We fooled yourselves again into thinking we could stay somewhere permanently. I thought sadly as I watched the building burn.

Everything is gone. All of our friends. Somebody attacked us…

"Thanks, Colleen." I waved at her in the kitchen as I dropped off a few things.

It's been pretty nice here. We haven't had any trouble and things are pretty easy going with the people.

"Hey!" I heard a voice say. It was grumpy old Mr. Renolds. My shoulders slumped. Most of the people are pretty easy going. "You need to put that damn mutt on a leash!" He yelled at me.

I looked down at Jax who was calmly sitting there. "He ain't hurtin' nobody."

"Yeah, not right now but he will!"

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and walked away. "Come on, boy." I gave Mr. Renolds the finger when I walked by.

"Why, you little…

I laughed while walking away.

Daryl and I haven't had to do anything yet. Abner said we're still new comers and we'll get a job eventually. I'm going to have to talk to him about that, I think we have been here long enough to start pulling our own weight. Daryl did go out a few times, though, I stayed back involuntarily to keep the complex safe.

"Our crew is just too banged up." I heard a voice say as I was walking back to the room. I peeked in from around the corner. It was Allen, he was talking to Abner.

Anber sighed. "We're running out of things fast. We need these regenerators or we'll run out of power soon."

"We almost died last time." Allen said. His arm was in a sling.

"There has to be someone else who can go."

"I'll let you know if I find anyone." Allen said putting a hand on Abner's shoulder, then walking away.

This is a great opportunity. I thought

"Abner, hey, good mornin'." I smiled.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, Leann." He smiled. "Good morning to you also."

"Hey, um…everythang okay?" I pointed at Allen, who was now down the hall, with my thumb.

He sighed. "Not really, no."

"What's goin' on?"

"It's my run crew. They're all pretty injured from the last quest they went on. They're not able to go get the things we need and they're important right now."

"Daryl and I could go." I volunteered.

"No, I couldn't do that."

"It's totally fine, it's about time we start helpin' out anyway."

"The two of you can't go alone, and we don't have anyone else that can."

I almost laughed. "We can handle it. Trust me. We's been out there for a long time and before that, too." Abner looked like he was thinking. "Just let us help, just this one time, okay?" I finished.

"Well…"

Daryl was sitting outside of the room cleaning his crossbow when I got back. He looked up when he saw me.

"Hey, what took ya so long?"

"I got lost." I said.

He snorted. "We been here for a month and ya still don't know yer way around?"

"I was jokin'."

I dodged the dirty rag that he threw at me.

"So, listen…guess what we're doin' today?"

"Hmm?" He said without looking at me.

"Goin' on a very important run."

"Yeah, and why's that?"

"This place needs regenerators or we'll lose power, and I thought—"

"No, that's not what I meant." Daryl finally looked at me. "Why don't he just get his "buddies" to do it?"

"They's hurt." I blurted out. "I'm not sure what happened, but they all almost died on their last run."

"So he wants us to do it?"

"Well, kinda…I said we'd do it. I volunteered."

Daryl let out a little laugh. "I ain't surprised."

"Well it's the least we could do. We ain't been doin' anythang else."

"I ain't complainin'." Daryl said standing up. "When we supposed to go?"

"Like now, I guess."

"Alright, get yer stuff, do what ya need to do. Be ready in five minutes."

I nodded and went off to get my supplies.

"Oh, and bring Jax." My brother said.

"Where are we 'posed to turn?" I asked.

"Yer the one with the map."

I gave Daryl an annoyed look.

"You wanted to be the navigator."

"Yeah, well I didn't know bein' the trusty co-pilot was so confusin'."

"Sometimes I don't even know what the hell yer sayin'."

I rolled my eyes at him and sighed, looking back down at the map. "Okay, right up here." I pointed. "Turn left."

Daryl obliged.

"No wait, that ain't right."

