CHAPTER 41

-DARYL-

"What was I supposed to say?" Kate protested. "She asked really nicely."

The two of them were walking through the middle of a field full of Foxtail weeds, the legs of their pants dotted with the sharp awns that tangled themselves inextricably in their clothes. They could see a solitary walker heading their way slowly, dragging a useless leg behind him.

"You were supposed to say, 'No fuckin' way.'" Daryl replied, keeping his eye on the moaning creature. The frustration in his voice put her on edge, but he'd barely said a word all day, choosing instead to communicate in a series of grunts and growls and so she was ready to have it out now if he was ready to talk.

He raised his crossbow and sent a bolt through the walker's skull. It fell to the ground with a thud and Daryl made his way to the body, his wide, angry strides out pacing her easily. She gave up and stood in the middle of the field and watched as he smashed his boot into the walker's head and took hold of the arrow. It came loose with a sickening squelch and he wiped it clean against his pants and loaded it back into the crossbow. He thundered towards her.

"Oh so, something like, 'Sorry Rosita, we can't go and help find transportation to help the entire group get off the road because we don't like you guys.'"

Daryl scoffed. "You shoulda made up an excuse."

"Ok, so how about, 'We can't go today, we have tickets to the theatre'." Kate said, faking a snooty accent that was completely out of place for a girl with wildly frizzy hair and dirt streaked across her skin.

"Smartass."

Kate grinned, hoping her tactic had worked. For a second she thought it had, she saw amusement flicker in his eyes for a second, but then it was gone, the darkness back.

She knew he didn't want to be on this wild goose hunt with Abe, Rosita and Eugene, honestly neither did she. They'd been going round and round the same area for the last 45 minutes looking for some RV Park, The Blue Butterfly, that Rosita wanted to check out. She had an address, torn from an old yellow pages she'd found in an abandoned gas station, but they'd been up and down Dover Road and all they'd seen was disintegrating homes, their yards littered with junk.

"We're wasting our fuckin' time out here, the others are getting further away." He said, eyeing the sky, although they were hours away from sundown.

"We'll catch up to the others. You know they can't make it too far with Hershel."

"And I don't trust this guy." He said, motioning towards where they'd left Abraham on the road.

"We have to help them." She said.

"We don't have to do shit for them." He snarled.

"We said we would..."

"YOU said we would." He said, cutting her off and staring her down, his finger pointing accusingly in her direction.

Abe sent up a shrill whistle and Daryl kept her pinned her with his gaze, wordlessly daring her to walk away from him.

"You coming?" She asked finally, ending their stand-off. He just sneered.

"I ain't runnin' when he calls."

Daryl turned and made his way back to the walker. She watched him crouch down and start to rifle through its pockets.

She turned with a sigh and walked back through the field alone. Across the road, Abraham, Rosita and Eugene were standing alongside a fallen tree, which had caught between the branches of another and was completely overtaken by kudzu.

"Find something?" She asked when she was close enough to not have to shout.

Eugene pointed wordlessly over the vine covered branches. Back, between the trees, jutting out at an odd angle stood a rusted metal sign with a painted blue butterfly and in black the words, "The Blue Butterfly RV Park and Campsite". An RV, its hood crumpled up against the base of the sign, had knocked it over and like the tree that hid the road into the camp, it had come to rest against the branches of a Live Oak.

"No wonder we couldn't find it." Kate mumbled.

"I believe this is the only road out of this place." Abraham said. "If we find something we'll need to clear a path to get out of here."

He reached down and tested the weight of the branch with a grunt.

"What're you all standin' here for. Let's get this over with." Daryl growled, catching up and barreling past the four others as they stood. "Don't need a fuckin' road to get in this place."

DARYL

Daryl wound his way through the trees, pulling his knife and marching towards the RV. He stuck the blade through the skull of the walker still seat belted behind the wheel. Of all the ways to go nowadays, and this fucker wrecked his car. Daryl didn't know if that made him lucky or not.

