VPOV

"Come on." I called Houdini as I stepped out of the RV.

Aly stood by the door, watching as I checked to make sure I had some water, food and a few other supplies I might need. She was scared for me, and herself, but mostly me. All morning she'd been begging for me to stay, for me to play with her and not worry about anything else. 'Just one day' she'd said.

"Don't go." her little voice shook.

I sighed, shaking my head as I looked up at her. "You know I have to, sweetie."

"But why? Why do you have to go?"

"Hey." Zach came to kneel behind her, placing a comforting hand on her back. "Everything will be okay. Houdini's going with Vickie, he'll keep her safe. You know how brave and strong he is. And I'll be here with you. We'll all be okay."

She shook her head. "I want Vickie." she pouted, stomping her foot. "I wanna go too."

I stepped closer to the door, shaking my head as I spoke sternly. "What did Daryl and I tell you the first time we went out and left you at the prison?"

"You got things to do. Dangerous things that aren't for kids, but need to be done." she answered softly, looking down at her feet.

"Exactly." I gave a short nod. "We told you there were things that needed to be done, to help all the people. And then you asked why it had to be me and Daryl. You remember what we said then?"

"Because you know what to do, and you know how to stay safe."

I gave her a half smile, resting my hand on her arm. "That's right."

"But..." she stopped, sighing before going on. "But Daryl's not with you this time."

Looking behind my shoulder to Houdini, seeing him waiting patiently, I nodded before looking to her again. "I tell you what. I'll be as fast as I can. Two, three hours tops. If I don't catch anything, then we'll just have to have tin food again. Sound good?"

She hesitated before nodding. "Two hours."

"Or three." I laughed, stepping back. "Now you keep Zack safe. You think you can do that?"

She nodded, standing up straighter as she turned serious.

Smiling at her one last time, I gave a short wave to the two of them before turning to the woods, ready to go hunting.

...

So far, I was failing miserably.

It was harder, hunting for food when all I really had to use was a simple knife. I was so used to Daryl and his crossbow, or having a gun, or just anything that would help me get the animal before it had a chance to run away... I hadn't caught a single thing yet. Houdini had been good though. He'd been sniffing things out, leading me to things I could try and get. But without a way of injuring the creature, I couldn't get close enough to kill it.

I remembered the day Daryl had tried to teach me how to use his crossbow. It brought a smile to my face.

We stood in the field of the prison, standing in front of a make shift shelf he set up using spare bricks that had been lying around a broken wall, and a wooden plank. Cans and tins sat on top of the plank, my targets to practise on.

Daryl stood behind me, hands putting me in the right position so I could shoot better. His mouth right by my ear. "You wanna relax. Look at the target, breath and let go." he told me with a whisper.

Nodding, I did as he said, finger on the trigger, relax, breath and let go.

The arrow sored through the air, hitting the plank and sticking into it...

"Seriously?" I groaned. It wasn't the first time Daryl and I had been out here doing this, and the fact I hadn't got it yet was seriously ticking me off.

"You'll get it." he reassured me. "Try again."

Once more, I set the crossbow, bringing it up to aim, finger on the trigger. But before I took my shot, my attention snapped to his hand as it rested on my hip.

My shirt was pulled up enough for his rough hands to touch my skin. A tingle spread over me, a sensation I had ignored for weeks because we couldn't do anything with Aly around all the time.

Now it was like everything was intensified. I wasn't just burning where he touched, my whole body felt like it was on fire. The simple touch, his hand brushing my skin, holding me there, breath on my ear, body so close. Everything was painfully delicious and addictive.

"Concentrate on your target." Daryl had no clue what he was doing to me. He just kept his mind on the task at hand.

I grinned, turning as best I could to look at him. "I can't concentrate on anything when you're touching me."

He tensed, looking down at where his hand held me. He hadn't realized what he was doing. At first it looked like he was going to let go and step back, but I could see him change his mind.