Daryl slammed on the brakes and grabbed the map off me.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"If you wanna be the navigator then learn to navigate." He snapped. He was looking down at the map now. "We're supposed to go south." He followed the road with his finger. "This is right…no it ain't."

I laughed loudly. "Ain't so easy, is it?"

"Alright, it looks like we're supposed to go right." Daryl turned around and made a right instead of a left.

"Follow this route here." He showed me on the map then threw it at me.

"Rude." I said. I picked the map up upside down. "Hey…it's a lot easier to read this way!"

Daryl snorted.

"I see now. Just keep goin' straight and then we sorta bare off to the right, after that we're gonna make another right then a left. Then, we go straight from there until we get into the city." I said confidently.

"I'll take your word for it."

My directions were correct so far. I was proud of myself.

"That upside down technique works pretty well."

"Whatever works." Daryl said. "But on the way back, don't forget to turn it back around."

"Oh yeah." I laughed. "That would be bad."

"How much longer?"

"About five miles maybe, more or less."

Daryl just nodded.

We finally arrived where we needed to be.

"Which one of these buildin's do we need?"

"Um, Abner couldn't remember the name but he said it's tan and the tallest buildin' in the city. Should be next to a hospital."

"Great." Daryl raised his eyebrows.

Daryl drove us around a little more.

"That has to be it!" I pointed at one of the buildings. "Yeah cuz there's the hospital."

"Yup." Daryl said. "Imma park here. We can walk."

I grabbed my bag and hopped out of the truck. There was a walker coming down as we were going up.

"I got it." I said. I pulled out my knife and took care of it.

"Whoa!" I said. "Look how tall that buildin' is! You cain't even see the top of it!"

I heard Daryl laughing at me.

"Now that's a skyscraper." I said.

"Ya done? Can we get back to the regenerators now?"

"Screw you." I said.

Daryl got out a crowbar and pried the door open. We made sure it was safe before going in. I went left he went right. Jax came with me, he always comes with me.

"Clear." I said.

Daryl nodded from his side too.

"My guess is they would be in the basement." I said. We looked around for a sign and/or a doorway.

"Over here." Daryl called. I went over to join him.

"Has to be the basement." Daryl said. I tried the door, but it was locked.

"Stand back." Daryl used his handy crowbar again. Once the door was open, I shined my flashlight down the stairs but I couldn't see anything. It was pitch black.

"So, this is the basement." I said. I turned to face Daryl. "I'll give ya a dollar if ya go first." He made a noise through his teeth and went around me, making his way down the stairs. I followed suit. "Just kiddin'." I said quietly. He seemed like he was getting annoyed. "Come on, Jax."

"Do ya have any idea what these thangs even look like?" Daryl said reaching the bottom of the stairs.

"Well it's like a little black box." I shined my light around. "I'll be able to know if I see 'em."

"There are boxes everywhere." Daryl said. "How are we gon' find 'em?"

"Better start openin' boxes." I sighed.

Just then, we heard a bump. It happened again. We looked at each other. Daryl put a finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet. Jax growled and barked so I had to tell him to be quiet. We listened carefully.

"It's just one." I said.

"Yeah, sounds like it's stuck, we'll be fine."

We already opened several boxes and still no luck. Daryl had the left, I had the right.

"Sumbitch." I heard Daryl say. I laughed here and there when I heard him say something.

"You think everythin's funny, don't ya?" He said roughly.

"I'm only laughin' cuz of yer reactions." I giggled.

"Yeah, yeah."

I looked up and saw a box on the top shelf. I would have to climb up there to get it. Daryl was saying something but I wasn't listening. I climbed up on the top being as careful as possible, I didn't want to bring the damn thing down. I reached the box and had a little trouble opening it.

"We're never gonna find 'ese bastards." Daryl said.

"Found 'em!" I yelled. I heard something fall from across the way and Daryl's footsteps coming over. "Over here." I shined my flashlight in his direction.

"Ya found 'em? Seriously?" Daryl asked. I read the description that was on the outside of the device. It matched what Abner told me.

