The morning air was cool as it blew in from the quarry. Evelyn sat alone near the water's edge as the sun peaked. The surface of the water was still, caught between a grey pale in the shadow of the cliffs and reflective pastel as the orange sunrise crept over the hills. Everything was calm and quiet. It was peaceful, yet there was an inescapable anxiety that clung to the air, circulating through the lungs and seeping deep into the bones, making you feel heavier than you ever were. The suspense was always there, always lingering. No matter how calm everything seemed to be it could all crumble at the drop of a hat. No warning, no time to accept it or comes to term with the tragically inevitable. Everything was now only a system of actions and reactions and the loathsome battle of patience.

Evelyn was always ready. Always patient. Always alert. She supposed that a part of her had always been so, but it had taken these drastic turn of events to sharpen it into what it had become. Every day she felt her instincts becoming stronger. Becoming more primal. Everyone in this new world was running on instincts. Some more so than others. The Dixons, the men she met on the road, they thrived off of it. The only difference between them seemed to be that the Dixons had a code- the men she encountered didn't. Or at least, it wasn't a humane one. Evelyn wondered what her code was. She needed something to keep herself in check, something to hold on to and something to help her sift through the moral grey areas of this hell on earth. But what that code would consist of she wasn't sure.

Dipping her hands into the cold water, Evelyn splashed it on her face, rubbing the remains of sleep from her eyes before taking in a deep breath and making her way back up the camp. People had begun to wander sheepishly out of their tents and Shane had already begun a morning fire, heating up cans of what would be breakfast. All the volunteers were already packed to go. Glenn wanted to get the whole ordeal over with as soon as possible. It seemed to her that he wasn't very keen on the prospect of having others tag along. But they needed it. Desperately.

Evelyn sat her bow down on a picnic table and took a seat. "Mornin' Evelyn," Shane said, making his way over to her, handing her a can of whatever he had been cooking. Peeking inside Evelyn saw a mushed up pile of eggs. "Been up a while?"

Evelyn chewed slowly, watching the survivors shuffling about. "Yeah. Did a perimeter run."

"You've been doin' that every morning, haven't you?"

"Yep."

"See anything?"

"Nothing close."

"So I guess your theory ain't right then, huh? About them walkers coming up here."

"They're gonna come," she told him, setting the can aside, "but I guess it don't matter how many times I say it."

Shane snorted and patted her shoulder and told her, "that's the spirit," before heading back over to a watchful Lori and a yawning Carl. She saw Merle grab Daryl's shoulder in a brotherly way before making his way over to her. "Hey sugar," he said.

"Hey," she responded handing the can out to him, "want some?"

"Nah, girlie, you gotta eat. Quit giving your food away, there ain't much of it left."

"I had some," she reassured him, leaning her head into her palm, picking at the table with her fingernails. "Besides. You'll need it more than I do."

"Aw, you worried about me, Miss Evelyn?" He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. She'd become used to his flirtatious attitude. He leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice, "you thought anymore about my offer?" Evelyn looked up from scratching her initials into the wood and glanced around, noticing a few people were looking curiously their direction.

"Yeah, I have."

"And?"

"Shane won't listen to me," she told him a little more frustrated than intended.

"He's a dumbass cop. You're a smart girl. So what do you say?"

Evelyn nodded, "have you given any thought to where you're going to go?"

"Not yet, but I thought maybe you could help us with that," he admitted, shoveling eggs into his mouth.

"I'm thinking northwest is your best bet. The further north you go, the colder it's going to get and the further west you go the less population you'll encounter."

"Why does it matter if it's cold?"

Evelyn sighed, "I have a theory."

"A theory?"

"Yeah. We know they're dead- that their hearts don't beat. And the fact that the only way to kill them is through the brain suggests that's where the virus originates. Therefore, the colder it gets (without any blood circulation), the more likely the tissue around the brain is going to freeze, rendering them immobile. Or, at the very least, dormant."

Merle gave her a look that she couldn't distinguish between skeptical or impressed. "Where'd you get so smart?"

Evelyn reached into the can he was still holding to grab another bite of egg, "told you, I'm a librarian. We're like superheroes," she smiled and Merle laughed. Their relationship had become so easy that Evelyn was almost able to think of him as a friend. Daryl never seemed to want to come within fifteen feet of her, so she'd been sticking close to Merle on their hunts. She wasn't nearly as uncomfortable around him as she once was and it seemed to her that he had also lightened up some the more they spent time together. He taught her a lot and she was able to offer him some knowledge on various, random subjects that he revealed an interest in. He was still a jackass, but he was a tolerable jackass.

