Days passed smoothly, without incident and little by little Evelyn allowed herself to get comfortable. She no longer felt like anyone was out to get her and felt as if she had made real friends here. She spent a lot of time talking to Glenn and T-Dog and was able to help tutor Carl and Sophia since Carol and Lori insisted they continue to do their homework, which Evelyn wasn't totally against. She also enjoyed talking to Dale a lot because he reminded her of her father and he also taught her a few things about mechanics which she would have never known in a million years. Even Shane had seemed to warm up to her after he was convinced she wasn't out to poison them all and loot their corpses.

Daryl still remained rather cold towards her, but if it was one thing she learned about the Dixons it was that they both were much more mild tempered and seemingly happier once they were in the woods. She still went out with them every day and it gave her a sense of purpose knowing that people were depending on her. It also gave her a sense of dread with the fear that she might let them down.

Evelyn emerged from the woods with Merle and Daryl and their spoils for the day. They had ran into two walkers for the first time since she'd been going out with them. It worried her, but Daryl scouted the whole area to look for signs of more of them, but came up empty. But still, it was like she'd said before, they have a pack mentality. Once a few start moving, it's a sure sign that the rest would soon follow.

The brothers sat at their usual rock, piling the game up by their feet. They still hadn't asked her to help, whether it was because they didn't want to or didn't feel she was competent, she didn't know. Daryl mumbled something to Merle and then walked off. Evelyn sat on the other side of the rock, plucking a squirrel off the ground. Pulling out her knife she sliced down the belly and moved to make the next cut when- "dear god woman, how the hell you been surviving cleanin' them like that?" Merle came up beside her, pulled out his own knife and took the squirrel. "Here, ya do it like this." He showed her the proper way, which actually seemed much simpler than the way she'd been doing it for the past two months. "Who taught you how to do that anyway? Stupid bastard. It ain't hard."

"No one," she replied, "it was trial and error once I ran for the woods."

"Well no shit." He glanced back over his shoulder, "hey Darleena!" he yelled. Daryl stopped what he was doing, "what!?" he shouted back. He was carrying something heavy because the muscles of his arms were tense, yet he seemed barely conscious of it.

"Get your ass over here!" Daryl handed off whatever he'd been carrying to a reluctant T-Dog and made his way over, wiping his hands on his trousers.

"Hell you want?
"Girl's a bit incompetent. Take over for me, will ya? I've got better things to do," and with that he walked off. Daryl wasted no time in getting on with the squirrels. She attempted to copy his every move, but he was so fluid that by the time it took him to finish two, she'd only done one.

"So, who were you, before all of this?" she asked, attempting small talk.

"Same as I am now," he said without looking up. "What about you?"

"I was nobody." Daryl smirked. "What?"

He chuckled, "can't get over it."

"Can't get over what?"

"Armies wiped out and a fucking table busting librarian survives on her own." He glanced up at her, "impressive."

"Uh, thanks. I think." Evelyn wasn't sure if that was a compliment, but she would take it. He hadn't been speaking to her much. In fact, he seemed rather pissed at her.

"Said your dad taught you to shoot. Must've been one helluva instructor."

"Yeah," she said, "but I never had the stomach for hunting. Boy if he could see me now…" she looked down at her fingers covered in blood. It was so surreal, so sickening.

So loud. The wailing and crying and screaming. Her knees ached as she was pushed onto the gravel, her hands clasped behind her head and her heart pounding. The gunmen walked up and down the line, stopping behind her, feeling cold metal pressed against the back of her head. She closed her eyes. Then jumped at the sound of a loud bang, the wailing woman suddenly silenced beside her, her lump form falling into her. Evelyn pushed her off, her hands coming away red. So red. So sickening. So loud. He raised his gun again-

"Hey," Daryl said and Evelyn snapped back to reality suddenly and stared over at him, her bloody hands still held out in front of her. He had a weird look on his face as he stared at her, "Evelyn, you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Seen a ghost. How ironic. She shook her head. What was she doing? She couldn't think of that now. "I'm fine, yeah. Fine. Sorry, I just…spaced out for a second."