His grip tightened, pulling me against him a little more as his mouth moved from my ear, down to my neck. He placed a simple kiss there as his hand moved from my hip, further up under my shirt, to my waist. "Aly's with Beth and Judith. Maybe we could go to the guard tower?" he offered.

We needed this. I could feel he wanted it just as badly as I did. Our bodies were already screaming to be connected and together. My mind was singing praise at the simple contact between us.

But we couldn't do anything right now because I had to learn how to use the crossbow, and then we had to go on a run with Glenn and Sasha. It was a busy day and we couldn't afford to be distracted.

So I stepped away, raising the crossbow and aiming it once more. "Maybe tonight. Okay?"

"Yeah." he didn't sound upset, neither had I really. But we were.

We both knew there were things to do, so he wasn't going to argue, and I wasn't going to let myself feel guilty for long. There would always be another time...

There hadn't been another time. We'd been so tired from the busy day, that by the time we got back, we had just sat with everyone else and ate dinner before going to bed- Aly in between us. With all the people we'd been bringing in, and the fact we had basically become Aly's adoptive parents, we just hadn't had time to be together intimately. With all the runs, and teaching people how to work around the prison to help out, our lives were just so full.

Survival was the most important thing in the world these days. We didn't get the chance to sit around on laptops, watch television, read books, and play video games. Every moment was go-go-go. From the time you get up to when you finally get to sleep, every second of every day is spent making sure you're around tomorrow.

Sighing I gave a short whistle to Houdini as he drank from a puddle a few feet away. His head popped up, turning to me.

"Come on." I patted my thigh. He rushed over, tail wagging. Once he stopped by me, I reached forward to pet his head. "Good boy." I smiled down at him. "Let's get back to Aly."

...

"So, what are we going to do?" Zach asked as he came to sit across from me at the table.

I looked behind him towards the bedroom where Aly sat on the bed playing with her toys, Houdini lying behind her so she could lean against him. It still amazed me at how innocent she was even in a world like this.

I shrugged. "We've got enough food for one more day. I think we should sleep here for the night, and then in the morning we head off again."

"But where?"

"East." I said as if it was obvious.

Shaking his head, he sighed. "They're gone, Vickie. We can't chase after them when they're miles away. We have to take care of ourselves first."

"Daryl, Sasha, Glenn and I scouted a route for East. It's familiar, safe. I'm not going that way, just because of everyone else. I'm going that way because I know it." I leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're right, we have to take care of ourselves first. But the only way we do that is by getting supplies and staying safe."

"You think we can do that heading east?"

Giving a short nod, I answered. "I know we can do that heading east."

"Fine." he didn't sound convinced, but he knew sticking with me would give him his best shot. "We head out in the morning."

...

I walked back into the RV, holding a bowl of warm ham and pea soup. Setting it down in front of Aly, I watched as she looked down at it. "What's wrong?" I crouched beside her.

She shook her head, pushing the bowl away. "If you don't eat. I don't eat."

There was only enough food for Zach, Aly and Houdini. The porridge and bars had been used during the day, and the spaghetti o's and crackers were last night's dinner.

"I'm not hungry. I promise." I smiled up at her. "I nibbled on some left over crackers while I was hunting." I lied. "I don't need anymore."

She hesitated at first, watching me as if she could figure out if I was lying or not just by a look. But she believed me, she always did, and so she turned back to her bowl, pulling it closer to her before digging in.

Zach entered the RV at that time, sitting across from her with his bowl of vegetable soup. "I put the fire out for you." he told me as he began to eat.

I looked out the crack of the door, making sure it was out properly before locking up the RV. The last thing we needed was the fire to start up again and burn the RV down. Or worse, attract walkers to us.

"I'm gonna go lie down. Just call me if you need anything." I leaned down, kissing Aly on the top of her head before heading into the bedroom, and getting into bed.

I rested my head against the pillow, looking up at the roof. I hadn't noticed the glow in the dark stars up there last night- though they didn't glow anymore.

They reminded me of the glow in the dark stars we'd put in Carl's room.

"Over here! Over here, mum!" I called, standing in Carl's room with my mum as we put glow in the dark stars all over the walls and roof.

