damn hood!" Shane growls using his Alpha voice while bangs on the hood of the new car.

Surrounded by people from the camp asking questions, Glenn throws his hands up and gets back into the car. He pops the hood, and Jim can disconnect the battery to turn the alarm off.

"Everybody's fine." Glenn says, taking the time to catch his breath, "Well, Merle not so much."

"Are you trying to draw every Walker in these mountains right to us?" Shane rounds on the smaller Alpha, snarls and growls ready. Glenn ducks his head and goes to bare his throat, submitting to the Prime Alpha. He was willing to bear the humiliation of an Alpha submitting to another he doesn't know. Dale steps in to save him.

Dale joins the group on the ground, watching the trees. "We'll be okay."

Shane turns, upset an Elder was taking the Alpha runt's side instead of the Prime Alpha's. He had gotten in the way of Shane's display of dominance, so the Alpha growls at the older man. "You call being stupid okay?"

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over." Shane gives the Elder a look of pure anger, and the older Alpha backtracks to make peace with the leader. "I'm not arguing, Alpha. But it is hard to know the exact location of what was making the noise."

"I'm sorry. Got a cool car though." Glenn says for the older man's benefit, happy and horrified at what had almost happened. The group looks up and sees the truck arrive, and Glenn smiles. Everyone gathers around, wanting to see for themselves that everyone is safe.

In the truck, Morales pats Rick on the shoulder. "Come meet everybody."

Rick nods and rubs his eyes, turning off the truck. He needs to find his family, but he also wants to stay with the group. There was safety in numbers now, and it was better to stay with them if he wanted to live.

While Andrea and the others had tearful reunions, Lori pulls Carl away from the group. He was tearing up, wanting his father and for a moment wishing that he had been with them. It was unusual to bring new people back on a supply run, but it had happened before. Shane watches them go, wanting to comfort the pup but still upset that he wasn't enough. Lori kneels, pulling her son into a hug with a Lori'sglance at Shane like she wishes that her lover was there too.

Shane turns back to the group. "How'd y'all get out of there anyway?"

Glenn answers the Prime Alpha, "New guy… he got us out."

Shane looks confused. "New guy?"

"Yeah, crazy Vato coming riding into town." Morales calls over to the van, "Hey, cowboy! Come say hello."

Rick gets out of the truck and walks over to the group, taking in the tents and cars. Morales continues, "The guy's an Alpha cop… like you."

Shane is the first to catch his scent. His eyes go wide, and he takes a step back as if it had hit him. Rick's eyes go wide, too, at seeing his partner. Knowing the man wouldn't have left his family, he looks around for them. Seeing them a little farther away talking, Rick also takes a step back.

Rick's voice is heavy with tears as he points at Shane. "Oh my god. You…"

Carl and Lori then turn around at the voice and see Rick. Lori's eyes go wide in fear and disbelief while Carl's eyes fill with tears. A sob leaves him as he inches forward as if he couldn't believe his wish had come true. When Rick starts to move towards him, Carl breaks into a run.

"Dad! Dad!" Carl calls as Rick takes Carl in his arms, his eyes full of tears. The man sinks to his knees as he holds his son beside himself with happiness. A whine leaves him, taking in his son's puppy smell. Carl whines as he noses his dad's glands. He licks it, and Rick squeezes him tighter.

"I knew you were alive." Carl whimpers into Rick's ear.

They miss the looks they get from the Atlanta group, all shocked that they had found the Alpha's family so soon. They remember seeing Lori with Shane. The group thought they had Mated and married and that Carl was their son or Shane's stepson. They remember Carl correcting anyone who brought it up. He told them all about how his dad had died before all this in a coma at the hospital.

"Carl. Oh!" He kisses Carl on the head and gets up, approaching Lori. The Beta had frozen in fear when Rick had gathered Carl in his arms. He hugs them both to his body, ignoring the way Lori stiffens in his arms and pulls away when he goes to scent her. The Alpha in him knows that something was wrong with the way she was acting. Rick pushes everything to the back of his mind, happy they were there, in his arms.