"Yup!" I yelled cheerfully. "This is it."

"Be careful up there."

"I know." I looked around. "Here, I'll slide the box down to ya, it's kinda heavy." I did my best to hold it, I let go when Daryl grabbed it. I started to climb down but I was stuck on something. "My belt's caught." I yelled down to Daryl.

"Do ya need my help?"

I exhaled sharply. "Nah, I think I can get it."

"Be careful." Daryl said.

I let go of the shelf with my left hand and quickly got my belt off of what ever it was stuck on and then steadied myself so the shelf wouldn't fall. "I got it. I'm comin' down now."

"Okay."

I slowly got down to the next level but when I went to go to the next one, I missed the step and fell all the way down. I screamed. Daryl caught me but I didn't even realize. "I got ya." He said.

I caught my breath. "I'm good, I'm good." I'm so lucky he was there! "Let's just get outta here." I said.

"Yes ma'am."

"Thanks for that." I said to Daryl as we were making our way back to the truck. "I'm so lucky I didn't hit the ground."

"No, yer lucky ya didn't bring that shelf down." Daryl said. "Then we'd both be fucked."

"Yeah." I laughed.

I led the way, Daryl was carrying the box with the devices in it.

"At least we got 'em, though." Daryl said. I stopped suddenly and Daryl bumped into me. Jax barked. "What are ya doin'?" He asked.

"…t-the—the trucks gone."

Daryl put the box down and looked at the same empty spot that I was looking at. "Shit."

"Turn around." Daryl said to me. I did. He started putting the devices in my bag.

"They might get damaged."

"I don't care." Daryl said angrily. "I ain't carryin' this box no more." He took the bag from me. We were making our way back as best we could (the map was in the truck) also looking for another vehicle.

"I'm so cold." I blurted out. It was a chilly day.

"I know." Daryl said more softly this time. "Don't worry, we'll find a car eventually."

"By the time we do, it'll be dark so we might as well find a place to stay the night." I was shivering. Daryl sighed.

"Hey, look!" I yelled. "A school bus!" Daryl handed me back the bag. "I'll check it." I said.

"No, we'll both check it."

"Okay." I turned to Jax. "You stay here, Jax, ya hear? Stay." I pointed.

Daryl kicked the doors open and went in with his crossbow up. I did the same once I got inside. It looked like it was clear so far. Daryl found the keys on the seat and tried starting it. I made my way to the back. There was a dead body back there. They looked like they were around my age, maybe younger. I frowned at it. Daryl said something.

"Huh?" I turned my head in his direction.

"I said it's dead!"

Just then the dead body I was looking at grabbed me. I screamed. I was trying to hold it back and reach for my knife, I was struggling pretty bad. That's when I saw a bolt go through its head and it went limp.

"Are you okay?" Daryl was by my side.

I grabbed at my arm. "Yeah." I exhaled. "That was too close."

Suddenly, we heard a noise outside. There were several walkers that were coming for the bus. Jax was barking.

"Get down." Daryl grabbed me.

"Jax is out there!" I yell-whispered.

"He'll be fine."

"But Daryl—

"Shh!"

A few of the walkers came into the bus from the front door. Daryl and I rolled underneath the seats. He was on the opposite side of me. I heard more of them get on the bus and realized I didn't hear Jax anymore. I looked at Daryl. He put a finger to his lips again. I nodded. I looked ahead of me and saw that there was an emergency door on the floor. I quietly slid under the seats until I got to it. I started to unscrew the screws with my knife. Daryl noticed what I was doing and nodded at me. Once all the screws were out, I lifted the door with my knife and pulled it up, moving it aside. I got halfway in the hole, Daryl made his way over to me. "Hey, you wait for me." He whispered. I nodded and jumped down. I looked around and made sure there were no walkers on this side before signaling to Daryl. Once Daryl jumped down, I looked around the bus on the other side. Jax wasn't there. "Jax." I whispered. "Jax!" I gave my brother a worried look. "Jax is gone."

