Alright- this episode has spoilers for Episode 6, Always Accountable, because Daryl's still MIA and Jamie and Carl run into some well-hated characters who did Daryl wrong. I think this chapter is realistic, as Carl and Jamie are pretty strong together, and outside the walls, with the element of surprise on their side- they can do some damage.

Please, PLEASE review- I really love ahny feedback you guys can give me, and these next few episodes have got me scheming... ;)

She didn't expect to find anything. Her Dad was too far out for them to reach on foot, and Enid was probably with the wolves- but she voiced none of her opinions.

It was why she was so surprised to find Daryul's bike lying on the ground, just outside a rundown double-sided trailer in the woods.

Childlike hope bubbled up between her ribs when she saw it- she was off and running towards the house, her father's name on her lips….

She was yanked backwards roughly, a hand clamped over her mouth as she was dragged backwards, kicking and struggling all the while.

"Hey- HEY!" Carl hissed, pulling her into a bear hug, frustrated by her struggling.

"Let me go! My Dad-"

"Shut up for two seconds!" the seriousness in Carl's voice made her hesitate for a brief second- he took that chance to speak.

"Somethings off here. Slow down for a second and feel it."

She did as she was told, stopping and listening. It was quiet.

"When has your Dad ever left his bike on the ground like that?"

He was right. Her Dad had never just dropped his bike into the leaves….

"Now stay quiet and we'll figure this out. Just… don't rush into things like just now. I know you miss your Dad- but something's wrong here."

She nodded hesitantly, pulling out her pistol.

Figuring out what was going on, as it turned out, meant army-crawling across the leaves and sitting beneath an open window, guns out and loaded, ears pressed to the siding.

Two voices drifted between the paper-thin walls, one male, one female.

"A couple cans of peaches. You find anything?"

"No."

Metal clicked as Jamie's hand began shaking. Carl was right- whoever the hell was in there, it wasn't her Dad.

She edged closer to the porch, tears clouding her vision, hands shaking. She listened to the footsteps get closer, closer, before the door swung open….

She lunged, attacking the first thing in sight. It was the woman- that much she could tell before she was on top of the screaming girl, punching.

The man behind the woman pulled a pistol with shaking hands, only to stop when he heard a gun cocking behind him.

"Drop it." Carl's voice, normally cool, was cold as steel, normally gentle blue eyes flinty. He could see by the man's stance, by the very way he was shaking, that he'd never used the gun on a person before. He used his experience to his advantage, putting the gun to the man's temple.

"Now."

The pistol hit the dirt, and the man stood, trembling, as Carl hurriedly collected the weapon.

Carl kept his gun on the man as he strode over to Jamie, grabbing her by the collar and pulling her off the woman.

He ignored the way his best friend hurled profanity like stones in protest, looking down at the woman curiously. She was skinny and dirty, mid-twenties, probably, with dark brown hair and eyes. Blood was trickling down her face from her nose, onto her lips….

"What do you want!?" The man bristled, obviously frustrated by being overtaken by two teenagers. He had hair that looked sandy, beneath a layer of dirt, his hazel eyes wide as he stared them down contemptuously.

"Where the fuck did you get that bike?" Jamie growled between clenched teeth. The man paled.

"I said where, dammit!" Jamie pinned the man to the siding, putting her pistol to his forehead. "You have three seconds to answer me!"

"A guy! We took it from a guy, okay!" The woman cried out from where she'd been lying on the ground, looking near tears.

Jamie whirled, the man instantly forgotten. Her eyes widened when she spotted something beneath the woman- it was Daryl's crossbow.

"Get up. Gimme the crossbow, now."

"You can't just leave us with no weapons!" the man protested. Carl shot the man a dangerous look, his own pistol still held at the ready.

Jamie fairly tore the crossbow from the woman's back, throwing it over her shoulder.

"You won't need weapons. Not where you're going." Jamie snarled.

The man's eyes widened as Jamie turned her gun on the woman.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me, p-please…." tears streamed down the woman's face, mingling with the blood on her lips.

Carl frowned. "Where did you get the bike and the crossbow?"

"We took them from a guy! We told you already…." the man cried out, fear mingling with the anger on his face. "Why are you doing this to us!?"

"The bike and the crossbow belonged to Jamie's Dad." Carl supplied, still eying the pair coldly.

"W-wait! We didn't kill him! We took his stuff, but we didn't kill your Daddy! We just left him, we were desperate…. We didn't kill your Daddy! So please… just leave us be." the woman pleaded, looking desperate. Jamie was still shaking with barely suppressed rage as she eyed the woman. Her judgement was skewed by emotion, and she was torn for a moment, wondering if she should kill them or not….

"Jamie. She isn't worth the bullet. C'mon." Carl motioned with his head towards the bike, gun still held at the ready. Jamie nodded, still shaking, though she stepped back slightly. She snarled in disgust at the pair, striding over to the bike while Carl kept his gun on them both.,

There was the purring of an engine as the bike started, and Jamie nodded to Carl.

"Y-you're just gonna leave us here with no weapons?" The woman asked. She had her arms crossed protectively over her chest, though she was looking thoroughly shaken….

Carl shot them a look that said they shouldn't have said anything.

"It's what you did to her Dad, isn't it?" there was a bite in his voice, a sharpness to his tone that relayed he was bitter at them for what they'd done to Daryl. "The bow and the bike aren't yours- they never were."

"M-my gun. I at least need my gun…." the man stuttered.

Carl tossed the man two bullets. "We'll leave your gun a mile down the road. There's your bullets." he swung his leg over the seat of the bike behind Jamie. "I'd say good luck, but damn, I hope you get eaten."

"Fucking scum." Jamie spat. Carl placed a hand on her shoulder, whispering something in her ear. She nodded, before the bike peeled out and they were gone.

They didn't say anything for awhile, the sound of the motorcycle engine the only noise. Carl squeezed her shoulder, and she hit the breaks. Only for the bike to topple over onto the side, pinning one of both their legs to the pavement.

After much profanity and scratches, they'd managed to get themselves free.

"Do you even know how to drive?" Carl demanded, frustrated.

"I know how to fucking drive, I just never had to stop the bike before! Dad always did that!" Jamie shot back sharply. Her eyes glassy eyes widened, lips parting, before a pitiful sound escaped her lips and she was sitting on the pavement, crying.

"Dad. I want my... D-dad. Where the fuck is he? Those punk-ass guys left him out there, he's p-probably d-dead…." she was choking on her own frustration, now, words tumbling out around her sobs.

Carl stopped for a moment, surprised, before he was crawling across the pavement, pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in his shirt and cried for all she was worth,k and he let her- wrapping his arms around her, he muttered soothing things while he looked around them, gun held behind her back in the hand draped over her shoulders, ready to dispatch anything that came to close.

"We shouldn't be out here." Carl admitted quietly, after the intensity of her sobbing had slowed down to the occasional sniffle.

"C-carl- I wanna go home." she admitted, looking up at him with blood-shot eyes.

Carl swallowed, realizing for the first time they were in over their heads. He nodded. "Me too, Jamie- I wanna head back too."

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