The Blue Butterfly RV Park and Campground was a long, narrow property that ran adjacent to a low hill and was situated across the road from a set of railroad tracks that surely had made sleeping troublesome. Not far past the fallen sign was the only building on the property, a small and weather worn house that he supposed doubled as the owner's business and home. A crudely painted sign was perched on its roof, welcoming visitors and instructing them to check in at the manager's office.

"Wanna search it?" Rosita asked from several yards behind him. He pretended he didn't hear her.

"No wait." He heard Abraham say. "We'll find a ride first. Let's split up, it'll be quicker."

Without so much as a nod, Daryl headed down the wide dirt lane that circled around the left side of the park, past the small house and a rusting swing set that consisted of a slide and two swings, one of which hung off its chain on one end and rested in the sand below it. He could hear Kate behind him, her boots scattering gravel as she tried to catch up to him.

There was a long row of RV spaces, most of which were empty of anything but old wooden picnic benches, covered in carvings of past campers hoping to immortalize their stay, or travel trailers that had long ago been detached from any sort of engine and set permanently down in the dirt. It looked like the Blue Butterfly had housed more permanent residents than vacationers and Daryl thought their chances of finding something usable was pretty low.

"Let's search this one." Kate suggested from behind him.

He stopped and turned to find her standing in front of an old Fleetwood Prowler with flat tires and a door hanging by one hinge.

"She ain't goin' anywhere."

"I'm not an idiot Daryl, doesn't look like any of these things are going anywhere, but we might find something."

He looked at the trailer, the siding was rusted and at some point someone with questionable welding skills had tried to make some repairs. There was nothing of value in it, he was almost positive.

He walked past her, unable to completely hide his aggravation, and pounded on the side of the trailer. The aluminum rattled, but no sounds came from inside. He went around the front, hopped up the one rusted step and poked his head through the door, crossbow held out in front of him. He scanned the inside of the camper. Wood paneling seemed to cover every inch, from the walls, to the cupboards and the counters, to the floor that stretched from the door to a mattress in the back. He knocked the butt of his bow against the side of the door. Silence. With one more sweeping glance at their surroundings, Daryl ducked inside, Kate on his heels.

Daryl reached up and tore a piece of cheap blue fabric off the window and the dimly lit trailer brightened up. The whole place smelled like cigarette smoke and he thought the trip might end up worth it if he could find a pack.

"This reminds me so much of Dale's." Kate said. She ran her hand over the countertop and then wiped the dust and grime off onto her jeans, wrinkling her nose. "Not as clean though."

Daryl grunted in response, lifting the bare mattress with one hand and finding nothing underneath but some cash. He dropped it and went to work on the cabinets above.

He could hear Kate working behind him, opening the drawers and the cupboards in the little kitchenette, knocking plastic dishes together in the search for something useful that might be tucked in the least likely place: a gun, some medicine, beef jerky, anything.

He found a small flashlight, a lighter and an unopened pack of Kool Cigarettes. He tore the cellophane off the top immediately, sticking a cigarette between his lips and flicking the lighter.

"Check it out." Kate exclaimed, laughing as she held up a pair of leopard print underwear she'd unearthed from the drawer she was currently searching. "They're men's. Should I put them in my pack? You can model them for me sometime."

"That ain't happenin'." He said around his cigarette, smoke puffing out around his face.

"Oh come on." She teased. He could see her eyes dancing, she was so fucking amused with herself.

She threw the underwear at him and he batted them away, flinching as if something sinister had come flying towards him. The underwear fell at the door of the tiny camper and Kate exploded in laughter.

She stood in front of the sink in the ramshackle trailer, where everything was covered in dirt, and threw her head back. The sun coming through the filmy window outlined her in gold, and the motes of dust seemed to hang in the air around her. She was so goddamn beautiful.

She stopped laughing and caught him watching her, her chest rising and falling, and he could swear she was reading every thought running through his mind. He swallowed hard.

The trailer was so small she barely had to take a full step to reach him. She pressed up against his body and pulled the cigarette from his lips. She threw it to the ground and crushed it out under the toe of her boot. Looking back up at him, her eyes offered a truce, her hands found his rough, stubbled face and all his frustration with her faded to the background.

She kissed him softly at first, then more urgently.