He gave me a sympathetic look. "We'll find 'im, but we gotta go. Sorry, Sissy." We quickly and quietly ran off in the opposite direction that the walkers were.

We ran into the woods. They won't be able to see us now. We stopped and caught our breath.

"Talk about close ones." I said.

"What a day." Daryl said. He looked up at the sky. "We got about two to three hours of daylight left. We better start lookin' fer a place to stay the night like you said." I sighed. "Come on." Daryl said.

I put my hands on my back and that's when I realized that…there wasn't anything there.

"Daryl, wait…" He turned to look at me. "…I left the bag on the bus." I said nervously. He gave me an annoyed look and put his head back. "I'm sorry, please don't kill me." Daryl sighed and started walking forward. "Wait, where are ya goin'?"

"To find shelter." He said.

"We have to go back and get it!"

"It ain't worth it." He shook his head.

"We have to. They need them, we need them." I sounded desperate.

He just looked me, he must have heard the desperation in my voice. "I'm tellin' those motherfuckers I want a steak dinner when we get back." Daryl said walking back to the bus.

We were cooped up in a little department store now. We made a fire to warm up, and we were lucky enough to find cans of soup in a grocery store on the way.

Daryl still looks pretty pissed. I don't blame him, he didn't ask for any of this. This was me. I'm happy he got the bag, though. I was going to get it, I thought it would be easier if it was me because I'm smaller, but he just angrily told me to stay back. He's not talking to me right now. In fact, he has his back turned to me. We had an argument earlier. I played back bits and pieces of it in my head.

"Do you even think, Leann?" Daryl yelled. "No, ya don't! Yer the first one to jump at an opportunity before even thinkin' about anyone else!"

"That's not true!" I yelled. "And I didn't force you to come, you could've said no."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you would've let that go."

I huffed.

"And you would've died if I didn't come with you! Ya even said so yerself." He walked off. "Done with this bullshit."

I figured I would just give him some time. However, that was almost an hour ago so I get to make him start talking again.

"Daryl, are ya still mad at me?" He didn't respond to me. I guess that means yes. Yikes… "I'm sorry." I said sadly. "I'm sorry that I got us into this. This was all me. I'll ask ya next time before I 'cept any "missions." He still didn't say anything. "Come on." I moved closer to him. "Ya cain't stay mad at me forever." I put my arms around him to try and be cute.

"Not this time, kid." He pushed me away. I just put my head down.

I woke up the next morning, feeling like crap. My neck hurt from sleeping on the damn floor. I guess I had gotten used to actually sleeping in a bed. I got up and stretched. I didn't see Daryl. Just as I had that thought, I saw him come from around the corner. He didn't say anything, I just watched him. He picked up the bag and headed towards the exit. I didn't move. "Ya comin' or ya just gonna lay there all day?" He raised his eyebrows at me. He didn't wait for me to answer, just left the store. I take it he's still not happy with me. I got up quickly and followed him. I decided to be nice and not give him any problems than he already has.

"I can take the bag if ya want?" I asked.

"Nah, I'll keep it." He said. "I won't forget it."

That hurt a little.

I saw something in the road as we were walking.

"Is that our truck?" I asked. "That is our truck!" I said happily when we got closer to it.

We ran to it. The keys were inside and it was fine, everything was exactly where we left it. I laughed. "How 'bout that, Daryl?" I heard a shotgun being cocked and I froze.

"Yeah, how 'bout that, Daryl?" A voice said. He was right behind me. It was a trap.

"What do ya want?" Daryl said with his crossbow up.

"Now, I want a lot of things." He laughed evilly. "But for now, I want everything you got, especially what's in that bag." He nodded at the bag on Daryl's back.

"H-how do you know what's in the bag?" I finally spoke.

He laughed. "I been watchin' you." He became evil looking. "I cleared that room out myself. I need those little boxes for ma place. I put that box on the top shelf, I was comin' back fer it. That belongs to me." He said that last part slowly.