I was about eleven years old, Carl was pretty young too. It was his birthday soon and he really wanted to go into space. So mum and I decided to bring space to him. Pointing to a blank spot on the wall, I smiled widely at my mum as she came over with another star. She placed it in the spot before we both stepped back and admired our work.

Every inch, every nock and cranny. There was a star everywhere you looked. It was beautiful and so cool. I was a little jealous it wasn't my room.

"You think he'll like it?" mum asked, looking down at me.

I nodded excitedly. "He'll love it."

"We're home!" dad's voice called from the house.

He and Carl had been at the station with dad all afternoon.

Going to work with dad was more fun than going to a theme park. All the people that worked there were always so nice, and spoiled us like crazy. We got to spin on the office chair, and sit in the cars with the sirens going on. We played with the hand cuffs and made a mess with the dye they used for finger prints.

They came down the hall, heading our way, neither of them having any idea what mum and I had been doing while they were gone. Once they stepped inside, Carl came to a stop, his jaw dropping as he looked up at the roof, and down at the walls. His eyes lit up with excitement and wonder.

"Oh, my God! This is so cool!" he grinned, running up to jump on to his bed, looking at the roof. "You guys are awesome!"

"Wow." dad looked at all the stars as well. "When's my room getting done?" he asked, looking down at me with playful eyes.

I wiped tears from my cheeks as I turned on to my side and away from the stars. Remembering my mum was painful enough, but my whole family? That was like getting stabbed in the heart. I missed them more than I could explain. I missed everyone.

Maggie, Glenn, Michonne, Carol, my best friends. Hershel, he had been like a grandfather. Beth, she was always with Judith it was like she was my sister too. Tyreese, Bob, Sasha, they'd become close friends of mine as well. Dad, Carl, Judith, my family. Daryl.

Daryl.

I hugged myself as the memory of the first night we'd slept together- just slept, that's all- came to mind.

He had saved me from Shane, in the recreation room of the CDC. He took me back to my room, set me on the couch and made sure nothing had happened and I wasn't hurt. I had been so emotional I'd thrown my arms around him without really thinking about what I was doing. But he'd hugged me back, pulling me down on to the floor next to him- I had practically fallen into his lap.

"You're okay. You're alright."

"Don't leave."

I cried had cried against him, my face buried into his neck.

He had lifted me up, taken a seat on the couch and put me next to him as he pulled his legs up. I'd done the same with my legs, so we could both lying on the couch. All the while he had kept his arms around me.

"I won't go anywhere."

I remembered him whispering before I had fallen asleep. I think it was at that moment, things had started to grow between us. Sure there had been other times when we'd grown closer.

When he helped me during the walker ambush at our camp outside of Atlanta. When he'd caught me staring at the city, the sun setting. After we'd set Jim by the tree and left him to turn- because he wanted to. Driving towards the CDC, the two of us alone in his old pickup.

But none of those moments had changed our friendship as much as when he'd saved me from Shane and stayed with me for the night to make sure I was okay. The next morning, there was something more between us and from then on, we'd become somewhat an unofficial item I suppose. He had already been protective of me, but it increased. I had already been caring toward him, but that intensified.

I think at that moment, I had started to love him.

"Vickie?"

Aly's small voice had me turned around to face her as she stood by the side of the bed with Houdini. "What's up, sweetie?" I tried to smile at her, but she wasn't being fooled.

Her hand reached forward, tiny fingers brushing my cheeks. "You're crying."

I gave a sad half smile, moving over before patting the bed. She crawled under the blanket, next to me, looking my way as she watched worriedly. My arm came around her, hugging her to me to help better my mood.

"I'm just sad sweetie. I'm just sad."

She nodded, inching closer as she closed her eyes, Houdini jumping up to lay at the end of the bed. "Me too." she told me before curling up to go to sleep.

I had stayed awake all night, even after Zach had come to sleep as well. I had just laid there, gently stroking Aly's hair as I watched her sleep peacefully.

BaMbY