Merle reached over and ruffled her hair, then reached across the table and dramatically kissed her forehead before getting up and stretching. Evelyn huffed and smoothed her hair back out. "So, any special requests?" he asked her.

"Don't die," she said.

"Be a shame, then we couldn't bump uglies."

Evelyn shook her head at his stupid phrase. He had a lot of stupid phrases, really. "No, then no one would carry all the dead squirrels," she told him, standing up. He just laughed at her.

"Alright, everyone who is going to Atlanta needs to get moving!" Shane called.

"'Bout damn time, let's go!" Merle said, wandering towards the truck. Everyone leaving was saying their goodbyes except for T-Dog who didn't really have anyone to say goodbye to. He looked nervous so Evelyn made her way over and nudged him with her elbow. He smiled at her.

"Hey, don't look so nervous. Glenn knows his way in and out more than anyone."

"I know. Just can't help it." Evelyn put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly, about to give him another word of comfort before he cut her off. "I didn't realize you and Dixon were so close. I mean…I guess I did, but-"

"What?" Evelyn took a step back, staring at him questioningly. He shifted uncomfortable under her gaze. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothin'. Sorry, just forget I said anything," he grumbled before walking off, leaving her standing there, confused. She saw Merle look questioningly in her direction and she just held her hands up to show him she had no clue, so he shifted his attention to T-Dog as he got in the truck.

"Hey," a voice behind her spoke. She turned to face Daryl standing there with his crossbow over his shoulder, "you about ready to go? I don't wanna stand around here all day."

"Have you eaten?"

"Yeah," he told her, walking towards the edge of the woods. Evelyn didn't think that was the truth, but she wasn't about to try and force him. Besides, she'd packed some food in the old green backpack full of supplies that she carried out on hunts- just in case.

"Well, don't you want to say bye to Merle?" she asked, jogging to catch up with him.

"Already did."

"Oh, okay," she replied, getting the feeling they weren't going to be speaking much to each other today. She could already feel the tension winding itself through the air.

The silence was thick as they went deeper into the woods with nothing but the sound of their boots crunching over sticks and sloshing through the mud. Granted, her steps were still louder than Daryl's, but she'd been practicing on keeping silent. She'd also been training herself to listen and distinguish between the different sounds that could be heard in the wild. Which sounded much easier than it actually was. If you listen very closely, everything has its own distinct sound- no two bird songs are ever the same. It was also very important to note any lack of sound, as animals were highly intuitive and if they fell silent then something most likely very wrong.

"Do you think we should start setting traps up along the trails?" Evelyn asked.

Daryl didn't even bother to look back at her as he responded, "do what you want."

Chewing on the inside of her lip out of annoyance at the younger Dixon brother, she retrieved a couple bundles of snare wire from her bag and began setting traps where she could tell there had been a lot of traffic. Even without Merle there to tell her it was right, she felt pretty confident in her new skill.

By late in the day, Evelyn and Daryl had a pretty sizable haul. Although she offered, Daryl insisted on carrying it by himself. He was incredibly stubborn and also incredibly quiet. Evelyn tried not to let it bother her and focused on listening, but her mind always came back to the question of what she had done to him.

Suddenly, Daryl stopped and squatted down to examine the ground, as he did sometimes. Evelyn leaned back against the tree and watched him, whishing she could see things in the dirt the way he could. Looking up through the trees, Evelyn realized that it was later in the day than she thought and by this time, it would be getting dark before they made their way back. "Daryl…"

"Hush."

"Daryl, we're losing daylight."

"It's a deer." That caught Evelyn's attention as she pushed off the tree and came to kneel beside him. "Tracks ain't nothing but a few hours old. Deer don't travel in the dark, it's probably already lookin' for a place to buck down for the night."

"What do you suggest?" Evelyn asked, as she had not encountered a deer in the whole time she'd been with the group. She suspected they were migrating as far as they could from the city. She had encountered a few when she was on her own, but there wasn't much need for a whole deer for one person.

"I can't track it at night and if we get too close we'll spook it. We should make camp for the night, get the drop on it in the morning."

"Any idea how big it is? We're going to need a plan to haul it back to camp."

"With the two of us, we can probably herd it in that direction, so we ain't gotta drag it as far."

"Alright. I'll start the fire." This wasn't the first time a hunting trip lasted overnight, but it was a rare occurrence. If they were able to get this deer though, it would certainly be worth it. Evelyn smiled to herself thinking how much a deer could feed everyone. Certainly no one would be going hungry that night- especially the kids. Evelyn always worried about the kids.

