Jack was with Dale on top of the RV keeping watch for Walkers when he saw him staring out into the distance.

"You okay Dale?" He asked. Dale just nodded and continued staring at the horizon. Jack followed his gaze to see Jim over in the bushes digging holes. "How long has he been there?"

"Quite a while now." Dale told him.


T-Do, Glenn, Rick and I walked closer to Daryl and the severed hand when Daryl turned his crossbow on T-Dog to kill him. Rick quickly followed suit and pointed his Python at Daryl's head.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it." Rick told him. They stood there in silence for a moment, Daryl trying to blink back tears, before the hunter lowered his crossbow.

"You got a do-rag or something?" Daryl asked T-Dog calmly. T-Dog pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to Daryl. Daryl laid the rag on the ground. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs." He said picking up the hand by the pinky. "Ain't that a bitch." He wrapped the hand up and moved to Glenn and put the hand in one of the pockets. I knelt next to the blood splatters and handcuffs.

"He must have used a tourniquet. If he hadn't there'd be much more blood." I told them as Daryl started to follow a blood trail. I stood and looked at the boys behind me for a moment before following him. We followed him to the other side of the roof where we found an open door. Daryl walked in first with his crossbow at the ready.

"Merle? You in here?" He called out as we walked down the stairs. We walked into an office and Daryl shot a bolt at a Walker who was missing her lower jaw. We moved out of that office into a hallway only to fine two dead Walkers in another office. "Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." Daryl said as he reloaded his weapon.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick said and we moved on.


Back at camp Amy and Andrea walked back with tons of fish for the camp and large smiles on their faces.

"Oh, baby. Will you look at that? Hey, check it out." Morales said drawing everyonds attention to them. Andrea gave him her catch and grabbed a bottle of water as Loti clapped at their accomplishment. "Ladies… Because of you my children will eat tonight. Thank you."

"Thank Dale. It's his canoe and gear." Andrea told him.

"Mom, look. Look at all the fish." Carl called to his mom. Morales moved the fish towards her and she moved away from them.

"Thank you." She said sarcastically.

"Whoa." Carl said trying to poke them.

"Yeah, whoa." Lori laughed. "Where did you two learn to do that?"

"Our dad." Amy answered.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Carl asked them.

"Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff." Amy told him sharing a smile with her sister. "If that's okay.

"You won't catch me arguing." Lori told her as Dale walked up behind them.

"Hey, Dale. When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace." Andrea told him.

"I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale told the group. Shane, who had been sitting on the steps to the RV, walked to Dale. Dale pointed to Jim, who was still digging.


"Merle!" Daryl called out as we entered the kitchen area.

"We're not alone here. Remember?" Rick asked.

"Screw that. He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself." Daryl reminded him walking further into the kitchen. We saw one of the burners lit, blood on the handle and some of the pots and Merle's belt sitting on top.

"Looks like we found his tourniquet." I said motioning to the belt. Rick picked up one of the items one stove and we took a good look at the what was on it.

"What's that burned stuff?" Glenn asked.

"Skin. He cauterized the stump which is probably why he left the belt behind. He didn't need it." I said.

"Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl told us.

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick reminded him.

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap." Daryl said. We followed him to a busted window.

"He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn asked.

"Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving." Daryl said moving away from the window. On the ledge of the window were bloody rags and broken glass, but I couldn't see any other sign of Merle.

"You call that surviving? Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?" T-Dog asked him.

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks. You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard." Daryl said getting in Rick's face.

"What about 1,000 dead dumb bastards?" Rick asked him. "Different story?"

"Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." Daryl said going for the window only to have Rick stop him.

"Daryl, wait." Rick told him.

"Get your hands off me! You can't stop me." Daryl said as Glenn tried to quiet him.

"I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." Rick told him.