Shane watches the family reunite, and while he's happy to see Rick, he isn't as comfortable as he should be. Lori's face changes when she sees him watching, going from shock and disbelief to anger. He fakes a smile as Lori looks at him, and when they turn, so Rick is smiling at him, Shane smiles back a genuinely happy smile. His brother was safe.

Rick lets go of his Mate and extends an arm to Shane, still holding tight to Carl.

"God, it's good to see you brother," Shane says, dropping his gun and hugging the man. The group watches the family in shock. They knew how much Shane loved that gun; he didn't go anywhere without it. Rick sets Carl down after Shane lets go of the man. Rick reaches for Lori and kisses her; her fingers tangle in his hair when he pulls away to hug her again. Carl hugs his dad's leg, wiping away his tears with a huge smile.

"Dad, can I introduce you to everyone? Mom can I, please?" Carl begs with a sniffle.

"Of course, you can." Rick says before Lori can open her mouth, "Come on, bud."

Rick takes his son's hand and lets the boy drag him around, meeting everyone. The ones who had saved him in Atlanta, though, smiled and laughed at the excitement of the little boy. It's the happiest Rick had seen his pup in a long time, even from before the world went to shit.

Lori bites her lip, careful not to say anything. Her husband was alive, after months of her thinking that he was dead. What did she expect when he came back but for him to ignores her and goes straight to his son. Like always, their kid's happiness came before her anything. She watches as the two of them laugh with each new person introduced to Rick. She didn't even have a say in this; she had wanted to take Rick back to their tent and renew their Mating Mark. Carl would've stayed with one of the Omega while the two of them reestablished their marriage. After all, it was in an Omega's nature to care for children, even if they weren't their own.

Lori glances around at the group, all watching as Carl introduces Glenn to his dad. The Asian Alpha smiles and squeezes Rick's shoulder. Rick leans closer, whispering something into Glenn's ear, which causes him to smile. The Alphas pull back, scenting each other as their heads pass. They do it that way, so no one could tell that Glenn acknowledged Rick as his Prime Alpha instead of Shane.

Lori watches them with ignorant eyes, not understanding the significances of what happened. Her eyes land on Shane, who was talking to Jim and Dale by the RV though, her spine stiffened. Grinding her teeth together and with a glare in his direction, Lori leaves with a huff. She and Shane had had sex that morning, which is why she had refused to allow Rick to scent her neck. Knowing her husband would be able to smell Shane on her Mating Mark. Going to her tent, she gathers her clothes and bathing supplies. She spares him a glance before going to the quarry, trying to get rid of any evidence that she had been unfaithful.

….

Shane claimed the first watch. After everyone had settled into their tents that night, Rick follows his Mate and pup into their tent. They get ready for bed and tuck in Carl. Rick kisses Carl goodnight and scents him. Carl scents his father with a tired hum and turns over while Rick joins Lori on the other side of the tent. The Alpha kneels and kisses Lori, then sits next to her.

Lori bites her lip and turns to look at him. She thinks about everything she said to him, everything she had done with Shane since then. "I'm sorry. For everything. When you were in the hospital, I wanted to take it all back… But the mistakes…."

Lori pulls out her necklace, toying with it, and Rick notices his wedding ring, "I wondered where that went."

Lori hesitates for a moment, her hand hiding it from Rick's eyes. Her eyes narrow in suspicion before asking, "Do you want it back?"

Rick stares at her for a moment as if asking her if she is serious. Why would his Mate act like it was an insane idea that he wanted his ring back? "Of course, I do."

…..

It had been Lori's idea to get married and wear rings. Their marriage was legal in the eyes of the law, with the Mating Mark on Lori's neck. But the Beta had thrown a huge fit. If they were going to acknowledge Rick's gender traditions, then her traditions would be too. Only the Betas on Lori's side of the family and her Beta friends were happy and excited at the wedding. Even Rick's Beta family and friends thought it was stupid to have a wedding and Bonding ceremony. But after Lori found out she was pregnant with Carl, she made all the preparations for a wedding. Without consulting Rick about it. She refused to have a child out of wedlock, regardless of what everyone told her. The Bonding and Mark on her neck would be more of a marriage than a piece of paper ever would. But as far as Lori thought, the Bonding was stupid, and it didn't count. She went through with it because it was the only way Rick would agree to marry her.