"If you knew we was there, then why didn't ya try somethin' then?" Daryl said roughly.

The man laughed loudly. "I wanted to see how long I could mess with you. I can't believe you went back for that bag after that swarm." He spit.

"All that was you?" I said.

"Boy howdy, do you two look stupid." He reached down and took my gun from me.

I gasped. "Nice and easy there." The creep said. "Go ahead and throw your crossbow in the back." Daryl just glared at him. "Go on." He said. "Or I'll blow her brains out, then yours." After a moment's hesitation, he put his crossbow in the back. "Good, good." He said. He went around to the driver's side not taking his eyes off us. "Now back up!" We did. I slowly pulled out my knife and got down without him seeing.

"Step away from the truck, turn around and walk away." We did everything he said slowly. I heard the truck start. I looked back as we were walking and he just got in and started driving away. Daryl glared at him. We stood there and watched him drive away.

"Don't worry." I said. "He won't make it very far."

"Yeah, and how do you know?" Daryl said roughly.

I held up my knife. "I slashed one 'a the tires when he wasn't lookin'." I smiled real big and proud. Daryl attempted to smirk, but he was still too angry. "We can catch up but we need to hurry."

"Let's get him." Daryl said.

We ran for a long time until we saw the truck. He was sitting on the ground changing the tire. We snuck through the woods. At the right time, Daryl came up from behind him and grabbed him. He put his knife to his throat. "Don't move." Daryl warned. I grabbed my gun, the fucker's shotgun and Daryl's crossbow from the back. Daryl let him go, throwing him to the ground. I gave him his crossbow. I started the truck while Daryl held him up. I happened to glance over at the bag and I laughed. "We're good." I said to Daryl.

"You lose." Daryl said to him.

"Yeah, but thanks fer changin' our tire." I laughed. The guy didn't say anything the whole time, just glared at us.

"Good luck." Daryl said. "Yer gonna need it." He hopped in the truck.

I blinked in confusion. "Ain't ya gonna…?"

"Nah, we got our stuff back." Daryl said. "That's it." I looked at the creeper. I didn't sympathize with him at all. He took our stuff and almost killed me.

"Le, come on." Daryl said. I thought about all we went through today, all the trouble he caused. I wouldn't let him get away with it. He could possibly catch up with us or do the same to someone else.

"Please." The guy cried.

I lowered my gun. Then I thought about what my brother normally would do.

"Le! Let's go!" Daryl yelled.

I raised my gun again and shot him right in the forehead. "Comin'." I said and got in the truck. Daryl looked at the dead body of the man then at me. "What?" I said to him. "Like ya said, I'm done with this bullshit." He was still looking at me funny. Eventually, though, he started the truck and drove away.

"Ya think we'll find Jax?"

"He gotta be 'round here somewhere." Daryl said.

"Yeah. I think he'll find us. He will. He'll catch up."

The spare tire was completely wore out by the time we got back home. The wheel well is probably ruined as well. "We should just ditch it here and walk the rest of the way." I suggested.

"Yeah." Daryl said. "Gas is almost out, too." We pulled over. I put the bag on my back and my gun in it's holster. I carried the shotgun.

We walked the rest of the way. Daryl still wasn't really talking to me. I don't know if he was still mad about before or if it was because of the guy I killed. He seemed surprised when I did it. I don't care, though, that asshole needed to go.

I saw smoke through the trees up ahead. It was black. "Daryl." I said.

"Yeah, I see it."

"Could that be…home?" We exchanged a look. I started running towards it. Daryl followed. I became less and less hopeful as we got closer. I just knew the outcome was going to be bad.

We finally reached the complex. I stood there in shock. I dropped the bag that was in my hand that caused us so much trouble to get. Now it meant nothing.

Daryl just glared at the flames.

We fooled yourselves again into thinking we could stay somewhere permanently. I thought sadly as I watched the building burn.