A/N: Hey guys, sorry this week was busier than I thought it was going to be. School is kicking my butt, but I managed to procrastinate doing my homework all weekend and write this chapter for you. So anyway, here it is, and I hope you are all excited for the season 4 premiere in just a couple weeks! So, I'm planning on three or four more winter chapters and then we are off to the prison so I can reek havoc there. If there is anything you want to see in the winter, drop it in a review and I will try my best to work it in before I wrap that part up! Anyway, enjoy and please read and review!

Time Lapse: One Month

The road was empty, no cars littered this small town highway like they were on the interstate. Leaves covered the asphalt and swirled around in the wind as we stopped at a convenience store on the side of the road. It was freezing, the wintry breeze slicing through our tattered clothes. Even Daryl's jacket offered little resistance to the continually dropping temperature. Lori was starting to show a little more now, her bigger belly a striking contrast to the gauntness of the rest of her. Food was in short supply now and there wasn't much to be found. We barely had enough to keep us moving, we were lucky to have Daryl to hunt but that was difficult with all the critters hiding out for the winter. The weather wasn't the only thing that was colder around here though. All of us had toughened up over these months, having to fight harder than ever just to stay alive.

Shane still haunted my dreams, that hadn't changed at all. Every night I would dream the dream of his death and then be transported to a random location where we would talk. I'm not sure which one of those was the worst. Rick and I still had our issues and had mostly stayed out of each other's way during this past month. The night after we left Mercy, he'd chewed me out pretty good, and I won't say I didn't deserve it but my temper was already on a short wire and I had exploded and ever since then, we had resigned to only communicate when necessary. It was what was best for the group. Lori and Rick weren't having the best time either, the two of them had been at odds ever since Rick's confession after we left the farm. Carl had changed so much too, having to grow up much earlier than he should have. There were times when he legitimately scared me, it was almost like he enjoyed the kill too much.

Maggie and Glenn probably had the healthiest relationship in the group, the two of them growing closer every day. It was obvious they were in love. Hershel was still pretty much the same, although he finally understood the dangers of the walkers and had no qualms with killing them now. Even sweet Beth and Carol had taken down their fair share over the winter. Everyone had to contribute. Oh, Daryl and me? Well, we were as well as to be expected I suppose.

We had never had the heart to heart I suspected we were going to that night back in Mercy, but we didn't need it. Every night when I woke up in tears and a cold sweat from my dreams, he was there. He never once told me it would be okay, though, and I was glad for that. He would simply tell me some random story from his childhood or talk about something completely unrelated to Shane so I could push aside those memories. These moments were special to us, giving us glimpses into each other's pasts and slowly nurturing our relationship, building trust, and maybe something else too. We didn't have a lot of time alone together, so that made them even more precious to us. When it came to us being around everyone else, we were never so open, but I suspected the others were suspicious but none of them were stupid enough to ask us.

Back at the store, Daryl and I were sweeping the parking lot and surrounding area to check for walkers while Rick and Glenn headed inside to look for supplies. We found two walkers and dispatched them easily and quietly as so not to draw anymore to us. The walkers seemed to be coming in larger and larger groups lately and it was getting harder to avoid them. We went back around to the front where everyone else was waiting. Rick whistled, signaling that it was all clear and safe for us to come in.

I led the group and Daryl brought up the back, just like always and I opened the door and walked inside. It smelled awful, and it only took a moment to se why. Dead bodies littered the store, in the aisles and behind the counter. There was blood and guts everywhere. Rick and Glenn were stuffing things into the duffle bag they had brought in. Finally, some food. There still wasn't much but it was more than we'd had in a while.

"Got company," Daryl called from the door and we all turned around to see a herd of walkers making their way down the road. I groaned and shouldered my bag and grabbed my gun. Rick swore and we all headed for the cars. It hadn't taken us long to figure out it was much better to run than to try and fight. Daryl and I hopped on the bike in unison and he fired it up as I shot down two walkers who were a little too close for comfort. Rick and everyone else had taken down a few as well but were now securely in the cars and were speeding down the road, trying to put as much distance as possible between us and them.