He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her to him tightly. It had been a long time since he'd had her, before they were separated, before the flu. He fought for control, trying to rein in the desire he'd tried to resist while he waited for her, but as her hands found his belt buckle any chance of restraint melted away. He kissed her, pushing against her until she backed into the counter. She gave a painful groan and he quickly pulled away.

"Sorry. You ok?" He asked, feeling guilty for being so rough. He wondered if she could tell just how desperate he was to be with her again. She laughed and pulled him back to her eagerly, working on his buttons.

"DARYL?" Abraham called from outside

"You've got to be kidding me." She whispered against his neck, her breath warm against his skin. "We don't have to answer him. He'll go away."

"KATE?! Where the hell are you guys?" Abraham yelled again and he sounded closer.

"Not fuckin' likely." Daryl groaned, pulling away from her. He turned away from the door and walked towards the back of the camper, buckling his belt and trying to pull himself together.

"We're over here." She yelled back, breathing heavily.

A minute later and Abraham slammed open the screen door, his beefy body filling the frame and darkening the trailer. He was sweaty and splattered with blackish blood, but he was smiling.

"What the fuck are you two doing in this piece of junk?" He asked, surveying the tiny space, but not waiting for an answer. He leaned over and picked the leopard print underwear off the ground and examined them before shoving them in his pocket with a sly smile. "Think we found a good one on the other side. Daryl, I need your help to start her up?"

He turned and headed out of the camper and Kate covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Daryl walked by her, frustration keeping him from finding the humor in the situation.

They followed Abraham across the park to a space towards the back that butted up against the small sloped hill. The RV was a long, tan model, maybe from the late 80's with Southwind painted onto the large brown stripe that encircled the entire vehicle. It wasn't the fanciest model in existence, but it was nicer than Dale's and bigger too. Daryl could see why Abe thought this was the one.

Eugene sat at the wooden picnic bench, expressionless. Daryl imagined geniuses spent a lot of time just sitting and thinking, but no matter how hard he tried it was hard to picture anyone smart looking so dull.

Rosita stood at the doorway, a walker dead at her feet.

"This one did us a favor and got attacked outside his rig, so we won't even have to smell his rotten ass all the way to DC." She held up a key ring and smiled. "And, he had his keys."

"Could use more fuel." Abe explained. "The engine needs some work, nothing major."

Daryl watched Kate step over the walker and take the steps up into the RV. Abraham was continuing to list all the things they'd needed to do to get her on the road, but Daryl was barely listening.

Kate popped back out and jumped over the body, landing on the soft dirt of the campsite.

"It's nice!" She said, meeting his eyes and grinning from ear to ear.

"Daryl, can you try and get some gas from the rest of these dinosaurs?" Abe asked and Daryl noticed that for once it sounded like a suggestion and not an order.

"Hey Kate, Eugene and I are going to head up to the house, see what's left. Wanna come?"

"Sure." Kate said, looking back at Daryl. She shrugged, as if to say 'why not?' and Daryl could feel the anxiety start to spread like electricity through his body, starting in the center of his chest, moving outwards. His lips pursed into a tight line, but he nodded. The building was only 100 yards away at most, it wasn't like she was going to disappear into the woods again.

"Here." Eugene mumbled and offered Daryl the gas can and an old coil of garden hose, cut from somewhere along the way. Carrying these in his pack, as far as Daryl could tell, was one of the few useful things Eugene had done since he'd joined their group.

Daryl took them wordlessly and Eugene turned and joined the girls as they headed towards the small building. Kate looked back over her shoulder once, flashing a smile. Was it a nervous smile or just his imagination? He couldn't tell. He turned and walked deeper into the park.

Forty-five minutes and several trips later, Daryl returned to the RV for the last time, can full and smelling strongly of gasoline, the taste of it so strong in his mouth he wanted to gag.

"I think that's all we can get." He told Abraham, who was under the hood of the RV. "Not bad, I bet she's over half full."

He was surprised he was able to find that much in this dried up park. From what he saw, it seemed as though the people here had stayed put when things fell apart - either they had nowhere to go or maybe they thought they were far enough away from the cities to remain untouched. Maybe they thought they'd be able to wait it out, so their cars remained full while they fell to the walkers like everyone else.

