A/N: I'm back! What, weren't expecting me so soon? Well here I am! With a very short transition chapter. Man, winter is hard to deal with, so much I want to do but not sure how to do it...well I'm looking forward to the next few chapters, a lot of character development and relationship progression for all of the gang. Please read and review!

I walked back up to the pier and grabbed my clothes and quickly shed the wet clothes for the only pair of dry ones I had. The rescue of supplies had been minimal and we would definitely have to stock up before long. Daryl changed too and I smiled at him with his still wet hair.

"I should kill you for making me jump in that water," he growled playfully.

"Well no one said you had to play knight in shining armor. That was your own egotistical decision," I shrugged, trying to keep a straight face but failing as a smile pulled at my lips and I tied up my wet hair.

"Cute. Real cute Walsh. Oh, by the way, I've got something for you," he said and started digging in his bag. I sat on the bike with a furrowed brow as to what he could be looking for.

"A present?" I asked, leaning over to try and see. He pulled out my sketchbook and handed it to me.

"I thought it might be something you wanted, grabbed it last night before we bolted," he said.

"Thank you," I told him sincerely and hugged him tightly. I hadn't even thought about the book in all that had happened since, but it was still nice to have it around, especially now. Sadness came over me again as I stroked the cover.

"Shane bought this for me for my thirteenth birthday. I've always loved to draw, had sketches hanging all over our house. Gave it to me and said he didn't want to see all of those things around, to keep them inside the book," I smiled sadly and took a deep breath, working through the grief just like I had when my parents died. I sat the book down and smoothed my shirt before looking up at Daryl.

"Adeline," it was Carol. She walked up to us and handed me a can of something. "It's tea, I had some in my bag, figured it could warm you up," she said gesturing over to where the others were making a small fire within a crevice in the rock face.

"Thanks," I replied and took a sip. It was awful, but I managed a smile and she retreated, satisfied that she had done a good deed. "Now I remember why I hate tea," I told Daryl and offered him the tin but he wrinkled his nose so I poured it out. I looked out at the now dark sky and the stars and thought about the good times I'd had with Shane, how he was always there and loved me. Daryl was leaning against the bike and spoke after a long stretch of me silently grieving.

"You know, one time when I was younger, Merle and me went out hunting for squirrels and he told me that life was too important to get bogged down with relationships. That they caused too much drama and hardship to be bothered with. But, he said that family was something that couldn't be replaced and that it was the most important thing in life. He said he'd do anything for me and that he'd be there. Then he wasn't. He got sent off to juvie and left me alone," he spoke softly and fidgeted with the rather emotional topic. I knew that he was giving me this, this piece of him that he never shared and letting me know I wasn't alone. I smiled a little and rested my head on his shoulder and watched the fire lick at the sky, the guilt and heartache flying away with the smoke.

…

Morning came slowly and I was already awake before the sun came up, too many nightmares waiting for me to close my eyes. Daryl and I had made our way back over to everyone else last night and set up camp.

Once everyone else began to wake up, I walked over to the water and put my feet in, walking along the beach, watching the sky turn pink and orange, a new day, a fresh start. We ate little, not much left so it had to last.

"We'll go scouting today, see if we can find anything. We could always try to fish," Rick said and I refrained from snapping at him. My boiling hatred was starting to cool into an icy indifference. I didn't know which was worse. We had just started preparing to leave when we heard the first groans.

My head snapped up and I saw the herd heading towards us. I quickly pulled my gun as did the others and we quickly started discussing our options. The same rocks that offered us protection also blocked us in.

"We take as many as we can and run. We'll need to split up, spread them out. Meet back up at that Wal-Mart up the road," Rick ordered and we obeyed silently. Daryl grabbed my arm and we shot our way through to his bike, which he started and drove quickly. We made it to the rendezvous point first and waited in tense silence. We heard the sound of engines and I let out a sigh of relief as the other cars came into view. Everyone had made it.

"Where did they come from?" Lori asked, all of us trying to catch our breath.

"They had to come from the west," Daryl answered, "East is blocked by water and the north had the rock barricade. And there was no way they were from the south since that's the way we came and didn't see them before." He reasoned through everything and we all took his word for it.

"While we're here we might as well scavenge for whatever we can find," Rick sounded defeated. Things were going from bad to worse and we were all beginning to wonder just how long we could survive.