…

We found a house a little ways off the road that could be easily defended and stopped there for the night. This was our life now. Wake up. Hit the road. Search for supplies. Fight walkers. Find a house. Sleep if you can. On and on it went in a never-ending cycle of torment. The sun was starting to fade from the sky and Daryl and I had first watch tonight. We set up on the porch with our weapons and worn blankets. Our breath was visible in the night air and I pulled his jacket closer around me and we sat closer than normal to share body heat. I tilted my head back and looked up at the stars, thinking. I'd been doing a lot of that lately, wondering what more could be out there. It was easier to escape this reality than to embrace it so I found myself thinking about other planets and people who were still alive. I never told anyone else about that, not even Daryl. My sketchbook was becoming full from all the drawings I'd been doing, things I found that still managed to be beautiful even though they were surrounded by ugly desperation.

"Where are you?" Daryl's voice tugged my mind back to the porch and brought a small smile to my lips.

"In the stars," this was the same thing we said every time my mind wandered away. He smiled too and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me even closer. I breathed in his scent, the one thing that hadn't changed since the start of this. Pine, stale smoke, and sweat, the most beautiful smell in the world.

"Merle taught me how to use the stars to navigate when we were in the woods, they were just a tool to him, but when I was young, my mom told me that they were people's dreams, stuck in the sky waiting for someone to make them come true and then they would shoot across the sky in freedom. That's when they became beautiful to me," he spoke softly, but I was focused on every word. This was another glimpse into his past, one of my favorite things.

"My mom was a bit more Lion King with her explanation. She told me and Shane that they were our loved ones, looking down on us and helping us see, even in the darkest night," I returned the story with one of my own because that was how we communicated, in small snippets from our past, those messages containing everything we needed to say. Silence engulfed us after that, but it was comfortable, both of us just turned into our own thoughts. The time passed quickly and uneventfully. Rick and Carl came out to relieve us around two and we went inside, the house no warmer than outside. We lied down on the floor in the living room where everyone else was. Most everyone was asleep already, but I could see T-Dog propped against the wall, staring out into nothing. He'd changed a good bit too, not as fun loving anymore, but I guess that was normal for our situation. It almost seemed like he had taken Dale's place as the moral compass of the group, always trying to keep Rick in line, though it rarely worked. He was struggling, but hanging on.

The dark room offered no comfort to me, because I knew as soon as I let myself be pulled under the blanket of sleep that I would be tormented all night by visions I didn't want to see. But eventually, my need for sleep won over and I succumbed to the darkness and let it fold around me and take me to the night Shane had died. I watched in as much horror as I had the first time as Shane begged Rick not to do it and called for me as he took his last breath. Then as soon as it was over, I was sitting in my old apartment bedroom with Shane. He was dressed the same as he had been the last time I saw him and looked no different either. I never got over the shock of seeing him there like that, just standing in front of me like it was an ordinary day.

"Hey Addie," he said and I couldn't help the smile that stretched across my face.

"Hey," We'd been doing this every time I slept for over a month now, but we always took the time to exchange pleasantries. The dream never lasted long, so we made the most of every second we had. We reminisced for some time, but then Shane's face grew serious.

"Adeline, we need to talk about something," he said sternly. "Remember the first time we were together like this? I told you it was okay to mourn me but that you had to move on eventually, well you're not. You're still clinging to me, and that's not good Addie. You have people out there in the real world who are there for you, and it's time you let me go little sister. I love you, and I want you to have the best life you can. It's time to stop living in the past and look towards the future," I didn't know what to say after that. Even though I'd been trying to do better, he was right. I was living in the past.

"I don't know if I can," I whimpered, not wanting to think about what I would do if I went to sleep one night and he wasn't here anymore.

"You can, you just have to want to," he said confidently, lifting my chin with his hand and pulling me in for a hug. "I'm dead Adeline, but you have to go on living," the room was filled with the same bright light from the first night and I was back in the house with the rest of the group, sitting upright, breathing heavily, with the words 'go on living' echoing in my mind.