"Give me a hand, will ya?" Abe grunted.

Daryl joined him under the hood and the two men worked side-by-side silently for a few moments before approaching footsteps drew their attention away from the engine.

Rosita was heading towards them carrying two jugs of motor oil.

"Thought you guys could use these." She said, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Thank you, baby." Abraham said, putting his tools down and crossing the dirt to grab the oil.

"How's it going?" She asked placing her hands on her hips and smiling up at Abraham.

"Good, I think Daryl and I will have her running sooner than later." He motioned with his head to the oil. "This'll help. You guys finishing up in there?"

"Ya, took us awhile to bust the locks on a couple of the supply closets, but we are pretty much done."

Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl could see Rosita rise up on her toes to wrap her arms around Abraham's neck. He looked away, embarrassed to be witness to their affection. He could still hear them, kissing and mumbling things he'd rather not hear.

"Maybe Daryl won't mind driving, you and I can check out the bed in the back." Abraham said to Rosita, not bothering to lower his voice.

Rosita laughed. "Maybe." She said flirtatiously. "But you gotta get it running first.", she turned and headed back towards the house. Abraham slapped her ass and strutted back towards the engine, a stupid grin on his face.

"You know, the end of the world ain't half bad sometimes."

Daryl snorted.

"You think I was getting that kind of ass before all this shit came down?" He turned back around to watch Rosita's retreating figure and let out a low whistle. "And hell, I know you weren't."

Daryl bristled.

"We get to be heroes, save the world and pass the rest of the time banging whoever the hell we want. Sounds like a fucking dream come true to me."

"I don't know about that." Daryl said quietly, trying to concentrate on finishing up under the hood so they could get out of here. "Want to start her up?"

Abraham walked towards the driver's door, still mouthing off about his world view.

"I am going to save the fucking world Daryl. I will get Eugene to Washington DC, no matter what it takes. It's my destiny."

"Ya. Well what if it ain't our destiny. What if people die?"

Abraham stopped, his hand on the door handle.

"People are going to die either way Daryl. We're all going to die, and pretty fucking quickly if we don't stop this thing. Ya, there will be sacrifices, we probably won't all make it to DC, but it'll be worth it when Eugene turns it all around."

Daryl eyed him warily and Abraham stared back at him. Finally his face broke into a smile and he hopped into the driver's seat. A few seconds later and the engine erupted in sound, it took a few tries, but eventually it turned over and the roar of success filled Daryl's ears. He slammed the hood shut.

Kate -

The building was small, stifling hot and smelled to high heaven of rot. They'd forced their way in with a crowbar, the wood giving into the metal with a splintering crack. When the first waft of hot air hit them, Rosita had winced and covered her nose with the back of her hand, Eugene gagged. He stood on the porch until the women had cleared the house and opened the windows to let some fresh air in, for all the good it did.

The cause of the smell had been a man and a woman who had decided the best way to deal with the end of the world was to put a bullet through their brain, laying side-by-side in the small bed in the back of the house. Kate pulled the comforter up and covered their bodies. They'd seen it before, so many times Kate wouldn't be able to count if she tried, but it always made her sad.

The front of the house was set up like a business: a small check-in counter, a dead plant on the corner and a ceramic racoon holding a sign that read, 'Enjoy Your Trip!", behind it a desk with a boxy computer screen and a large calendar pad declaring it to be forever summer. A fly swatter hung on the wall, suspended from a colorful thumbtack pushed into the wood panelling. Kate examined the tiny coffee station that stood near the door where countless weary travelers had helped themselves to a cup after their long day of travels. There was even a bookshelf in the corner stacked full of old paperbacks and board games that were worn from years of use by the families that would come through here on their way to somewhere better.

Kate ran her eyes over the titles, eventually stashing half a dozen of them in her backpack and throwing in the decks of cards too. She imagined the long hours in the RV as they headed up to DC, inevitably stopping to send searchers out for gasoline and supplies, while a group of them stayed behind. The books would serve her, and whoever else, well when the hours stretched on slowly.

