A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the views/favorites/follows! I don't know if I've mentioned it, but it really helps keep me going when I get stuck. :)

miss-bexie: Thanks! It means a lot to me for you to say that. :)

Melissa rolled over with a grumble as she felt someone shaking her shoulder. Suddenly the person jabbed her in the side with a finger. "Hey!" she protested, sitting up.

"Hey, yourself," the person said as the iPhone light flickered on to reveal Dean. "You're impossible to wake up. It's your turn for watch."

"Oh… sorry," Melissa murmured. She slowly got to her feet, yawning widely as she rubbed her eyes.

She saw Dean shrug as he led her out back into the church proper. She followed him to the door and sat down on the chair Seth had dragged over earlier. She made a sound of surprise as Dean sat on the pew across from her. "Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked him.

"I'm not really tired," Dean commented. "Might as well stay up and make sure you don't fall asleep." His blue eyes glinted for a moment in the light of the iPhone before he turned it off and handed it to her.

"I don't need a babysitter," Melissa muttered.

"Who said anything about babysitting?" Dean said with a small laugh.

Melissa didn't respond to his words. She leaned back in the chair, slowly spinning the iPhone in her hands. She gazed into the dark church, wishing her vision would adjust to the darkness faster so she could at least see the outline of Dean.

They sat there in silence for a little before Melissa spoke. "I never found out, but what are you doing here?"

"Here? I don't think anyone knows the answer to that."

Melissa wanted to slap him for the sarcastic answer. "Not like that. I just meant what are you doing here in my hometown?"

She could hear the pew Dean was sitting on creak as he shifted his position. "We're just passing through. Another town, just like all the others on the road. Only difference is we got stuck here."

"Where were you headed before you got stuck here?" she asked curiously.

"Los Angeles," Dean replied.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Melissa asked, wincing as she thought of her family again.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Dean queried, leaning forward into a small beam of moonlight seeping in around the edge of the doorframe.

"There are a lot of reasons that the big cities are more dangerous than the small towns," Melissa reasoned. "One: There aren't as many people in small towns, which equals fewer zombies. Two: More people means there's less food and water…"

Dean interrupted her. His eyes were narrowed as he said, "It almost sounds as though you're trying to convince us to stay."

Melissa blushed as she realized that's what she had unintentionally started to do. "Maybe."

Dean leaned back into the pew. Melissa could barely see that he had his arms crossed behind his head. "Sorry, but I don't think that's an option for us," he said, speaking of the Shield. "Maybe it's just a leftover habit from our jobs, or maybe it's some survival instinct, but we feel that's it's best to keep moving."

"Oh," Melissa murmured, not sure how to respond.

"What about you? You ever going to leave?" he asked her, his blue eyes now visible in the small bit of moonlight that let Melissa see in the dark church.

Melissa shook her head and said, "I hadn't planned on it. Unless a whole bunch of zombies come flooding in, I'm safe as I can be in the apocalypse, and that's all I can ask for."

"What would you do if a bunch of them did show up?" Dean asked curiously.

"I don't know," Melissa said, a note of exasperation in her voice. "I figured it was one of those things that I would deal with if it came down to it."

"That may have worked before, but let me give you a piece of advice Melissa." His voice, to Melissa's ears, sounded dangerous. "It doesn't work now. You need to be prepared to deal with it before it gets here, or you'll end up dead. Or worse."

"You think I don't know that?" Melissa choked out, her eyes starting to tear up. She'd never done well with being talked down to. "I just want to feel safe, even if it is only for a little while."

"There is no such thing as safe anymore," Dean said harshly. "It's just the way it is." He abruptly stood up, stalking over to where he had been sleeping earlier, leaving Melissa to herself.

Melissa sat in the chair, staring at her hands, which were folded around the iPhone. She shuddered, wishing, not for the first time, that she would wake up in her bed at home and find out this was all a bad dream. She wished her family was still here. She sighed as she realized she was indulging in wishful thinking—something that really wasn't a good idea anymore.

Her tears were still falling gently on her hands when she heard someone sit down on the pew across from her. She didn't look up, still gazing at her hands. The person cleared their throat. "Melissa?"

She looked up to see Seth sitting there. "What?" she mumbled.

"I…heard you and Dean talking," he told her. She saw him run a hand through his two-toned hair. Melissa wondered for a moment how long it would last without it being redone.

She didn't say anything to him though. She closed her eyes with a sigh, trying to slow the tears.

"It's just the… stress getting to him," Seth finally said. "He's usually a bit more personable than this."

"Oh," Melissa mumbled. She heard Seth get up from the pew. She opened her eyes, thinking he had gone back to his sleeping bag. She was surprised to find him sitting on his knees in front of her.

He took her hands in his, causing her to loosen her death grip on the iPhone. "Melissa…" He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You know we can't stay, but have you considered going with us?" he asked tentatively. "I would have to talk to Dean and Roman about it, obviously…" he started rushing through his words.

Melissa interrupted. "You know I don't want to go," she murmured.

Seth looked her in the eyes. "I know. But you can't stay here forever. Dean was right when he said it wouldn't be safe indefinitely. I'm not saying that you couldn't stay here for a while, but what if something happened? What if you couldn't take care of yourself and there's no one there to take care of you?"

Melissa stopped breathing for a moment and eventually breathed out. "I've thought about it. I just hoped it wouldn't come down to that," she said softly, her breath hitching in fear.

"If you came with us, you wouldn't have to worry about that," Seth murmured. "Who knows, maybe we can find your family somewhere along the way," he said cheerfully.

Melissa hesitated before responding. "I…I have to think about it. Give me a day or two."

Seth nodded as he stood up. "Two days then. I'll need some time to convince Roman and Dean, and I can't do that right as we're leaving."

Melissa murmured in agreement, watching as he made his way back to his sleeping bag. She gazed at the iPhone in her hands, a burning reminder of what had been. She wondered if she could leave the only home she knew to travel with men she hardly knew when she'd refused to do so with her family. The fear of being alone and the fear of the unknown nagged at her throughout her watch, and followed her as she went to wake Randy for his part of the watch. She finally collapsed on her sleeping bag, the exhaustion from earlier sending her into a deep sleep.