"He's right you know." I told him bringing his blue-green eyes to my gray. "You won't survive the Walkers alone and angry and you can't find your brother dead. Think you can manage to remain calm for the rest of the trip? If not for you and your brother then for the rest of us. I want to get back to my family alive and not wanting to eat them."

"I could do that." Daryl agreed after a while.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-Dog asked us and I smiled at him.

"That we can do." I told him.


At camp the rest of the group walked to Jim who was still digging holes.

"Hey, Jim. Jim, why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please." Shane asked him.

"What do you want?" Jim asked him finally stopping his actions.

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all." Shane told him.

"Dale says you've been out here for hours." Morales said

"So?" Jim asked.

"So why are you digging? Are you heading to China, Jim?" Shane joked.

"What does it matter? I'm not hurting anyone." Jim said as he started the digging again.

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today. You can't keep this up." Dale told him.

"Sure I can. Watch me." Jim told him.

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will." Lori said moving forward. "You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter."

"They got nothing to be scared of." He told her moti9ning to the two kids with Carol. "I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?"

"We think that you need to take a break, okay?" Shane asked. Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what… maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?"

"Or what?" Jim asked him stopping his digging again.

"There is no or what." Shane told him. "I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you."

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?" Jim asked Shane and the former cop looked fown in shame. "Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it. He's probably only alive cause Jack pushed you away from him. See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you." Jim said picking up his digging again.

"That was different, Jim." Shane said in a warning tone.

"You weren't there." Any said coming to the man's defense. "Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife."

"That is their marriage. That is not his." He said getting out of the hole he'd dig. "He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, all right? Just give me the shovel, okay?" Shane asked him going for the shovel.

"No, no, no." Jim refused holding the shovel away from him.

"Just give me the… Jim!" Shane moved to take the shovel again but Jim pushed him back and tried to hit him with hit. Shane tackled him to the ground and tried to calm him down. "Okay, shh shh."

"You got no right!" Jim shouted at him.

"Stop. Shh." Shane said calmly.

"You got no right!" Jim repeated as Shane started putting his hands behind his back as though he was going to cuff him.

"Jim, just stop it. Hey hey hey hey." Shane said.

"Don't!" Jim ordered.

"Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?" Shane asked him as he cuffed him.

"That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family." He told the group and they looked at him mortified.


"You're not doing this alone." Rick told Glenn after he told us his plan.

"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl told him.

"It's a good idea." Glenn insisted.

"And how's that?" I asked him.

"If you just hear me out. If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast." He said drawing a map of the street on the ground and marking the tank and the bag of guns. "Look. That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Jackie and I will go. "

"Why us?" Daryl asked him.

"Your crossbow is quieter than his gun and she goes for her knife first gun second." Glenn told him before continuing telling us his plan. "While Daryl waits here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"You got us elsewhere?" Rick asked him.

"You and T-Dog, right. You'll be in this alley here." Glenn said using an eraser to show their position.

"Two blocks away? Why?" Rick asked him.

"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Jackie. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here." Glenn said.

"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl asked him.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn asked him. Rick looked from Glenn to Daryl and I nodding his head slightly. Daryl just looked down to the ground and I nodded my head. He was right, alone he would be faster.


Glenn, Daryl and I crawled down the ladder and run down the alley to hide behind a dumpster as Daryl loaded his crossbow.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman." Daryl told him.

"I'm Korean." Glenn corrected him.

"Whatever." Daryl said as Glenn went into the street to get the guns. We knelt down between some trashcans and waited for Glenn to come running back. While we were waiting we heard footsteps coming our way. Daryl looked at me and I pulled out my knife before we jumped out and saw a young Mexican.

"Whoa, don't shoot me! What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm looking for my brother. He's hurt real bad. You seen him?" Daryl asked him.

"Ayúdame!" he suddenly shouted out.

"Shut up! You're gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me." Daryl ordered him. The boy was silent for a moment. "Answer me."