The back of the building held the living quarters: a narrow, neat kitchen done up in avocado green, a small family room with an old television set, a couch and a well-worn Lazy Boy. A full ashtray sat on a tray table, within arms reach of both. The bedroom, where the owners were decomposing, and a bathroom sat off to the right and there were two doors on the back wall that were locked tight.

The house didn't take long to go through, there wasn't much to begin with. They loaded their packs with cans of soup, beans, little tins of meat and store brand mac and cheese. They found a laundry basket sitting on the rocking chair in the bedroom and Rosita dumped the clothes out onto the floor. They worked silently, filling it with anything else they came across that they could use: toothpaste, some dental floss, matches, bars of soap, clean socks and a can opener. When there was nothing left to find, Rosita and Kate turned to the two locked closets. They were sweaty and tired, and prying the doors open proved more difficult than getting in the front had been, but it was worth the work. The first door was a storage closet, the wire shelves that lined the walls filled with rolls of toilet paper, brown paper towels as rough as bark and a bucket of cleaning supplies that had no doubt been used to clean the restroom facilities on site. There was a vacuum, a tool bag over stuffed with hammers, screwdrivers, rubber handled pliers, rolls of electrical tape and anything else Kate imagined someone would need to keep a place like this in working condition. There was another metal tool box, a portable battery charger and several 5-quart containers of motor oil.

"Jackpot." Rosita said, slamming the cover to the tool box down. "I'm gonna bring the oil to the guys. Be back."

The second door was just the back entrance to the laundry facility, and when Kate opened it the smell of freshly laundered clothing was still heavy in the air. She had forgotten that such a smell existed and she was caught off guard by the memories that came rushing back at her: being a small child watching TV on the couch, her mom folding the laundry next to her, getting out of the shower and drying her face with a fresh towel, and a random memory of the boyfriend she'd had when it all fell apart, who used to bring her warm blankets from the dryer when it was cold.

"Anything useful in here?" Eugene asked from behind her.

Kate, riding a strange sea of nostalgia, jumped at the intrusion.

"Oh Eugene, you scared me." She said, clutching at her chest where her heart was thudding.

"I apologize. I did not mean to alarm you."

"I know. I was just remembering - doesn't it smell good in here?"

"Considering this entire house smells like decomposing flesh, I'd say anything would be a marked improvement."

Kate nodded, wishing silently that there was someone else to share her newly unleashed memories with, and made her way through the shabby cabinets that hung from the ceilings. They were mostly empty, the owners left nothing of worth here to be stolen by the campers moving through. There were two washers, mismatched dryers and a stretch of counter to fold clothes on. An old snack machine stood in the corner, protecting a couple bottles of soda and a few candy bars behind its glass.

"Hey Eugene, want to grab me that rubber mallet? It's in the bag of tools on the ground in there."

He lumbered back into the house, returning with it in his outstretched hand. Kate grabbed it and sent it through the glass. It shattered with a satisfactory tinkle, and she used the mallet again to knock out the bigger shards before reaching in and grabbing what was left. She started handing it off to Eugene.

"Put these in the basket please." She asked.

He did as he was told slowly and without comment.

"Anything good?" Rosita asked, returning from delivering the oil.

"Not much in here. Some sodas, snacks - probably stale as hell, but it's something. How's the RV coming along?"

"Good I think. Abe says it shouldn't be long now. Oil should help."

"Daryl still with him?" Kate asked. She had a hard time picturing Daryl and Abe working together.

Rosita nodded and then her eyes narrowed.

"Daryl doesn't like us much does he?" She asked, leaning against a washer and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why? What happened?"

Rosita shrugged. "He just doesn't

"He's quiet." Kate replied quickly, moving back into the house to dump the rest of the snacks in the basket and avoid Rosita's inquisition, but Rosita was right behind her.

"If by quiet you mean he grunts a lot, then, ya, I guess. What's his story?"

Kate started to empty the closet, stacking the rolls of toilet paper next to the laundry basket.

"I wonder if they have any bags we can put these in?" Kate said, hoping to change the subject and heading into the rank bedroom to rifle through the closet again.

She returned to the living room empty handed, but prepared to steer the discussion away from Daryl.

"You guys were in Texas before, right? That's a long trip. How'd you make it so far?"