Lori would get mad if Rick talked about the Bonding ceremony instead of the wedding. She was smacking or throwing things at him if she heard him talk about it. Rick stopped acknowledging the Bonding, even with his own family and friends. Only Shane heard about it, though rarely. She forces Rick to use Dampeners and Suppressants to make him seem more like a Beta. Yelling at him anytime she smelled the Alpha pheromones on him.

Lori took to covering her Mating Mark every day, either with makeup or clothing. She never allows Rick to renew the bite again during sex, the best time to do it. She never allowed him to knot her, the Bonding ceremony being the last time sex required one. When they had sex, it was in the missionary position. And if Rick didn't meet her standards, Lori would huff and throw him off. She would send him to the coach if he went past a certain speed, force, or if it took too long. If she thought his knot was too close, or if he got off first. After a couple of years of trying to please her and do it the way she wanted, Rick gave up. The two hadn't had sex in years.

…..

Lori smiles before taking his ring off the chain and putting it back on Rick's ring finger. Rick and Lori kiss again, and Lori turns out the lantern. Rick looks over at Carl sleeping, not willing to do this when his pup is right there.

Lori turned to see where he was looking. "He won't wake up."

Skeptical, it takes Lori's begging and promises of being quiet to convince him to continue. Rick focuses more on not waking his pup and being subtle than trying to have sex with his Mate. Even then, they go slow. After ten minutes of fingering his Mate, Rick wanted to finish and go to sleep. Still being soft himself, the Alpha goes to scent his Mate, hoping her smell will help. Lori pushes her husband's head away, but it's too late. Rick stares at the Mating Mark; the second pair of teeth almost fit his, with only a tooth or two off by a little bit. But the smell, Lori had taken another Mate, and it was Shane. Feeling betrayed and hurt by his Mate and pack brother, Rick gets up and grabs a small bottle of hand sanitizer. He washes his hands and goes sit next to Carl, watching over him. Lori opens her mouth to speak, to call Rick over to finish. But with a glare from her husband, she rolls her eyes and turns away with a huff.

'Rick will be fine in the morning; I'll have him finish tomorrow.' The Beta thinks as she goes to sleep.

…...

The following day, Rick wakes up on his pup's cot and sees that Lori and Carl are not in the tent. Getting dressed in a t-shirt and jeans left for him, he goes outside. Rick greets some of the people in the group while walking around. He sees the Omega woman from last night ironing his uniform near the RV.

Carol calls out a quiet greeting as she sees him, "Morning."

Rick smiles at the Omega and calls out his own gentle "Morning."

Carol pats his clothes before saying, "They're still a little damp. The sun will have 'em dry in no time."

Stunned, Rick looks at his uniform. "You washed my clothes?"

Carol ducks her head and lowers her voice even more, "Well, best we could. Scrubbing on a washboard ain't as good as chucking it in the wash at home."

The Alpha waits until he catches her eye before replying, "That's very kind. Thank you."

Moving on, Rick approaches Glenn. Upset, the Alpha watches Dale and the other men tear apart the car that he brought in.

"You can steal another one someday. We'll let you keep that one, yeah?" Rick chuckles with a pat on Glenn's back and a rub to his shoulder. Glenn smiles as Rick walks off, happy that his prime Alpha was marking him as Pack. Rick finally finds what he was looking for; Lori.

"Morning, officer." Lori smiles as she hangs up the clothes.

Rick comes up in front of his Mate with a tight-lipped "Hey."

Lori looks him over. "You sleep okay?"

Rick smiles, thinking about how he had curled up next to his pup's bed and was able to ensure he was alright. "Better than in a long time. Although the beginning of my night in the tent was terrible."

Lori, ignoring half of what Rick had said and hinted at wanting to talk about, smiles and flirts back. "Well, I didn't want to wake you. I figured you could use it."

Seeing the look on Rick's face, she drops her smile and sighs, "God. What?"

Rick looks at her. "You cheated on me… with Shane. I can tell he renewed the Mark many times; which is something you were adamant I never did. Not to mention it's fresh as is his scent. Yesterday I'm guessing, although I can't tell when the first time was." The Alpha hesitates to add the other thing on his mind, "And… I've been thinking… about the man we left behind."

