I watched as Amy carried a bucket over to where my Mom was sitting by the camp. "Any luck?" I asked, any small bit of food was worth it these days.

"How do we tell if they're poison?" She questioned back, looking at the mushrooms uncertainly. I frowned back at the bucket, none of us could risk getting sick in these conditions.

I shrugged to Amy as my Mom said she'd ask Shane. I decided to help Dale on watch, all of my chores were done for the day, unless Mom found something else for me to do.

"Hey kiddo," Dale grinned widely as I climbed onto the roof of the RV. "Boredom getting to you?"

"Big time," I sighed, plopping down on the roofs surface and stretching my legs out in front of me. "I just wish they were back already,"

"Yeah me too, but they will be, eventually," the older man reassured me as he held his binoculars in front of his eyes, as if hoping to see any sign of our friends from this height.

Six members of our group had taken it upon themselves to go on a run into the city a few days ago. It was almost as though I could see the worry start to creep through the camp for each hour we didn't hear from them.

I was worried for Glenn, he wasn't my family so to speak but he and I had become good friends since this world went to shit. I had given him a hug and made him promise me that he'd come back, "I always do," he grinned.

Glenn was carefree and seemed to see the positive side in everything, even in this world. He was a breath of fresh air to me since we gathered our group back at the beginning. Something that was hard to come by these days.

Amy had a sister out on that same run too, Andrea. I could see the worry lines increase in her face every time she glanced over the hilltop to the winding road leading up to our little camp. Almost as though she had tricked herself into hearing a car engine or a booted foot on gravel.

Daryl also had a brother out there but the Dixons kept to themselves, rather than share the time worrying with the rest of us Daryl preferred to spend his time hunting while Merle was away.

The rest of the camp gave the Dixons a wide berth but I figured out soon enough that they didn't bother anyone once no one bothered them. Well, Daryl didn't at least.

"Dale," I turned my head at my Moms call. "I'm heading out," I turned back to face the scenery we were looking down on when I heard her address my brother. "Sweetie, I want you to stay where Dale can see you, okay?"

"You too, don't wander too far, stay within shouting distance, and if you see anything, holler, I'll come running," Dale warned her before she walked away. I tried and failed to keep my eyes from rolling. Mom would be fine, there was no way she was gonna be on her own in those woods.

I felt my jaw clench at the thought of my Mom and Shane together. Sure Shane had helped us survive and taken us in when we had to abandon our homes but a simple thank you would have been sufficient in my book.

It made me scoff that my Mom actually thought I was clueless to the situation. I'll never forget the feeling of what I'm sure was a piece of my heart physically shattering when Shane had come to tell us that my Dad had passed away.

He was shot while out on duty with Shane awhile before everything went to shit, left in a coma. I had convinced myself that Shane would walk through the door supporting him. Dad weak but smiling at us none the less.

While we were all dealing with the grief in different ways I didn't think Mom would find comfort in jumping on Shane every chance she got.

"What's on your mind, Kiddo?" Dale asked, he had been watching me from the corner of his eye for a while now.

"Just thinking about Dad," I shrugged, not making eye contact. "I never actually believed that he'd be gone someday. He was always so tough."

"Your Dad would be proud of you, you're one of the toughest kids I've ever met," Dale smiled down at me as a grin spread across my face.

"He used to bring me to the station whenever I had a day off school when I was little, I used to sit at his desk and Shane and the others used to bring me all kinds of sweets. They'd tell me about whatever run they'd been out on, robbery, car chase, shooting. We'd go home and he'd always tell me to never tell Mom that I heard any of those stories cause she'd freak,"

I glanced up to Dale, he wasn't looking at me but he was grinning nonetheless. It was one of the first times I'd talked about Dad since he passed.

"I always thought he'd tell the guys to shut up whenever the stories got too violent but he never did, one day I actually told him that and he said he didn't mind cause he was always gonna protect me, that I'd never have to face anything like that as long as he was around." I felt my lip quiver slightly as I thought of my Dad smiling softly at me, his head tilted slightly and his hand on my shoulder. I swear if I closed my eyes and thought of it long enough I could still feel the hug he gave me right after saying all this.

"Sounds like you had him completely wrapped around your little finger," Dale smiled kindly. I laughed and nodded, that was definitely the words to describe mine and Dads relationship.

"Even during those horrible mid-teen years when I'd fight with him and Mom he'd always sneak into my room last thing at night to give me a hug and tell me it was all gonna be alright, that the fighting was all just part of it, that it'd never changed how much we loved each other,"

"You still have your Mom and your Brother, Nikki, be grateful of that," I nodded thoughtfully. It was rare that Dale ever used my proper name.