"There were more of us then." Rosita said, her hands full of the rolls of paper towels. She dropped one and Kate grabbed it, adding it to the growing pile in the middle of the room.

"How big was your group? What happened to them?"

"The road happened. Walkers, accidents, you've lost people, you know how it goes." Rosita was acting cavalier, but Kate could hear the defensiveness that had snuck into her voice.

"How many did you lose?"

Rosita shrugged, continuing to empty out the closet.

"You don't know?" Kate asked, her brow furrowing in disbelief.

"Eight." Eugene said definitively. He had been watching them silently from the couch, as usual contributing as little as possible. "Josephine, Stephanie, Warren, Rex, Roger, Josiah, Dirk. Nine, if you count Roberto, which I do not because he left of his own volition."

"They all died trying to get you to DC?" Kate asked. She couldn't hide her unease. She was starting to think Daryl had every right to be concerned.

Eugene looked down at the ground and bit down on his bottom lip.

"They all died because they believed in him. They knew the risk, they were willing because they believed the world was bigger than them. Don't act surprised Kate, your group has lost a lot more than eight."

Kate looked at Eugene and she could have sworn there were tears in his eyes. Up until this moment, the only emotion he had ever shown was fear.

Silence threatened to swallow them up. Rosita looked uneasily at Eugene.

"One of the girls in our group, Stephanie, she was from LA. That's where you're from, right?"

"Close enough." Kate said. She realized Rosita was trying to change the subject and she knew exactly what would work. Kate was desperate for the information. "Was she there when it fell?"

Rosita nodded.

"Did she say what it was like?" Kate asked, and the desperation in her own voice annoyed her, but she hadn't found a single person who could give her any real information about California. The most she knew, and it was info passed along dismissively by Dr. Jenner back at the CDC, was that all major cities had fallen. "What did she tell you?"

"The city was on fire," Rosita started, shaking her head. "The military had taken over, they were rounding people up and putting them in safe zones, but she said it seemed more like a police state. They got out while they could, headed east. She had family in Texas."

"Did she say anything else? Did she say where she was exactly? Were the safe zones secure?"

"That's all I remember. Sorry."

Kate sighed. There had been a military presence in Georgia too, but not safe zones. Maybe her family had gotten to one safely, maybe the military was still in control there.

In the distance Kate could hear an engine rumbling to life.

"Sounds like we can get the hell out of here." Rosita said. "Let's move this shit to the porch."

Rosita picked up two more jugs of oil and walked out of the room. Kate stood there silently, processing the new information and editing the story she'd constructed for her family in her mind. Eugene still sat silently on the couch, his face a mask of discomfort. Kate grabbed the tool bag and left him alone.

They were still moving the supplies to the porch when Abraham came rolling up in the RV, giving the horn a couple jovial honks.

"Load up ladies, we got ourselves a ride." He said happily from the driver's seat. He threw the RV into park and hopped out, circling the front of the vehicle with a smug smile across his grease stained face.

"Where's Daryl?" Kate asked, her eyes searching the grounds of the Blue Butterfly.

"He's clearing the mess of trees from the entrance. Can't get her out of here any other way. I'm heading down now to help him out. Pack up, we're about to hit the road."

Kate was on Rosita's heels as they headed back through the dusty office and towards the back of the house to gather up the rest of the supplies. Eugene still sat on the couch, eyes fixed to some unknown spot in the distance, his mouth turned down in a childlike pout and his hands glued to his chubby, bare knees.

"We're loading up, wanna help us with this stuff?" Rosita asked as she leaned over and filled her arms with several rolls of toilet paper.

Eugene remained where he was, his expression fixed.

"EUGENE." Rosita shouted, her patience shot.

He stood then, abruptly, and avoiding eye contact with the two women, headed through the laundry room and out its back door.

"Asshole." Rosita said under her breath and headed towards the RV.

Kate crouched down in the knee high grass and peed. She looked around nervously, hoping she wouldn't be discovered by anyone, alive or dead. She figured she would be fine - Abraham and Daryl were still down by the road, clearing a path for their departure, Rosita was back in the house, searching for anything they might've missed and as far as she knew Eugene was still sulking behind the house, but being out in the open with her pants around her ankles was a vulnerable feeling.

