I roused from my slumber, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I gazed over to my side where Ace lay still snoozing away. I pet his head gently, waking him up. His eyes opened and he sat up, stretching in the process. I watched as he yawned, and smiled at the cute noise he made as he yawned. I looked over, seeing Glenn fast asleep in his own sleeping bag. I slipped out of my sleeping bag as I heard rustling and muffled voices outside of the tent. I pulled on my boots and left the tent as quietly as possible so I didn't wake up Glenn. Ace hopped out with me, and I carefully zipped the tent back up.

I smoothed down my ginger hair, running my fingers through to 'brush' it as I walked over to the small group who was awake, sitting around the campfire. I pushed my hair back behind my ears, trying to keep it out of my face. Shane, Daryl, Lori, and Dale were the only ones up at this time, with the sun barely rising over the horizon.

"Hey, you're up early," Dale calls as he was the first to notice that I was up.

"Mornin' kid," Shane greeted as I sat next to him.

"Good morning," I replied as I struggled to keep my hair out of my face when a breeze passed by. Lori seemed to notice and handed me a hair tie she had on her wrist.

"Thank you," I said, tying up my short hair as best I could. I got most of it into a small ponytail, but I felt some fall out onto my neck. I didn't mind how it looked though. Just as long as it was kept out of my face. I zoned out slightly as I was focused on putting up my hair that I hadn't realized they were talking again.

"We're going to need food real soon if we want to stay here. The food in the U-Haul will only last three more days; Five if we ration it," Shane spoke with a worried tone and expression. He pressed his lips together, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Merle and I are going out hunting this mornin'. Ya won't have to feed us with the next few days and we'll bring anything we get back," Daryl said. Shane nodded in agreement.

"I have some food in the RV as well," Dale pitched in.

"Someone can go back to the highway to go through more cars and keep people from going into the city," I suggested.

"Yeah, maybe. Glenn, you, and one more volunteer could go. We don't need to risk more lives than needed. Especially with the herd from yesterday. Glenn said there were herds in the thousands in the city. We don't need any more joining them," Shane spoke. I nodded, excited that he was actually letting me do something.

"I don't know Shane. She's a child. We shouldn't send her back out there unless we have to. Yesterday was necessary to have the kids out there, but…" Dale started. I immediately shot him an agitated look.

"He has a point, June. You can't be much older than Carl or Sofia. You should stick with them," Shane said. I turned my gaze to him with a bewildered expression,

"I want to help," I retorted.

"I know you do, but sometimes the best thing you can do is stick with the group, even if you're not helping as much as you want to," Dale said.

"What can I help with here then?" I asked Shane, annoyance spilling into my tone.

"I don't know yet," Shane replied.

"Then you better figure it out before Glenn is ready to go out to the highway, because if you don't then I'm going with him," I stated plainly.

"You've got a lot of audacity kid. I'll give you that," Shane said with a sigh. The conversation was cut off by a zipping sound. Merle came out of his tent, joining the group. Glenn also came out of our tent, coming to meet the group. He had an awful bedhead. Thankfully, he was able to cover it with his hat pretty easily. Ace trotted over to greet him where he stood and nudged Glenn's hand asking to be pet.

"Good morning," Glenn spoke tiredly with a yawn.

"Morning," I replied followed by the rest of the group replying with their own good morning greetings. Merle didn't respond to any greetings and stayed by his brother. As all the men talk, Lori slipped away at one point and woke up Carl. I looked over to Carl who looked quite tired with his half-lidded eyes, and sleepy smile. He huddled up to me, with Ace on his other side with his head in Carl's lap.

"Morning," I said softly to Carl.

"Morning," He replied under his breath. A yawn followed shortly after, and he leaned up against me. I couldn't help but yawn after seeing Carl yawn and I leaned my head on his shoulder. I wasn't really paying attention to what the adults were talking about, but it didn't take long for Andrea, Amy, Carol, Ed, and Sofia woke up and join the group around the fire. Sofia came to huddle up with Carl and I, squishing me in between Carl and her.