Lori stares at him before huffing in disgusts. "You're not serious."

The sound of a car cuts Rick off from what he was going to say. Shane drives back to the camp with full water containers from the quarry. Lori turns back to the laundry and their conversation, "Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Asking," Rick says, exasperated, tired of the Beta's attitude already.

The group hears screaming from the tree line. "Mom!"

Lori looks in the direction of the forest. "Carl?"

"Mom!" Carl runs into his mom's arms. Jacqui kneels on the ground, trying to catch her breath. The Omega had grabbed Carl and Sophia and ran back to the main camp with the pups. She points to a small clearing of trees, and the men take off.

They find the Walker eating the carcass of a deer in a clearing not far from the tents. There were two arrows on the rump, and the neck was almost gone, the Walker still gnawing at the flesh. The men circle the two dead figures. When the Walker finally sees them, it starts to go after Rick, who swings the shovel at it. The men begin to beat on it with their blunt objects. They stop when Dale chops its head off with an ax, and the body goes limp.

They hear branches snapping and footsteps and get ready to attack again. A male Beta with a crossbow and a rope with a dozen hung squirrels came out behind the trees. He stops short at seeing Shane pointing a gun at him, the other men with raised weapons behind him.

Dale breathes out a quiet "Oh, Jesus." While everyone lowers their weapons, then the man sees the Walker and gnawed deer.

"Son of a bitch." He says, coming around the group, "That's my deer! I've been tracking this deer for miles." He kicks the carcass of the Walker a few times, then pulls his arrows from the dead deer. "Was gonna drag it back to camp, treat us with some venison. What do you think? Can we cut around this chewed-up part right here?"

Rick watches the man. Something about the way the man moved and how he talked triggered something in Rick. As the Prime Alpha that this man knew, Shane sighs, "I would not risk that."

The man sighs, looking at the deer. "That's a damn shame. Guess we'll have to make do with about a dozen squirrels or so."

The group moves back to the camp. Glenn comes up next to Rick and points at the man with the crossbow. He knew his Alpha was missing information, "That's Daryl Dixon, Beta, Merle little brother."

Suppose Glenn hadn't told him that Rick would have still connected the two. Once they were clear of the trees, the other man started shouting for Merle. Rick rubs the back of Glenn's neck in acknowledgment and thanks, spreading even more of his scent. Glenn purrs low in his chest at the action, happy that his prime Alpha was acknowledging him. If Merle hadn't told Rick that his brother was an Omega, the man was sure he wouldn't have ever found out. Daryl acts too much like a Beta to think otherwise. he even smells like one.

The two Alphas watch Shane walks up to the Omega and call out to him, "Daryl… I need to talk to you."

Daryl stops and looks at the other man circling to his other side, blocking him from going further. "About what?"

"About Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane replies. Daryl looks at Shane, the three women in front of the RV, and then the other guys stop behind him.

Daryl starts to pace. It's a classic sign of nervousness found in Omegas when they're scared or feel threatened. Rick recognizes it as people they had locked up and Omega victims he oversaw interviewing used to do it. Daryl was feeling cornered, and he would last out if he felt threatened. Rick stays back and watches Daryl's squirrels moving from his shoulder to ball in his hand, "He dead?"

Shane sighs. "We're not sure."

Daryl snaps at Shane. "What the fuck do you mean you don't know if he's dead?! He either is or he ain't!"

Rick walks up on the other side of Daryl, stopping far from the other man. He was careful not to corral him and left room for him to escape if he wanted to. Daryl's attention snaps to him, and the pacing stops. 'Give them something to focus on, and they feel more secure.'

"Who are you?" Daryl scowls in confusion, having never seen the Alpha in the camp before. Another Alpha in the camp unnerves the Omega, especially since there are now two of them circling him.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes," the Omega mocks, stepping closer to Rick, "you got something you want to tell me?"

Rick decides to go about this like a cop. H says the first thing that came to mind trying to defuse the situation. He had a feeling that it would be better than beating around the bush. Especially with this Omega, "I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked up to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on." Daryl started to pace again, faster, his voice getting louder until he was shouting, "You left him there?!"