"Y'know it's funny I just automatically thought that if he died that I'd feel it, I'd know somehow, but there's nothing. Not gonna lie I'm slightly disappointed by it. I thought I'd feel him around or something like the movies but I dunno maybe it's just because death is so common around us now. It's literally walking with us."

Dale didn't say anything to this and in a way I appreciated the silence. Without saying anything I stood up and climbed down the ladder back to solid ground. Dale always managed to make conversations into therapy sessions or life lessons.

Carol, a timid woman with short grey hair was sat on a nearby camping chair, her daughter on her lap as they read a fairytale. Glenn had become accustomed to bringing the kids back books and whatever toys he came across while on his runs.

"Which is it?" I asked, Carol glancing up at me shyly.

"Cinderella, Sophia's favourite."

"Good choice, mine was always Beauty and the Beast,"

"My favourite was always The Little Mermaid," Amy joined, having overheard our conversation as she paced. I laughed, rolling my eyes, everyone knew that Amy had a fascination with mermaids. Something Merle, the eldest Dixon liked to scoff at. Daryl never said much but I could tell by his face he didn't care for the idea much.

"Amy, you're gonna make a trench across the camp if you keep going much longer," I teased as she continued her pacing.

"It's getting late, they should have been back by now,"

"Worrying isn't going to help," Dale called from the RV. As right as he was it was extremely difficult not to worry. How were we supposed to know if something happened?

I glanced over to see my Mom taking the freshly dry clothes down off of our makeshift washing line. Following her gaze I felt my jaw clench once more as my eyes met the sight of Shane teaching Carl how to tie strong knots with rope.

I should be happy that Carl had another man around to show him these things but I felt my blood begin to boil slightly at the thought of Shane jumping into my father's place as quick as he could. He could try all he wanted but they were shoes he could never fill.

Just as the thought came and left my mind I heard the static of the radio kick up, my head spinning to where it was kept on the top of the RV. Everyone jumped from the seats, hoping to hear a familiar voice.

I felt my heart begin to race when T-Dogs voice jutted from the machine, despite the bad signal a sense of dread flooded the camp at the words "trapped" and "geeks".

"T-Dog repeat that, please," Dale spoke through the radio as he fiddled with the dials, trying to get a clearer service. I felt a lump in my throat when the static continued to jump from the radio but there was no more from T-Dog or any of our friends.

"He said the department store," I heard Mom mentioning. Every scenario possible was running through my head. They had to make it back.

I looked towards Shane "We can't leave them out there," My hands were shaking but my voice was steady.

"No," Shane cut me off almost immediately. "We do not go after them, we do not risk the rest of the group, ya'll know that."

"So we're just gonna leave her there?" Amy piped up, I could hear the anger in her voice.

"Look Amy I know this isn't easy," Shane started forward, rubbing the back of his neck. My eyes narrowed at him as I felt my blood starting to boil again.

"They all went out there to help us?" I was aware of my voice raising and the stern glance my Mom shot in my direction but right now I was ignoring her.

"I know," Shane turned towards me, he was putting on a voice of trained sympathy, one I didn't appreciate right now. "And they all knew the risks, right? So if they're trapped, they're gone, so we just have to deal with that, there's nothing we can do,"

"She's my sister!" Amy was now standing beside me, fire burning in her eyes as she looked up at Shane, her jaw set. "You son of a bitch."

I didn't break my eye contact with Shane as Amy ran towards the tent she shared with Andrea.

"You don't talk me down like I'm a kid you're trying to patronize." I told him firmly, making myself as tall as possible. "And we don't leave people to die when we don't even know the circumstances they're in."

"They're trapped Nikki, if we go out there we all get killed!" Shanes' voice was now starting to rise.

I opened my mouth to retaliate but Dale cut across me. "Now maybe we aughta think this through before we act on anything, it's not a nice situation to be in, making these decisions,"

Making sure to give Shane the dirtiest look I could manage I turned on my heel and stalked away from the group of people that we shared a camp with. The group of people who were supposed to protect each other.

I could feel the angry tears stinging at my eyes as I thought of Glenn and the others trapped by the walkers. They had to make it back.

Amidst the desperation to see my friends again there was deep anger for Shane. Dad would never leave a man behind. You protect who you can, that's what Carl and I grew up knowing.

Shane didn't have the guts to be leader of this group and people needed to start realizing it.