Daryl and Evelyn split a squirrel and ate the little bit of food she'd brought with them. As it grew dark it grew cold and Evelyn wished she'd brought a jacket- even if it were the ugly green one she'd almost worn out. "We can't forget about those traps tomorrow," she mentioned, attempting to spark conversation.

"Merle teach you that?"

"Yeah, he did."

"You spend a lot of time with him," Daryl said, fiddling with an arrow between his fingers.

"Why is that suddenly a thing people feel the need to point out? It's not like that hasn't been the way it's been since I got here."

"I was just sayin'," he spat, "you ain't gotta make somethin' of it."

"And you know, that's only the case because you can't stand the thought of being near me."

"Says who?" he asked, his voice getting louder.

"You don't have to say it," she retorted. "I get it, I've done something that clearly has pissed you off. I just wish I knew what that was."

"You ain't done nothin'," he told her.

"Then why do you seem like you hate me so bad? I mean, at first, when you brought me here, it was okay, but then you just…" Evelyn sighed and stared out into the dark, tangled forest. Ever since Daryl had brought her here she felt like she owed him something, like she needed to find a way to repay that debt, but it was impossible with the way he acted towards her. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

Daryl was silent for a long time until he finally said, "I'll take first watch." Evelyn just sighed and curled back up against the tree. She didn't like sleeping on the ground, she'd much prefer to strap herself up on a nice fat branch, but she didn't bother. She simply closed her eyes and hoped Daryl would at least wake her up before something tried to rip her throat out. She didn't think she'd wake up screaming or talking in her sleep since she'd been out with Merle before and he never mentioned it, she assumed it only happened when she was alone. Which was fine, really, she didn't want to embarrass herself further. "You didn't do nothing," Daryl said once she started to fade into sleep. She looked over at him through the fire, "I just ain't good with people. You didn't do nothin'." Evelyn wasn't sure if that was true since it seemed more like an excuse than anything, but he sounded sincere enough, which was something she hadn't heard from him since he offered condolences on her father's death. She tried to think of what to say to him in response, but before she got anything out she was asleep.

There was a loud snap and Evelyn was jerked away, reflexively drawing her knife. "Easy, killer," Daryl said as he stamped out the fire. Evelyn rubbed her eyes, realizing day was about to break and the early morning fog had already settled in the air. She stood up, rubbed the soreness from her muscles and the dirt from her clothes.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I didn't get tired, figured I'd let you sleep."

"That's not healthy, you shouldn't do that."

Daryl snorted, "I don't think anything is really 'healthy' anymore."

"I guess. But, next time, wake me up."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's get goin'." Daryl tracked it for a few miles until he was confident that they were close and he knew roughly in which direction it was. He then devised a plan in which they would separate, circle around the area and work their way back towards the camp, corralling the deer in that direction. It was actually a very strategic plan and one similar to something she read about before in a book of Native American culture.

So they split up to execute their plan. Evelyn was determined not to screw it up, so she stayed quiet and low to the ground, masking her scent and often checking for any changes in the wind. When she saw the deer, she tossed a rock against a nearby tree, causing it to flee in the direction where Daryl was waiting to chase it further. This went on for hours until Evelyn finally met up with Daryl and they crept towards the doe in order to take it down. Daryl raised his crossbow and Evelyn took aim and on the silent count of three they both released an arrow, both of them piercing the creature. It let out a cry and darted quickly off. Daryl reloaded his crossbow as they chased after it. They caught up to it only to find it still alive, but leaving trails of blood in its wake. There was a pang in Evelyn's heart at seeing the animal, but she tried to suppress it, reminding herself that this would feed families tonight. Daryl shot it once more and again it ran. "It ain't gonna make it after that. We're pretty close to camp too."

Evelyn grinned, "mission accomplished."

"You ain't too shabby," he complimented causing her to grin wider. "C'mon, let's go get us some venison. We can check them traps later." Evelyn eagerly agreed as they followed the deer. She felt a genuine excitement that she had never experienced before. "You're really gettin' into it, huh?" Evelyn looked over at him questioningly. "The hunt," he elaborated, "you're starting to like it." She hadn't really thought about it, but now she couldn't help but notice there was a part of her that did like it. A part that kept growing each day she spent out hunting in the woods. It wasn't like when she was on her own- that was hell. This was different. She wasn't just doing it for herself anymore and that gave her a sense of purpose.

"Yeah, I guess-" Evelyn was cut off by a distant scream from up ahead. The pair exchanged glances for a quick second before taking off. They came to the edge of the woods and Evelyn's heart pounded, fearing that what she had been warning against all along had come true. Daryl slowed and she followed suit, creeping through the trees. Evelyn nocked an arrow, hoping she didn't have to use it. Daryl held up his hand signaling that he would go first, while she followed close behind.