She pulled a handful of toilet paper that she'd stashed from the house out of her pocket and was just finishing up when she saw the first walker, followed quickly by a few others, drag itself out of the woods several yards away from her.

Instinctively she crouched back down, silent. The walkers ambled slowly out of the trees and towards the back of the house, dragging their legs behind them, leaving a trail in the soft, loose dirt of the campground. Kate moved quickly, keeping low in the grass, watching them and waiting for her chance to make a break for it, return to the house unseen and alert Rosita.

The walkers turned suddenly, in unison. Something had caught their attention - a sound? The scent of something in the air? Kate, after all this time, still wasn't sure how these less-than-human creatures operated, all she knew was she had her chance and she was going to take it. She rose up on her toes, prepared to run, prepared to fight if she had to, but her intentions dissolved when she caught sight of what they were after.

Eugene, unaware and defenseless, sat on a fallen log looking out towards the sea of broken down RVs and the walkers were headed right for him.

Kate didn't hesitate, she pulled her knife and ran towards them, hoping she wasn't too late, hoping she could take them down herself.

She ran towards them, not seeing the dead that were slipping silently out of the tree line.

Daryl

She was dead, he was sure of it and he had watched it all happen, helpless to get to her in time, fighting as hard as he could through the sea of dead, moving as fast as he could towards the clearing behind the house where she lay on the ground buried under the walker Abraham threw at her.

He'd been right all along, it was just a matter of time before Abraham got one of them killed, he knew it, yet he did nothing about it and now Kate, the only thing on this Earth that made his life worth anything was dead.

He'd been in the road, dragging the last tree branch off the path leading out of the Blue Butterfly when he heard the gunshot. Abraham had just headed back to get everyone loaded into the RV and Daryl was waiting to direct them as they were going to attempt to squeeze the huge vehicle through the narrow space they'd cleared. He had been so relieved they were almost done, they'd catch up to Rick and the others in just a few hours and they could be on the road, making good time to DC.

The gunshot had startled him and he dropped the branch to the ground and took off running, feeling the whole time like he was in slow motion. The scene he came upon was chaotic, walkers streaming from the trees, descending upon the house, the RV. All of them worked up in a frenzy over the sound of the gun.

As he rounded the corner, he saw all four of them, about a hundred yards away, standing in the small dirt clearing between the back of the house and the woods. They were fighting, all except Eugene who stood cowering in the middle of the circle they'd formed around him, his curled hands under his chin and his mouth turned down in horror. No weapon in his others had their knives out, slicing and tearing into putrid flesh, hoping to find purchase with the spots that would count, pulling their blades out and immediately plunging them back into the skull of the next walker. They were outnumbered, but holding their own as the bodies piled up around them.

Daryl stopped and pulled his crossbow off his back. He aimed it at a walker moving quickly towards Kate and let the bolt sail through the air. It fell to the ground. He reloaded and took out another, and another until all his bolts were gone and he took off running towards them again.

Kate was wrestling with a particularly large walker, freshly turned, and stronger because of it. Its hands gripped her shoulders as she struggled to raise her blade high enough to destroy it.

Abraham was to her right, dropping walkers as fast as he could, but they were coming quickly, drawn by the frenzy of movement and in the chaos another slipped between them, and Eugene dropped to his knees with a wail. Holding the walker he was fighting off with one arm, Abraham reached back and a caught hold of the one threatening Eugene and using all his strength threw it in Kate's direction.

It spun and grabbed onto her from behind, its peeling fingers holding fast to her hair and pulling her backwards. The large walker in front of her pursued and the three bodies, one alive and two dead, went falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Her name tore from Daryl's throat, how many times he didn't know. He was close now, but not close enough to help. Abraham left her to struggle, and Eugene scrambled further away as she fought. Daryl swung his crossbow violently at the head of the walkers that stood in his way, their blood spraying through the air and their bodies sprawling onto the ground.

From the bottom of the pile Kate emerged, blood streaked her face and her shirt hung in tattered ribbons from her shoulders. Both walkers lay still. She stood and began to fight again.

