I was sitting on top of the RV with Dale looking out into the forest. James had argued with me on him going to the farm but in the end he left with the others. Michael had avoided me since I handed down the final word, but that didn't matter. They were safe and helping with Carl and T-Dog.

"I'm going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her something to look at." Daryl called up to Dale and me when he stepped out of the RV.

"You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked him.

"I'm going to. Keep an eye on James for me Dale." I told him getting off the RV and following Daryl into the forest.


Michael, James, T-Dog, and Glenn drove up to the farm with T-Dog shivering.

"So do we ring the bell? I mean it looks like people live here." Glenn said.

"We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we?" T-Dog asked him. "Having to be considerate."

"We are still human, aren't we?" Michael asked him.

"Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" the girl who took Lori asked them sitting in a chair in the darkness next to a door.

"Uh, hi. Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything." Glenn told her as she sat up revealing her face. "Hello. Nice to see you again. We met before briefly."

"Look, we came to help. There anything we can do?" T-Dog asked her. She opened her mouth to say something when she saw the cut on his arm.

"It's not a bite." Michael told her.

"I cut myself pretty bad though." T-Dog said.

"We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here." She told him.

"We have some painkillers and antibiotics. I already gave him some. If Carl needs any." Glenn told her holding out the pill bottles to her.

"Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat." She told them and they all went inside to where the Grimes family was,

"Hey." Glenn said after taking off his cap.

"Hey." Rick greeted as an older man moved away from Carl's side.

"Um, we're here, okay?" Glenn asked them.

"Thank you." Lori said playing with her necklace

"Whatever you need." T-Dog told them before Glenn, T-Dog, and James left the room.

"I'm a doctor, may I look at him?" Michael asked the man. He nodded and removed the blankets from Carl's abdomen and saw the full extent of the gunshot wound. "This is good work. I'm Michael."

"Hershel."

"They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make." Hershel told Rick and Lori.

"And that is?" Rick asked him.

"Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator." He told them.

"You said that wouldn't work." Lori reminded him.

"I know." Hershel said.

"It's extremely unlikely. But Hershel's right, we can't wait much longer." Michael confirmed.


"You really think we're gonna find Sophia and my dad?" I asked Daryl as we looked through the woods.

"You got that look on your face same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking." Daryl reminded me.

"I don't mean… I just mean it's a large forest." I told her.

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It happens all the time." He told me.

"She's only 12 with no survival training." I reminded him.

"Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak." He told me.

"They found you?" I asked him, but I somehow doubted that.

"My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched something awful." He told me and I failed to hold back my laughter.

"I'm sorry. That is a horrible story." I told him before we both started laughing.

"Only difference is Sophia and your dad's got people looking for them. I call that an advantage." He told me.

"Thank you." I told him smiling.


Suddenly Carl started coughing and his parents quickly rushed into the room where Hershel and Michael were standing next to his bed.

"Where are we?" Carl asked freaking out slightly.

"Hey, little man. That's Hershel. We're in his house. You had an accident. All right?" Rick asked him softly.

"It hurts, a lot." Carl said panting slightly.

"Oh baby, I know. I know." Lori told him trying to comfort him.

"You should have seen it." Carl said softly.

"What?" Lori asked him.

"The deer. It was so pretty, mom. It was so close. I've never been..." Carl said before stopping everything and just staring ahead of him.

"Carl?" Rick called to him.

"What is happening?" Lori asked right before Carl suddenly started shaking violently.

"Don't. It's a seizure. If you hold him down, you could hurt him." Hershel told them.

"You can't stop it?" Lori asked him.

"He has to just go through it." Michael told her as they turned Carl on his side. They all watched as Carl seized, Lori sobbing in her husband's arms. Once he stopped Hershel and Michael instantly were by his side checking him over.

"His brain isn't getting enough blood. His pressure is bottoming. He needs another transfusion." Michael said.

"Okay, I'm ready." Rick said getting his arm ready.

"If I take any more out of you your body could shut down. You could go into a coma." Hershel told him.

"Or cardiac arrest." Michael added.

"You're wasting time." Rick told him.

"I'm O–." Michael told them. "Use me." They set up the transfusion and let it work.


Daryl and I were combing he woods when we heard some rustling in the trees. We walked until we found a Walker hung in the trees with his legs stripped of flesh.