"Ayúdame! Ayúdame! Ayúdame!" The boy called out again before Daryl hit him with his crossbow and I knocked his legs out from under him. Daryl pointed his weapon at the boy again. "Help! Help!" I knelt down and covered his mouth with my hand and put my knife to his throat.

"That's enough kid. I don't feel like dying today, do you?" I asked him and he quieted down. Suddenly two other Mexicans came running down the alley and kicked us off him before they started beating on Daryl with a metal pipe as the fatter one held me back from doing anything. I stomped on the fatter one's foot but all that did was make him bend the two of us slightly.

"That's it. That's the bag, Vato. Take it! Take it!" One of them yelled. They stopped beating on Daryl as the fatter one let go of me. The fatter one ran after Glenn and they started beating on him. I ran to them and kicked the thin on in the gut before pushing him into the fat one. Daryl shot a bolt into the fat one's ass and the man cried out in pain as I kept the thin one away from Glenn. He used the metal bat and knocked me in the head before grabbing Glenn.

"Get off me! Get off me! Daryl! Jackie!" Glenn cried out as a car pulled up and they started going for it. I got up off the ground and immediately went for them only stopping to kill the Walkers around me. They were in the car and pulled away before Daryl and I could get to them and Daryl grabbed my arm pulling me back into the safety of the alley.

"Come back here, you sumbitches!" Daryl called out to them. He quickly closed the gate on the alley as Walkers tried to get in and get us. The boy they'd left behind had started to get up and Daryl immediately went to him and shoved him into the wall as Rick and T-Dog ran up to us.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Stop it." Rick ordered getting between the two men. I went up to Rick and Daryl and held the hunter back from the kid as Rick held his place between the two.

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!" Daryl shouted at the kid as I pushed him back closer to the Walkers but not close enough to get scratched.

"Let me go." The kid ordered T-Dog.

"Chill out." T-Dog said shoving him back against the wall again.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"They took Glenn and hurt Jackie. That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends. I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl shouted to the kid.

"Stop! We're going to get him back!" I told him. He looked down at my face and what anger was in him only grew as he tried to get past me to the kid.

"Guys! Guys! We're cut off!" T-Dog noted pointing to the Walkers behind Daryl and me.

"Get to the lab. Go." Rick ordered and T-Dog took the kid and ran as Rick went for the bag of guns.

"Come on. Damn, let's go." Daryl said. Rick thought about it for a second before grabbing his hat and we all ran back into the building.


Back at camp, Jim was tied to a tree to protect him from hurting anyone or himself. Shane, James and Dale came up to him with the water bucket as the kids and their mothers did some school work they had managed to keep around with them.

"Jim, take some water?" Shane asked him.

"All right." Jim agreed.

"Yeah? All right. Here you go, bud." Shane gave Jim a nice long drink of the cool water.

"Pour some on my head?" Jim asked him.

"Yeah." Shane agreed as Morales walked up to them, grabbed a rock and left. "Cooling you down, huh?"

"Yeah. How long you gonna keep me like this?" Jim asked him.

"Well, yeah. Until I don't think that you're a danger to yourself or others." Shane told him and Jim looked at the two kids for a while.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and your little girl." Jim called to the mothers.

"You had sunstroke. Nobody's blaming you." Lori told him kindly.

"You're not scared now, are you?" he asked the kids.

"No sir." Sophia told him and he continued watching them as the men watched him.

"Your mama's right. Sun just cooked my head is all." Jim told Carl.

"Jim, do you know why you were digging? Can you say?" Dale asked him.

"I had a reason. Don't remember. Something I dreamt last night. Your dad was in it. You were too. You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest." Jim told them.

"You were doing all that digging cause of a dream?" James asked him like he couldn't believe his ears.

"You worried about your dad?" Jim asked Carl.

"They're not back yet." Carl revealed.

"We don't need to talk about that." Lori said rubbing her son's back in comfort.

"Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all. That man, he is tough as nails. I don't know him well but… I could see it in him. Am I right?" Jim asked Shane.