"Why don't you get out of here? I can't concentrate with you goin all space cadet."

Evelyn didn't argue, she just got up and walked off, holding her hands out in front of her, staring at them. She had told herself she wasn't going to let the things that happened to get in her way. That they weren't going to distract her or haunt her. It was in the past. But, still, how could she forget? She reckoned the feeling of safety she was starting to experience was allowing the memories to seep back into her consciousness.

She made her way behind the RV, crouching down in the shade and dipped her hands into a bucket of water, scrubbing off the gore. She looked out over the quarry, the water shining an icy blue as she let her hands soak. It wasn't a bad sight.

Evelyn jumped, knocking over the bucket when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, it's just me. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Dale looked down at her, concerned. "Oh, it's okay, you didn't," she told him reassuringly, standing up and drying her hands off on the rag she kept tucked in her belt.

"You feelin' alright?"

"Yeah, fine," she gave him a smile but he still looked at her skeptically. Sometimes she could swear he was able to look right inside of her.

"I thought I would take a walk down to the quarry. Why don't you come with me?"

She nodded, "okay, sure."

They walked in silence until they were further from the camp. Dale cleared his throat, "you know, you've been a real asset to the group."

Asset. Pass.

Liability. Bang.

"I'm glad I can help."

More silence as they descended the dirt path. "You know, I had a cousin. A great guy, a brilliant guy. He could put a smile on anyone's face," Dale said. "He went off to join the Marines, front lines of the Vietnam war."

"He must have been very brave," Evelyn offered as they found a shaded spot and took a seat side by side on a warm, smooth rock.

"He was. Very, very brave. But he was never the same, after he came home. It wasn't drastic, but he was different. Always on edge, always expecting something to happen at any second. I never really thought much of it until he was over one night. It had been raining something awful, the roads were flooded so he slept on our couch. We heard him screaming, reckon it was the thunder that set him off."

Evelyn stared out at the still water and sighed, her breath shakier than she expected it to be. "Oh."

"I was going for a walk the other night and I happened past your tent."

"When I was in the woods, I slept in the trees," she told him, "I had to tie a bandana around my mouth," she scratched at the rock with her fingernail, "I was afraid I'd be too loud, attract the walkers…or worse."

"Evelyn, you were out there for two months- totally alone."

"I don't have PTSD, if that's what you think."

"No…I just think you went through some hard times and you need to talk about it."

"Talking about it doesn't change it."

"No," Dale said, "but it's a start. You know you have my complete confidence."

Maybe he was right. Maybe it would help. If she kept it all caged up inside her it would cripple her, slowly poisoning her mind. It would make her weak and she couldn't be weak. "Soon after I left home I ran into these guys. I was in pretty bad shape, I hadn't been very successful at finding food or climbing trees so I was starved and exhausted. They forced me to go with them and when I got there, they had people tied up, beaten bloody. Women and children. That night they…" Evelyn paused, taking a deep breath and wrapping her arms around her knees, pulling them tight against her chest. "I tried to fight back, you know? I did. But there was this little girl, ten years old at the most. They said they would shoot her if I didn't cooperate. I couldn't let them shoot that little girl. But afterwards, they did anyways. Then they just started executing everyone. I was lucky the walkers attacked when they did. I was able to get away. I ran. I ran hard and fast. I had left all my gear behind in the woods and by some miracle it was still there.

After that, I knew I couldn't be weak. Not in this new world. I don't know why I kept going. I had nothing. I just kept moving."

Dale stared at her with wide, sympathetic eyes. "No one should have had to endure that. I'm sorry it happened to you, Evelyn. I really am."

"You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"No. No, I won't."

"I don't want anyone to think I'm weak…or crazy."

"Oh, no. You're neither of those things." Evelyn bit her lip as a tear dripped from her eye. Dale wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she let him. He was so much like her father. But thinking of him only brought her more sadness.