"What the hell is a Walker doing in the trees?" I asked as it gagged trying to reach us.

""Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to sh1t. Might as well quit." Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swinging piece of bait. And a mess." He said and I made a face at the Walker. "You all right?"

"It just looks nasty." I told him. "Puke worthy."

"Go ahead if you gotta." He told me.

"No, I'm fine. Let's just talk about something else for a minute. How'd you learn to shoot?" I asked him.

"Gotta eat. That's one thing these Walkers and us have in common. I guess it's the closest he's been to food since he turned. Hanging up there like a big pinata. The other geeks came and ate all the flesh off his legs." He said and I bent over and vomited all over the ground.

"I thought we were changing the subject." I said giving him a glare.

"Call that payback for laughing about my itchy ass." He told me.

"You laughed too." I reminded him.

"Let's head back." He told me starting to walk away from the hanging Walker.

"Aren't you gonna kill him?" I asked him.

"No. He ain't hurting nobody. Ain't gonna waste an arrow either. He made his choice. Opted out. Let him hang." Daryl told me. "You still think we won't find you dad?" I gave him a look. "It's just a question."

"An answer for an arrow. Fair?" I asked him smiling. "I know we'll find my dad and Sophia. I'm just worried how they'll be when we find them." Daryl raised his crossbow and shot the Walker. "Thank you."

"Waste of an arrow." He said.

"Maybe, but you did a good thing." I said and we turned from him.

"Hey, we're going to find you dad and that little girl alive and hungry." He told me.


"He's still losing blood faster than we can replace it." Hershel said after a quick check on Carl.

"And with the swelling in his abdomen we can't wait any longer or he's just going to slip away." Michael said. "We need to know now if you want us to do this, because I think Carl is out of waiting time."

"You have to make a choice." Hershel said.

"A choice?" Lori asked him.

"A choice." Rick said turning to her. "You have to tell me what it is. You have to tell me what it is."

"We do it." Lori told them. Patricia brought in a silver tray tall enough to be easily reached by Hershel and Michael. They placed it close to Carl.

"Okay, get the corner of that bed. Let's get the sheets down." Hershel ordered and they all set to work doing what they were told. "Get the I.V. bag on the sheet. Okay, on three. One, two, three." They moved him over to what they were using as a surgical table as Patricia brought in a lamp and removed the shade.

"Rick, Lori, you need to step out." Michael ordered. They were about to step out when we heard a truck approaching.

"Oh God." Rick said as he looked out the curtain before rushing out.

"You stay here with him." Hershel ordered Patricia as he and Michael ran out of the room. Outside, Shane limped out of the truck with large bulky bags as everyone except Patricia poured out of the house.

"Carl?" he asked out of breathe.

"There's still a chance." Rick told him as Glenn and Michael took the bags.

"Otis?" Hershel asked him.

"No." Shane told him and the farming family stood silently for a moment.

"We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. We need her." Hershel ordered before everyone but Rick, Lori and Shane rushed into the house to get started on the operation.


Daryl and I made our way back to the RV to see Andrea walk out. She and Dale gave us a questioning look and I shook my head before following Daryl inside the RV.

"Carol." I called to her listening to her cry on the bed in the back. I climbed up in the bed with her and held her close as she cried into my shirt. I looked in the kitchen area and saw Daryl looking at me. I smiled at him before mouthing thank you. I knew my dad and Sophia would be found, but I was always worried about them being found dead. Talking helped more than I thought it would.


"He seems to have stabilized." Hershel told Rick and Lori when he and Michael stepped outside. They both sighed in happiness before hugging both doctors.

"Oh God." Rick said thankfully before letting go of Hershel.

"I don't have words." Lori said thankfully.

"I don't either." Hershel told her. "Wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?"

"You go to Carl with Michael." Rick told Lori. "I'll go with Hershel." They stepped inside to see Hershel and Rick breaking the news to Patricia before she broke down. Michael took Lori to Carl and she sat by his side sobbing. He saw her look to the door and followed her gaze to see her looking at Shane.

"Stay." She told the former cop. He walked out of the room and Michael sat down next to Carl.


Jack and Sophia ran from the small group of Walkers when Sophia dropped her doll. She started to go back for it, but he stopped her and picked her up before they continued running.