"Yeah."

Daryl bites his lip and then throws the squirrels at Rick to distract him. As he runs at Rick, Shane smacks into him, knocking him to the ground.

Daryl pulled his knife out, slashing at Rick blind. Rick grabs Daryl's wrist and twists it, being gentle, so he doesn't break his wrist. He drops the knife, which the Alpha kicks out of the way. At the same time, Shane comes up behind Daryl and puts him in a chokehold, pulling him down to the ground.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl screams. The Omega kicks out, trying to get away from the Alpha holding him. Rick can see the fear in his eyes even as he glares at him. The Omega was a fighter, one who had learned the hard way never to show fear.

Shane holds him still, squeezing and rumbling deep in his throat. "Nah, think it's better if I don't."

Daryl growls, his eyes flashing, "Choke hold's illegal."

The Alpha laughs. "You can file a complaint."

Rick kneels in front of the hunter, waiting until he catches his eye before holding it there. "I'd like to have a calm discussion. Do you think we can manage that?"

Shane squeezes a little. "Hmm?"

Daryl scowls but relaxes. "Yeah."

Shane waits until Rick gives him a nod. The Alpha squeezes a little more, choking the Omega. Daryl doesn't make a sound, but his breathing becomes shallow, and his eyes tighten. Still looking at Rick, the Omega hisses through his teeth. To Rick, it sounds like a whine. Rick's eyes shoot up to Shane; the other Alpha bares his teeth in a smile. Rick shows his teeth and hardens his gaze. Shane huffs, then lets the Omega go, offering his neck to Rick. Daryl sits on the ground for a moment, catching his breath, pointing one accusing finger at Shane.

Rick, still kneeling next to the man, looks him in the eye again. "Your brother does not work well with others and I didn't do it without reason."

T-Dog chimes in, wanting to come clean too, "It's not Rick's fault. I had the key, I dropped it. Well, I dropped it in a drain."

"That supposed to make me feel better? it won't." Daryl gets up and throws some rocks at the Beta's feet, pacing again.

T-Dog moves around the younger Dixon, keeping him away from his back, scared the other man would jump him if he did. "I chained the door to the roof with a padlock. They couldn't get at him…."

"It's gotta count for something." Rick's voice draws Daryl's attention.

"Hell with all y'all! Tell me where he is... so that I can go get him." Daryl wipes his eyes, a waver in his voice was the only sign of how bad the other man was taking the news. In Rick's ears, it sounded like the Omega was going to start crying. No one else seemed to hear the tremor in his voice, though, and that concerned Rick. Merle might be a piece of shit, but this man was nothing like his brother. Yet everyone was treating him the same as the older Dixon.

"He'll show you." Lori says, hidden disgust and anger in her voice as she talks to her husband, "Isn't that right?"

Rick sighs as he looks at everyone, catching Glenn, T-Dog, Shane, and Lori's eyes before looking at Daryl. "I'm going back."

Lori scowls and rolls her eyes with a huff, walking into the RV and slamming the door. Daryl stares at Rick like he's calculating his words before he nods and walks off.

…..

Later, Rick comes out of the Grimes tent in his police uniform. He walks past Shane, who intends to tell Rick how pissed he is that he plans to leave camp.

"So that's it, huh?" He scowls, matching Rick's pace, "You're gonna leave; to hell with everybody else?"

Rick sighs as he finishes buttoning his shirt. He walks past the other Alpha, leaving Shane to scramble after him. "Could you… Why risk your life for a douche bag like Merle?"

Daryl looks up from where he's cleaning his arrows, narrowing his eyes. The Alpha turns back to Rick, muttering under his breath. "Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

Rick, fed up with everyone's attitude about the Dixons, growls back. "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

The whole camp was watching the exchange between the two Alphas, worried. Shane was the Prime Alpha as far as they knew, and the man had put the other Alphas and a few Betas in their place. Rick was the new Alpha. Yet it seems as if the man had come and claimed the Prime's Mate and pup and was giving the Prime Alpha orders too. Noticing the exchange, Lori looks up from where the kids were working on school work. "So, that's your big plan? You and Daryl in the big city?"