"Oh yeah." Shane agreed with him.

"There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that." Jim told him and Lori smiled slightly before looking back down at the paper in front of her.

"All right." Shane said taking the water bucket. "Who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?"

"Sweet. Come on, Sophia." Carl said and they both ran after Shane with Dale trailing after them.

"Stay with Carol, all right?" Lori called to Carl and Carol got up to go with them before the brunette approached Jim. She was about to say something to him when he turned his head to her with a dead serious look on his face, shocking her.

"You keep your boy close. You don't ever let him out of your sight." Jim told her. She nodded in agreement and he turned his head to the surrounding woods before she left to go help clean the fish with the kids. "Your sister's coming back for you and your dad. You must all look out for each other, now more than ever." James stared at Jim before going to join his father on watch. With Ed down they were short a man and Daryl, Rick, T-Dog and Jackie being in Atlanta didn't help.


"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went." Rick told the kid once we were back in the lab, Glenn's drawing of the city still on the floor with his markers.

"I ain't telling you nothing." The kid told us and I rolled my eyes.

"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked us.

"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us." Daryl said as he fixed my head up. When I was hit with the bat I hadn't noticed it cut into me until Daryl told me to sit and started to dig in my bag to wrap me up.

"Man, you're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault." The kid told them.

"If you hadn't been screaming we wouldn't have jumped you." I told him.

"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." Daryl said as he started pacing in front of the kid who just chuckled at him.

"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." The kid said. Daryl went to kick the kid in the head, but Rick held him back before pushing him away from the boy.

"Damn it, Daryl. Back off." Rick told him. Daryl went to the food pack we'd left here and pulled out the rag with Merle's hand in it.

"Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl unwrapped the hand and tossed it in the kids lap. It took him a few seconds to realize what it was before freaking out and backing away from us. "Start with the feet this time." Daryl said holding the boy's shoulders to the wall before Rick pulled him off the kid.

"The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them; see if we can work something out." Rick told the kid. He stared at us before nodding his head slightly.


We followed the kid to where he said his crew was hiding from the Walkers.

"You sure you're up for this?" Rick asked T-Dog.

"Yeah." T-Dog nodded.

"Okay." Rick said. T-Dog took a gun that had been in the bag and the bag and left us for his position.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know." Daryl warned the kid.

"Then your princess is gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." The kid told him and I laughed slightly at his stupidity.

"No she won't. She'll shove it right back in your ass." I said getting my gun and knife ready.

"G's gonna have fun breaking you." He said and Rick looked at him confused.

"No man has ever broken me kid, and none ever will." I said.

"G?" Rick asked him.

"Guillermo. He the man here." The kid answered the unasked question.

"Okay then. Let's go see Guillermo." Rick said cocking his gun and standing up. We followed him up to the building, my blade at the kids throat, as the doors opened up and one man walked out.

"You okay, little man?" he asked the kid.

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal." The kid told him.

"Cops do that?" Guillermo asked Rick.

"Not him. This redneck puto here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me." The kid said.

"Shut up." Daryl warned him and the fat man from earlier came out pointing his gun at Daryl.

"Hey, that's that Vato right there, homes. He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?" the fat man asked.

"Chill, ese, chill. Chill. This true? He wants Miguelito's feet and the woman wants to slice his throat? That's pretty sick, man." Guillermo said to Rick.

"My blade's only here to make sure everything goes nice and smoothly." I told him.

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." Rick told him.

"That hillbilly and his woman jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet and his throat, Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me." Guillermo said.

"Heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides." Rick said.

"Who's that dude to you anyway? You don't look related." He said looking at all of us.

"He's one of our group, more or less. I'm sure you have a few like him." Rick said.

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asked him.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys. But I've got Asian. You interested?" Guillermo asked us.

"I have one of yours, you have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade." Rick told him.

"Don't sound even to me." He told us.

"G. Come on, man." The kid begged.