"Thank you, Dale," she said after a moment, wiping her cheeks off and taking a deep breath. She felt as if the burden of her ordeal had been somewhat lifted, only to be replaced by guilt. Guilt because it was wrong of her to burden Dale too. Guilt because she wasn't able to save anyone and now someone else knew it. Knew she'd been too weak, too afraid to do anything. She stood up and brushed herself off, letting a stoic expression cover her face. "I should go see if anyone needs help with anything." Back at the camp, Daryl and Merle were finishing up with the game, some of it already cooking over the fire. She didn't think she'd be able to stand the smell without puking, so she found the ladies hanging wet laundry in their usual place. "Need any help?"

"Sure!" Amy said enthusiastically. She seemed like such a sweet girl, "that soap you gave us is amazing, by the way."

"I'm glad you like it. There's more, I wrapped it up and Dale stored it in the RV." Evelyn couldn't help but notice the strange look she got from Andrea as she pinned the clothes up to the line. She didn't really have any desire to cause a scene, so she simply focused on her task before Shane walked into the middle of camp like he was going to make an announcement with a nervous looking Glenn off to the side.

"Alright, yall, listen up. As you know, we're running kind of low on supplies. Thankfully Glenn has been able to sneak in and out of the city to get us some things we need." In and out of the city? Atlanta? Evelyn looked over at Glenn, impressed. "But we need more than he can get by himself now. He's making a run into the city tomorrow, I'm asking for volunteers to go with him." Volunteers to go into the city. The city her father died.

"I'll go," Andrea spoke up next to her. Amy protested, but Andrea insisted that it would be okay. Morales always stepped forward with concerned looks from his family, as well as T-Dog and Jacqui. Merle elbowed Daryl and laughed, "well, shit, I guess I'll come along for the ride."

"I'll go too," Evelyn stepped forward.

"No," Shane said, "I can't have you and Dixon both going. Daryl can't be out in the woods by himself." Daryl snorted.

"In that case," she said, "why don't I take Merle's place? He's more experienced in the woods than I am."

"Shoot, girl, you tryin' to steal my thunder?" Merle asked.

"No," Shane said, "you'll stay here and keep huntin' with Daryl. Merle will join the scavenging party." Evelyn bit the inside of her lip, not knowing whether or not to feel offended. "You'll be leaving tomorrow when the sun rises, so make sure you get plenty of rest." And with that, their little meeting was called to an end. Evelyn couldn't help but wonder if everyone would make it back. She still thought that they would need to move their camp soon, but Shane seemed content to ignore her and asked her to stop mentioning it in front of the group because he was afraid of causing a panic. It's not that she wanted to make anyone panic, but they needed to look at the situation logically. She adored their little camp because it was safe, but it wouldn't stay that way forever and she didn't want to see anyone get hurt.

T-Dog came up to her and smiled, "hey, don't worry about it. Shane just wants you to stay here because of what you can do."

"I can help," she protested.

"You are helpin'. All you been doing since you got here is helping."

Evelyn still didn't feel like she was doing enough, but she nodded, accepting T-Dog's reassurance before Merle walked over and folded his arms, "Excuse me, T-Bone, but the lady and I have some things to discuss." Evelyn didn't know what he was talking about and gave him a weird look. Merle was looking at T-Dog like he would hit him any second. She knew he was a bit racist, but apparently more so than she though.

"Please excuse us," she said and T-Dog looked like he didn't really mind being excused from the conversation. She turned toward Merle, "what do you want?"

"What's with the hostility?"

"You don't have to be mean, you know."

"Oh sorry, sweetheart, didn't realize I hurt your little feelings. Let's kiss and make up."

"What do you want, Merle?" she asked again.

"I'm goin to set some traps. Thought you'd like to come along."

"Really?" she asked

"Mhm, thought you wanted to learn."

"Yeah, okay." She stopped by her tent to get her bow, just in case. As she came out she noticed Daryl making no attempt to join them. "Is he not coming?"