Glenn swears and rubs his face, understanding when his Alpha turns to him. While he was happy that his Alpha wanted him along, Glenn didn't want to go out there again so soon.

"I know it's not fair of me to ask… but I'd feel a lot better with you along since you know where to go. You don't have to come… but I'm asking."

"Fine." His Alpha had given him a way out, had allowed him to decide if he wanted to come. He didn't demand that he go into the city as Shane had. He hadn't used his Alpha position to force Glenn's hand. The only reason that the Asian Alpha had agreed to go as he knew that Shane would hurt him for Rick's actions. Shane was a Traditional Alpha, whereas Rick was a New School. In Shane's mind, Glenn had abandoned one Pack for another. Shane would feel the need to reclaim him while the new Pack bonds were weak.

Shane grits his teeth at seeing Glenn agree. He recognizes Rick's scent on the runt Alpha and the situation that it places on the group.

T-Dog stands up. "I'm goin' too."

"Why you?" Daryl asks, curious.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. Your people don't speak my language." The Beta huffs looking away. Daryl's eyes went dark, and he bit his lip. He lets out a deep sigh through his nose that seems to release all his tension, draining it from his body. Numb, he goes back to setting up his crossbow for the journey with a rumble in his chest. Rick hears it and hums, surprised. Most Omegas will purr or whine. For one to rumble like an Alpha or Beta was shocking and fascinating.

"That's four." Dale chimes.

Shane gets in Rick's face, challenging, "You're putting every single one of us at risk. That Walker was here, in camp. We need everyone here to protect our people."

Rick steps back and places his hand on his gun, eyes narrow and chin raised. "It seems to me what we need most here are more guns."

"Right, the guns." Glenn smiles in realization at his Alpha's plan.

Shane, seeing the look that Glenn gives Rick, questions, "Wait. What guns?"

"I cleaned out the cage at the station before I left; guns, ammo, a few other things we can use as weapons too. I dropped the bag when I got swarmed. It's sitting right there on the street, waiting."

"You went through hell to find us," Lori speaks up. Pissed that her lover was listening to her husband and was willing to let him leave. "You got here last night and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

Carl bites his lip, "Dad, I don't want you to go."

Rick stops for a minute to calm down. It's upsetting that Lori and Shane are fighting him, and now Carl thinks he is abandoning them again. A rumble leaves him, making Shane and Glenn lower their head and step back, to the amazement of the camp. Lori continues, unaware of what she was causing.

Lori stands up as Rick walks over to her, "Tell me. Make me understand."

Rick ignores the look she gives him, like she wants him to yell at her and argue. It was a look that she had given him every day for the last couple of years. He spent many nights sleeping on the couch when he would do as she told him instead of fighting her. He remembers the last time he had seen her, before the gunshot and coma. That she had said to him, 'It's like you don't care about us at all.'

Shaking his head, Rick replies to his Mate in a calm voice as usual in their fights, "I owe a debt to the Alpha I met and his pup."

Lori, wide-eyed and panting, gestures to their son, ready to bring him into another one of their fights. Rick stops her, "Lori, I would have died. It's because of them that I'm here at all. They said they'd follow me and they'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

Lori glares at Rick's shirt, not able to be mad at him for this and hating it, "What's stopping you?"

"The walkie-talkie in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. We planned to connect when they got closer." Rick says, seeing his Mate calm down somewhat at the explanation.

Shane groans. "These are our walkies?"

Rick, knowing where the Alpha's thoughts are, sighs, "Yeah."

"So, use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asks.

Shane sighs. "The CB's fine. It's the walkies, they don't match any other bandwidth… Not even the scanners in our cars."

Rick looks at Lori as she scowls at the ground. "I need that bag. Okay? Not for the walkie but for everything else in it."

Rick sighs at his Mate's scowl and nods like she expected him to explain himself without her asking. "I had some other supplies. I was able to find Suppressants: Alpha and Omega kinds."

The group freezes. Shane's head snaps up in interest, a few of the Omegas whisper in excitement. Daryl had frozen, his crossbow and arrow forgotten as Rick glanced at him. Lori follows his gaze but only sees the chatting Omega women. Daryl was quick to go back to what he was doing and ignored everyone.