"My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?" he asked us.

"Guns?" Rick asked him.

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns." He explained.

"You're mistaken." Rick told him.

"I don't think so." Guillermo denied.

"About it being yours. It's my bag of guns." Rick told him.

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word? What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" Guillermo asked him.

"You could do that. Or not." Rick said looking to where T-Dog was. Guillermo followed his gaze before looking back at Rick.

"Oye." On the roof two men held a man between the two of them with a bag on his head. They ripped the bag off to reveal Glenn with his mouth duck taped and hands tied behind his back. "I see two options. You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." He looked to T-Dog before looking us up and down before he and his crew walked back into the warehouse.


Back at our building, Rick unzipped the bag of guns and started to divide them up.

"Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You're gonna give that up for that kid?" Daryl asked Rick.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" T-Dog asked as I started helping Rick.

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel asked him.

"Are you a part of this? You want to hold onto your teeth?" Daryl asked slapping him.

"You not stopping him from hurting the kid?" Rick asked me quietly.

"He's not killing him." I stated and he shook his head at me.

"Question is, do you trust that man's word?" T-Dog asked us.

"No, question is what are you willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be your lives. Glenn worth that to you?" Daryl asked us.

"What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I." Rick told them. I felt their eyes on me and I sighed.

"Leave no man behind, right?" I asked looking at Daryl. "I said we'd get him back and I plan on doing just that."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?" Daryl asked.

"We didn't say that. There's nothing keeping you two here. You should get out, head back to camp." Rick told the other two boys.

"And tell your families what?" T-Dog asked him. Rick and I stared at the two boys and they started helping us with the guns.

"Come on, this is nuts." Miguel said. Daryl just pointed at him and he sat back down. "Just do like G says." He begged us as we loaded up


When we went back to their hideout Miguel had his hands tied behind his back and was gagged. He walked with Daryl pointing a gun at back as the rest of walked with him. The doors were opened for us and Daryl pushed the kid in and we followed the two inside only to be surrounded by Guillermo and his group.

"I see my guns but they're not all in the bag." Guillermo said motioning to the guns we held.

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Rick said to him.

"Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese. All right? Unload on their asses, ese." Felipe told him.

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo said looking at all of us.

"No, I'm pretty clear." Rick said before lowering his gun. He pulled out a knife and cut Miguel free and pushed him to Guillermo. "You have your man. I want mine."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?" Guillermo asked him while getting in his face. There seemed to be something close to desperation on the mans face.

"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded." Rick repeated cocking his gun causing everyone else who held a gun to do the same. "Okay then, we're here."

Suddenly, an old woman comes out from behind the group and shouts for Felipe.

"Felipe!" We heard a woman call out. "Felipe!" An old woman came up to the man.

"Abuela, go back with the others… now." Felipe told her.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl said as we watched her. No one wanted to open fire with her here.

"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay? This is the not the place for you right now." Guillermo told her.

"Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. MMichael didn't find it. He needs his medicine." She told Felipe.

"Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you." Guillermo told him.

"¡Abuela! Ven conmigo por favor." He asked her trying to take her out of the area.

"Who are those people?" She asked coming up to us.

"Por favor, ven conmigo." Felipe asked her but she just walked up to Rick.

"Don't you take him." She told him and he lowered his gun.

"Ma'am?" Rick asked her.

"Felipe's a good boy. He has his trouble but he pulls himself together. We need him here." She told him.

"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick told her.

"Then what do you want him for?" She asked him.

"He's… Helping us find a missing person. Fella named Glenn." Rick lied trying to get her to leave.

"The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. Come, I'll show you." She took his hand in her's and stayed leading him past Guillermo. "He needs his medicine."

"Let 'em pass." Guillermo ordered and his crew let us past them. We followed the woman outside and into a run down building. We walked in and looked around at the elderly in every room.