KATE

When the last walker fell motionless in the dirt Kate ran her hands over her body, taking inventory of every ache and pain and ensuring she wasn't bit. She was covered in scrapes and bruises would surely purple her skin by morning, but as unexplainable as it was, she hadn't been bit. It was as close of a call as she could remember having.

Daryl was now at her side, fear blazing in his eyes.

"I'm ok." She said, answering the question he was too afraid to ask.

She bit her lip and she felt hot tears spill onto her cheeks. She was shaking.

Daryl rounded on Abraham.

"What the FUCK was that?"

"What are you talking about?" Abraham snarled, pretending he didn't know exactly what had happened. He was dripping in sweat and covered in blood.

"You fuckin' kiddin' me right now? You threw that walker right on her. I thought she was dead."

"She's not."

"That ain't the point." Daryl screamed, taking a few steps towards Abraham who towered over him.

"I did what I had to do to keep Eugene safe. She can handle herself."

"You're a sonuva bitch." Daryl said and sent his fist flying, Abraham tried to dodge it and it hit him on the ear.

Abraham growled and threw a punch of his own. Daryl ducked and Abe's arm flew uselessly over his head. Daryl drew up and punched Abraham in the gut. Abraham crumpled and Daryl sent his fist into his face. It was the last good shot Daryl got in.

"STOP IT!" Kate screamed as Abraham tackled Daryl to the ground, his meaty fist hammering down on Daryl's face. He punched him a second time and blood spurted out of his nose. Kate screamed again and she was vaguely aware of Rosita yelling Abraham's name. Eugene remained as he had been, on the ground, cowering.

Daryl grabbed the front of Abraham's shirt and strained to get the weight of the big man off of him.

"You done Dixon?"

Daryl struggled underneath him uselessly.

"ABRAHAM." Rosita said sternly. "Cut it out."

"Either you're dumber than a sack of shit or you haven't been paying attention. We've got a job to do, a pretty fucking important one. If we don't get Eugene to DC, then the whole world ends. So stop wasting our fucking time with this shit."

Abraham rose up on his knees, staring down at Daryl, blood from a cut over his eye dripping down the side of his face.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" He ordered, standing and turning towards the house.

Daryl scrambled to his feet, a little unsteady at first. Blood was coming from his nose and his mouth and he wiped uselessly at it with his arm as he stormed across the dirt and dragged Eugene to his feet. Eugene yelped and Abraham wheeled around. Daryl wrapped his arm around Eugene's neck and put his knife to his throat.

"The whole world?" He growled, his face, covered in blood and already swollen, was contorting with anger.

"The whole world...to me...is standing right there." He wrenched Eugene's face so he had no choice but to stare at Kate. Eugene whimpered. "None of it means a goddamn thing to me if she ain't here."

"Let him go Daryl." Rosita screamed.

"Do you understand me?!" Daryl growled at Abraham, his teeth gnashed together.

Rosita and Abraham had their guns pointing at Daryl, but Daryl didn't back down.

"I'll shoot you dead. I swear I will." Rosita said, calm determination replacing her frantic screams.

Kate felt control slipping away. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at Rosita.

"Daryl, let him go." Kate implored, believing completely that Daryl was stubborn enough to be stupid and that Rosita meant what she said. The gun felt strange and heavy in her hand now that it was pointed at someone that was supposed to be on the same team.

The click of Abraham cocking the gun brought a fresh wave of terror as she realized his gun was now pointed at her.

"I don't want to have to kill you both." Abraham shouted. "But I will do what I need to do to protect Eugene."

"No." Eugene blubbered. Tears were running down his face.

"Daryl, I'm warning you." Abraham said through clenched teeth.

"You don't have to protect me." Eugene whimpered.

"I do!" Abraham bellowed. "And I will, even if it means blowing this sorry fuckers brains out."

"You don't have to do it because I am not a scientist." Eugene said, so quietly at first that Kate wasn't sure she heard him correctly.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Abraham asked.

"I am not a scientist." Eugene repeated, louder this time. "I lied. I do not have a cure. Please, I don't want to die. I don't want anyone else to die."