"Traps aint his thing." Evelyn suddenly became worried and didn't know how she felt about going into the woods alone with Merle. It must have been written all over his face too because he said, "don't worry, girl, I ain't gonna do nothin'. I may not be a good man, but I ain't like that." Evelyn was still hesitant but she nodded and followed him into the woods. They were a good distance away before he said anything else. "Ya know, I think you're right."

"About what?" she asked.

"This place ain't gonna be safe for much longer. But them pansies ain't listenin'. Daryl and I have been considering moving on."

"If you were planning on leaving then why did you volunteer to go on that supply run?"

"Thought maybe I could pick up a few things for Daryl and me before we headed out. And for you too, if you want."

"What?" Evelyn stopped walking and looked at Merle skeptically.

He stopped and turned towards her, "you ain't like everyone else, girly. You know what's what. And you can hold your own. The geeks are gonna come up this mountain and tear through that camp and it would be a shame if you were here when it happened."

"Does Daryl know you're inviting me to tag along?"

"Nah, but he'll be fine. Think he feels a little responsible for you, finding you out there by your lonesome and all."

"I don't know. I don't really know you two that well. I do know that it's inevitable for the walkers to make their way here, but…I don't know if I trust you. Or Daryl."

"That's why I like you, girlie. Can't trust anyone in this world. You get it. Others don't." Evelyn didn't have a response so she just kept following the older Dixon brother until he pulled a band of snare wire out of his pocket. "This is a good place."

"How can you tell?"

"These tracks here, something's been going through here, probably it's home nearby." Merle instructed her on how to build the snare, repeating the process a few times. He was more patient than she thought he was, but she assumed that was because he was in his element, much like Daryl was when in the woods. Once he made sure she understood, he had her set it and they moved onto the next spot here he let her do it without his instruction. When she finished she looked towards him for approval and he nodded. Evelyn felt accomplished. She had learned something that could benefit her survival or the survival of someone else. Knowledge was invaluable in this new world. "Gonna start getting dark soon, we should head on back," he told her.

"Okay," she agreed.

"So what other special skills you got besides pickin' flowers and shooting?"

"Um…nothing really, I guess."

"Can you throw a punch?"

"Excuse me?"

"Can you fight?"

"Well, I've tried, but…" she shut her mouth and tried to keep her mind from wandering places she didn't want it to.

"Don't worry. Ol Merle will show ya how." Evelyn didn't know how she felt about Merle swinging punches at her, but when they got back to camp, she went into her tent to drop off her things. Most people were already eating dinner, gathered around chatting. When she came back out, he was standing there. "Alright, girl, now stand here. And put your hands up." He held up his fists in demonstration.

"Are you serious?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Course I am, now put 'em up." She tried to copy his position, but it felt awkward, "now lay one on me."

"What?"

"Hit me."

"I'm not going to hit you!" Now, everyone was looking over in their direction which was a little embarrassing for Evelyn.

"Why not?"

"What if I hurt you?"

Merle laughed, "you couldn't if you tried, sugar." Evelyn gritted her teeth and threw her fist into his stomach, as it was the easiest place for her to reach. He cried out and doubled over. She gasped, placing her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry!"

"God dammit, that was," he stood up and looked at her, "the girliest punch I've ever felt in my life."

Evelyn scowled and threw her hands up, "Well, sorry, but some of us haven't had as much practice." She turned and left Merle there, laughing as she made her way over to the group and taking a seat near the fireplace.

"What was that all about?" Andrea asked.

"I don't know. Merle being Merle I guess." She got her own plate of food and ate it slowly, paying little attention to what was going on around her. All she could think about was how safe these people really were and Merle's offer. She didn't really want to spend the rest of her life with the Dixons. But she didn't want to be alone either. She had a plan before she met these people. Head up northwest. She still thought it was her best bet. Maybe she should stick to it. Still, she was only alone for a month and it drove her crazy and it got her into dangerous positions. There was safety in numbers, but maybe not large numbers. She would stick around a while longer. Besides, what did she really have to lose?