"Abuela, por favor. Take me to him." Felipe told her and he followed her. We continued following them looking in the rooms, seeing the elderly being taken care of by the young. We walked into the gymnasium where we found an elderly man having trouble breathing. Glenn was closer by and watched as Felipe helped the man.

"All right. All right. Nice and easy. Just breathe. Just breathe. Just let it out. Just breathe. Just relax." Felipe told the old man.

"What the hell is this?" Rick asked him.

"An asthma attack. Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden." Glenn told us.

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog told him. he turned to look behind him and we followed his gaze to see three little Chihuahuas.

"Got them from Satan?" I asked Guillermo.

"I did say at a yard sale." He told me and I nodded

"Jackie?" I heard from behind me. I turned to see who called for me only to be shocked at who it was.

"Michael?" I walked up to the blonde man and gave him a huge hug. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Last I checked I worked here." He told me with a grin his blue eyes shinning with joy. "You?"

"Rescue mission of sorts." I told him and he motioned to the others and I saw them staring at us. "Guys this is my old friend Michael. Michael this is Daryl, Rick and T-Dog." I introduced. They all gave their respective hellos before Rick turned to Guillermo.

"Could I have a word with you? You're the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met. We walked in there ready to kill every last one of you." Rick said pulling the other leader away from the large group surrounding the old man.

"Well, I'm glad it didn't go down that way." Guillermo told him.

"If it had, that blood would be on my hands." Rick said.

"Mine too. We'd have fought back. Wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food, the medicine… what's left of it. These people, the old ones… the staff took off, just left 'em here to die. Me Michael and Felipe were the only ones who stayed." Guillermo said.

"What are you, doctors?" Rick asked him.

"Michael is. Felipe's a nurse… a special care provider. Me, I'm the custodian." Guillermo said. We followed him and Michael into the office area.

"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked them.

"The Vatos trickle in to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind… plunderers, the kind that take by force." Guillermo told him.

"That's not who we are." Rick said.

"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage… appearances." Guillermo explained.

"Guess the world changed." T-Dog said relaxing in a chair.

"No. It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The Vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here, they all look to me now. I don't even know why." Guillermo said.

"Because they can." Rick told him simply. Rick stared down at the gun in his hands before handing it to Guillermo. Rick then proceeded to divvy the guns up between the two groups.

"Mind if I come with yall?" Michael asked us. "I think it's time for a change in venue."

"Can you camp?" I asked him.

"With the best of them." I looked to the others and didn't see anyone objecting.

"Sure. Why not." I said and he smiled at me. "Get your shit together and quickly."


Once Michael came back with his pack we all left the nursing home to get back to the van before dark.

"Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Glenn asked Rick.

"Don't tell anybody." Rick told him.

"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl said.

"Not nearly half." Rick said.

"For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?" Daryl asked him.

"How long do any of us?" Rick asked him.

"They have longer than we do if we don't leave this city." Michael said. We came to the spot where we parked the van only to find it missing.

"Oh my God." Glenn said in shock.

"What?" Michael asked us.

"We drove to town in a van and now..." i broke off my obvious sentence.

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl asked.

"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn asked.

"Merle." Rick said.

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl warned us.

"Who's Merle and why is he wanting vengeance on your camp?" Michael asked me as we ran.

"He was who we came to get originally. We left him behind yesterday and he doesn't know we came back for him today." I told him. We ran as fast as we could as the day turned to night around us.


Back at camp, everyone was blissfully enjoying the fish unaware of the possible danger they were in from Merle.

"Pass the fish, please." Sophia asked politely.

"Here you go." Carol said handing her daughter some fish.

"Man o man, that's good. I miss this." Jack said remembering the last time his late wife had cooked fresh fish for his family.

"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." Morales said to Dale suddenly.

"What?" Dale asked him with a smile on his face.

"That watch." Morales said drawing everyone attention to the small device.

"What's wrong with my watch?" Dale asked him.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass." Morales said.