Rick continues. "If we run into another group they will be useful, especially for the Omegas. We can avoid fighting if we have those pills. What will happen if one of them goes into heat, Lori? If we run into another group with one of them in heat… they could kill us all to get ahold of them. I can't let that happen if I can prevent it. I won't put my family and this group in that kind of danger."

Lori huffs, knowing there was nothing she could say. "All right. I don't see why you have to be the one to go, though."

Rick ignores her as well as he can and approaches Carl and ask if that is okay? Carl nods, knowing that his dad was right; it wasn't fair to the man who saved his dad. And it wasn't acceptable to the Omegas either.

…

As the group packs up the cube truck to leave, Rick and T-Dog approach Dale and Jim for bolt cutters. When they get to that roof, they'll need to cut that chain and the handcuffs—promising to bring back Dale's tools and the van for the radiator hose, as well as Dale's pick of the guns. Daryl leans over Glenn in the driver seat of the cube van, using his foot to beep the horn, demanding Rick's attention.

"Come on, let's go!" the Omega yells. Rick hands the cutters to T-Dog as the man hops into the back.

Rick gets in the front of the truck with Glenn, and Daryl pulls the back of the van down, ready for them to take off.

…

Driving to Atlanta, the truck's silence doesn't break until they are inside the city limits. Rick looks over at Glenn to see how the Asian Alpha was doing, knowing that he hadn't wanted to come. He was grateful the other Alpha trusted him enough to make Rick his Alpha and follow him back into this hell. Daryl and T-Dog were in the back, glaring at each other. Daryl's eyes are hard as he watches the Beta cleaning his crossbow. Rick notices how often the man does it like it was a nervous habit to calm down.

"We walk from here." Glenn stops the truck under a bridge next to a metal fence topped with barbwire. The group of four get out and start walking along the railroad tracks. The men get to a hole in the fence and use the bolt cutters to enlarge it. Glenn holds the opening as Rick goes through, then Daryl, then T-Dog. Glenn goes through the hole last and uses another piece of wire to keep the fence together. Rick turns to the group.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick directs the question to Glenn.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." Daryl scowls, walking ahead of the group. It was apparent the Omega was nervous, being with two Alphas and a Beta.

"We are." Rick looks at the hunter, voice emphatic but firm, before turning back to Glenn, "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn pants as they run towards the city.

The group makes its silent way through the city. They duck behind cars and check corners before going to the next street, looking for any Walkers. Glenn leads them to the department store. Rick leads them further in before he stops, raising one hand to halt the group. He turns to Daryl, who watches his every move with narrow eyes and a tight grip on his crossbow. He points at a Walker and nods at the Omega, asking him to take the lead and kill it. Daryl moves in front of Rick, crossbow raised and ready. Getting in front of the Walker, he comes out of his hunch and aims.

Daryl murmurs something as he shoots it through the head. He walks over to the Walker and pulls the arrow out, flicking the blood off and reloading the bow. Nodding at the others, Rick leads them upstairs.

The group reached the roof and cut through the padlock. Daryl kicks the door open as the last of the chains falls. He pushes T-Dog out of the way as he calls for his brother, ignoring the others as they enter the roof. He needed his brother and the safe feeling he always had when he was around him. He needed Merle with him, scared of what would happen if his brother wasn't there to keep the Alphas at camp in check.

"Merle! Merle!"

Daryl runs over to the pipes. The others watch from the door as he runs over. They make their way around when Daryl sees something and starts to sob, screaming, "No! No!"

They run over, expecting the worst; a half-eaten body and Walkers, a Walker Merle, anything. They fall silent in disbelief at what they see on the ground. Daryl sucks air in through his teeth and glares at the three of them, tears in his eyes. They drop into the puddle on the floor.

"No!" He screams again, his voice raw with pain, betrayal, and hatred.

The bloody handcuffs are empty and under them is a pile of blood. The rusty hand-saw from Dale's toolbox, bloodied blade, was laying in it. A little further, there's a hand- Merle's hand, lying on the ground.

"No! No!" The cry of distressed Omega echoes through the city, ringing in the ears of the men who left the elder Dixon there.