Shane and Dale handed out food for breakfast, and everyone ate around the fire. Laughter and chatter also surrounded the campfire as we had breakfast. This felt so normal, like as if we aren't in a full-on apocalypse. It felt like the family camping trip my family and I took every year. We had a full schedule of fishing, smores, and cookouts during those trips. We also had the occasional hunting trip planned with the camping trip. My heart felt heavy, wondering if I'd ever find them again. Or if this was simply my life now?

I snapped out of my thoughts when hearing Ace bark. My head whipped around to Ace at the edge of the woods, growling at the treeline. He wouldn't just back for no reason.

"Shut your damn mutt up!" Merle complained I got up, investigating what was going on just as Ace darted off into the woods.

"Ace!" I called, darting into the woods after him. I heard someone call my name, but I couldn't stop my feet at that point. I sprinted after Ace, doing my best to stay on his tail. I could hear that familiar raspy groan in front of me, as well as Ace's growls. Right as I stopped, I stood face to face with a dead one, coming towards me. All I could think to do was to back up. I glanced around, seeing a big branch on the ground. As the thing came towards me eagerly, I picked up the branch, setting it at eye level. The dead one skewered himself on the branch, reaching towards me.

Just as I rushed to grab anything to stab it with, Ace was ripping its limbs off one by one. Making the thing almost harmless. I grabbed a firm stick and stabbed it into its head to kill it. I sighed, checking Ace for injuries as I heard a rustle in the woods. Glenn came out of the brush, wrapping me into a tight embrace. He sighed in relief, before backing up and grabbing my arms.

"Don't you ever do that again!" He scolded me with worry in his eyes. He brought me back into a tight hug just as Shane showed up through the brush. I hugged Glenn back, laying my head on his shoulder.

"God kid, you can't go running off like that!" Shane said, catching his breath. He spotted Ace's work.

"Ace could hear them," I said, gazing over at the limbless dead ones.

"That doesn't mean you can just run off! You scared us!" Glenn spoke loudly.

"I'm sorry…" I apologized. I didn't mean to make them worry, but I can take care of myself.

"It's okay; It's okay, just promise me you won't ever do that again," Glenn said, still holding me with a hand on each of my arms. I nodded in response looking at my feet.

"Alright, we need to head back to camp," Glenn said as he picked me up. I wrapped my arm around his neck as he carried me back to camp with Shane leading the way. I looked back to see Ace's face covered in blood. I smiled down at him, my guard dog. He was my best friend in this mess of a world. All I can hope is that he thinks I'm his. As we made it back to camp, Glenn set me down. I was immediately tackled into a hug by Sofia and Carl.

"Are you okay?" Carol asked as she walked over.

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

"Are you sure you aren't hurt?" Shane asked. I nodded in response as Carl and Sofia released me from their tight hugs.

"So, what was worth the mutt running into the woods, huh? A squirrel, maybe a little rabbit?" Merle mocked.

"That 'mutt' just took out five walkers that he heard close to camp," Shane retorted with a small glare. Merle scoffed in reply.

"If you don't believe it go look for yourself," I said walking past him with Sofia and Carl following behind me. Ace as well. I decided to go down to the small lake that was further down into the quarry. Sofia, Carl, and I ran down the stone slope to the water's edge.

"Ace, come here," I called as Sofia and Carl played in the shallows. Ace trotted over, and I cupped up my hands in the water, washing the blood off of Ace's face and body. He sat patiently as I washed him up, but as soon as he had the opportunity, he jumped into the water. He ran through the shallow water past Sofia and Carl, making them giggle when he splashed them. I giggled as he raced up to me, knocking me into the water.

"June! Carl! Sofia!" Lori called down into the quarry. "Come back up here please!" We all got out of the water, and walked back up to the main campsite. I wrung out my clothes as we walked up. My shoes squelched with every step I took, and my shirt felt heavier than normal. My hair was wet as well and a few strands fell out, framing my face.

"I need you three to stay in sight, okay?" Lori said softly. We all nodded and ran off together to play. Carl grabbed the cards, and we started a game. Time flew by, our clothes dried, and before we knew it, lunch was given to us. I made sure to get Ace his food and let him go into the tent to eat. I had already finished eating, and I was a little bored. I glanced around, spotting Dale. He had the hood of his RV up. I saw Glenn and Andrea unloading the U-Haul, but Merle and Daryl were nowhere to be seen. They must have already left for their hunting trip. I walked over to Glenn and Andrea, helping them unload everything inside.