"I've wondered this myself." Jacqui said.

"I'm missing the point." Dale told them.

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while." Jacqui said.

"But there's you every day winding that stupid watch." Morales chimed in.

"Time… it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here. I like… I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it."" Dale told them and they were all silent pondering his words.

"You are so weird." Amy said and everyone laughed.

"It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Dale told her. Amy then got up from the fire drawing her sisters attention.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked her.

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here…" Amy said before walking away making everyone laugh once more.

"I remember when Mel, my wife, would cook something the kids and I had just brought in." Jack said staring into the fire. "She hated touching them so she'd tell James or me to clean them while Jackie was to clean herself up and get ready to cook them. Let me tell you my daughter can argue like crazy. She'd always refuse and deny before doing what she was told. Mel always said that when it came down to it our girl would survive on stubbornness alone and that any man who w wanted to be with her would have his hands full. We'd have this conversion everytime we brought in something fresh gor her to cook.

"Looks like your wife was right." Shane said remembering the fight earlier in the day with the woman.

"She can be a lot worse." James said with a smile. "There was this guy onfe, her oldest friend, wanted to go out with her. Everytime he came over she told him no or she'd refuse to say anything to him for a month. Eventually she started talking to him again."

"Why she say no?" Lori asked.

"She denies this but I think she wanted someone who could survive anything." James said. "After that the poor guy started doing survival classes, hunting classes, shit like that."

"And she still turned him down?" Andrea asked and he nodded with a smile on his face.

"She's like every other girl out there. Looking for Mr. Right." Lori said.

"We're out of toilet paper?" Amy called out before she suddenly screamed in pain. Everyone looked back to see her being bitten by a Walker. That was when the chaos stayed. Some people pulled out guns, bats, anything and everything they could to kill the Walkers while others ran away screaming.


Nearby, Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, Daryl, Michael and heared the gunshots and we oaused in our running.

"Oh my God." Rick said.

"Go! Go!" Glenn shouted and we ran even faster than before.


Back at camp, families did their best to stay together. Jim picked up a baseball bat and crushes a Walker's skull with it, Dale picked up his rifle, Shane covered Lori and Carl, Andrea ran to Amy with Jim behind her while Jack and James protected Carol and Sophia.

"I'm right here. Shane, what do we do? Shane?" Lori called to the man.

"Follow me!" Shane told her. The Walker that had attacked Amy took a bite out of her neck as Andrea ran to her screaming. Jim killed the Walker that attacked Amy and Andrea knelt over her sister.

"No! No! Oh God! Oh my God!" Andrea said.

"Help me." Amy begged her.

"Oh God, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Andrea told her.

"Come on. Come on, stay close." Shane told Lori and Carl behind him.

"Carol!" Lori called out to the woman and the father and son brought the mother and daughter closer to them.

"Stay close!" Shane told the two men as they protected the mothers and their children. "Come on, y'all! Work your way up here!"

"Right in front of you. Shane!" Shane killed the Walker that Lori pointed out to him.

"Get to the RV! Go!" Jack yelled at the people close to him.

"Shane! Shane!" Lori said worried.

"Stay with me. Stay behind me. Morales, work up here!" Shane called to him. "Come on, make your way to the Winnebago!" At that moment, Rick, T-Dog, Daryl, Glenn, Michael and I ran into what was left of the camp and shot any Walker we saw using the guns we had in our hands. When the fight was over we made our way to what remand of our group by the RV.

"Baby!" Rick called out as my dad, brother and I checked each other over.

"Dad!" Carl called running to his dad crying.

"Carl!" Rick knelt down and held his son to him before standing with him in his arms and walking to Lori. The survivors from the fight came to us and stayed on the lookout for more of the dead to attack. We all turn need and looked at Andrea crying over Amy. Parents his their children's faces and we watched the morbid scene in front of us.

"I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes." Jim said and we all looked to see the gruesome scene of our once peaceful camp.