"You're going to the highway again?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Glenn spoke.

"I want to go," I insisted.

"I know you do, but you need to stay here. It's safer here," Glenn reasoned with me, crouching down to my level.

"I don't want to stay here. I want to go help on the highway," I said.

"June, you are nine. You need to stay where it's safest. Plus, Ace is going to be keeping the camp safe,m and he goes where you go. That's what you're doing to help," Glenn said. He wasn't going to let me go. I wanted to argue back, but I didn't think it was worth wasting my breath. I sighed and nodded, clearly unhappy with what was happening.

"Thank you. Please be good for Lori and Carol okay?" He asked. I nodded again in reply and Glenn sent me off to Carl and Sofia again. I watched as Glenn drove off with Andrea with my stomach tying in knots. Shane came up behind me, setting a hand on my shoulder.

"I got something for you to do," Shane said.

"Really?" I said, eager to satiate my boredom.

"We're going to go scavenging in the forest and try to find some food," Shane grabbed a bucket that was in the trunk of one of the cars we rode here in. He handed me a bucket and grabbed one for himself.

"That's your bucket. You need to go get your dog," Shane said. I whistled to Ace, who came immediately.

"You ready?" Shane asked.

"Oh, wait!" I spoke, racing back to the tent. I dragged out my backpack, took out my knife, and put it in the little holster I found. I strapped the holster around my hips. I went back to Shane and followed him wherever we were going. We walked about two minutes before Shane pointed something out to me.

"Do you see these berries?" He asked, picking off one to show me. I nodded, waiting for him to explain what they were.

"What do they look like to you?" Shane asked.

"Blackberries," I responded.

"Yep, these we can eat. They're mulberries. Here, try one," He said handing it to me. I ate the berry. It tasted super sweet!

"They're good, huh?" Shane said. I nodded. We began picking berries but made sure to leave some to ripen. We continued through the woods, finding wild blueberries, some walnuts, and a lot of acorns. Every once in a while Shane would point out other herbs like wild mint, elderberries, or poison ivy.

Once we filled up our buckets we headed back to camp and separated everything. We finished separating the food and packaging it up as best we could to keep it fresh. As we finished, The U-Haul came down the Quarry's road. They were coming back much earlier than we thought. I got up to see what was happening, and Shane followed after. Dale and Lori also walked over. The U-Haul stopped in front of us, turning off. Glenn hopped out, walking over to us as Andrea went around to the back.

"Y'all are back early," Shane said.

"Yeah," Glenn said with a sigh.

"We ran into a little trouble and some people," Glenn said looking over to the U-Haul where a family of four were hopping out of the vehicle.

"We barely have enough food to feed the mouths we have," Shane said.

"So I should have let them go straight into the city? Or leave them on the highway?" Glenn retorted.

"No! No," Shane said. "I'm just worried that we're getting in over our head."

"We got tons of supplies from the highway, and the family has shared their resources. They had three guns and a good bit of food," Glenn replied.

"Alright," Shane sighed walking off to greet the newcomers. Dale and Lori followed suit, while Glenn and I hung back. Glenn hugged me.

"You were good?" He asked playfully with a raised eyebrow. I nodded.

"Shane took me out with him scavenging,"

"That's good what did you guys find?" Glenn asked with a smile.

"Blueberries, mulberries, acorns, and walnuts," I replied.

"Why don't you go get Carl and Sofia? Welcome the new kids?" Glenn said. I knew he wasn't asking so I nodded, and ran off to get Carl and Sofia. I pointed out the newcomers and suggested we go over. Sofia held my hand as we walked up to them, seeming nervous. We greeted the two new kids and dragged them away from their parents to play.

The rest of the night flew by and all I felt was exhaustion. I was put to bed by Glenn, who sat at the entrance of the tent as I took off my boots, and slipped into my sleeping bag. Ace lay beside me as I snuggled into my bed. Glenn said a quick goodnight before zipping up the tent. I felt the weight of my eyelids and fell fast asleep.