"Son of a bitch," she heard him say, "that's my deer." Evelyn made her way into the open to see the deer they had been tracking lying on the ground with its innards spilled out and a decapitated walker lying next to it. She shot Shane an 'I told you so' look and he ignored her. "Look at it all gnawed on by this," Daryl kicked the walker, "filthy, disease bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" Evelyn rubbed the back of her neck and let out a defeated sigh, noticing a man she'd never seen before.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping," Dale said, trying to diffuse Daryl's frustration, which only lit it up more.

"What do you know about it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'."

"Daryl," Evelyn said, "there's nothing we can do about it now."

He sighed and plucked their arrows out of the carcass, "we've been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. Think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"We can't risk that," Evelyn said.

"Damn shame," he sighed, handing Evelyn her arrow. "We got some squirrel. 'Bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do." The decapitated walker head suddenly opened its mouth. "C'mon people, what the hell?" Daryl shot it through the eye. "It's gotta be the brain, don't y'all know nothin'?" Daryl walked off and with another glance at Shane, Evelyn followed. "Merle! Merle!" he hollered, dropping his bow next to the campfire, "get your ugly ass out here! Got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

Evelyn dropped her backpack and her bow next to Daryl's. "Daryl, just slow up a bit, I need to talk to you," he glanced over at Evelyn again. Oh no, she thought.

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a… there was a problem in Atlanta."

Evelyn's heart sank and she cupped her hands over her mouth. It took Daryl a minute to process what he was being told and she could see his face grow red with a mixture of emotions. "He dead?"

"We're not sure," Shane admitted.

"He either is or he ain't!" Evelyn felt the hostility building up, so she made her way over next to Daryl in hopes that she could come between him and whatever he was about to do.

The man in the white t-shirt that she didn't recognize stepped forward, "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes," Daryl spat, "you got something you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"You what?" Evelyn asked with a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger.

Daryl was furious as he began pacing, "hold on, let me process this… You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!?"

Rick looked down at the ground almost shamefully, "yeah."

Suddenly Daryl chucked the squirrels at Rick and charged him, but Shane tackled him from the side. Daryl drew his knife and began swinging, but Shane and Rick were able to subdue him rather quickly. "You best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't," Shane said.

"Choke hold's illegal."

"You can file a complaint." Rick kneelt down before him, panting. "I'd like to have calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" After a moment, they let him go where he sat on the ground, catching his breath. "What I did was not on a whim," Rick explained, "your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog spoke up, looking between Daryl and Evelyn, "I had the key… I dropped it."

"And you couldn't pick it up?" Evelyn asked, her voice coming out with more hostility than she recognized.

"I dropped it down a drain."

Evelyn rubbed her hands over her face as Daryl got up, "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Look, I chained the door so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock."

"That's gotta count for something," Rick offered.

Daryl rubbed his eyes and threw up his hand, "hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you," Lori spoke up unexpectedly, "Isn't that right?"

Evelyn wasn't really sure why Lori would make a say in the matter, but the man nodded, "I'm going back," he said before walking off towards a tent that she recognized as Lori and Carl's. Clearly there was something else going on that Evelyn wasn't aware of. But it hardly mattered now. She followed Daryl to where they left their supplies and began wiping down her arrows. "Where are you goin?"

"I'm going with you."

"It's dangerous."

"It's nonnegotiable," she said evenly and with that, he didn't question it. There was no way she could let Daryl, as hot headed as he is, run around Atlanta looking for Merle. Besides the walkers, it was hard to tell what they could run into.

Rick returned, donning a policeman's uniform shirt and involved in a heated discussion with Shane. She knew Shane was a cop, perhaps they had known each other before everything had gone down. The way they spoke, it certainly seemed that way. "Shane, we left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you, Daryl and Evelyn, that's your big plan?" Lori asked.

Rick looked at Glenn, "oh, come on," he protested.

"You know the way. You've been there before, in and out no problem, you said so yourself."

"That's great, so now you're going four men?" Shane asked sarcastically.

"Five," T-Dog spoke up.

Daryl huffed, "my day just keeps getting' better and better, don't it?"

"You see anyone else here steppin' up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?" Daryl asked.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." Evelyn figured that was supposed to be insulting, but Daryl ignored him. And honestly, she wondered why exactly he did want to help, considering how much he openly disliked Merle and how badly Merle treated him. Perhaps it was just the guilt.

"That's five," Dale injected.

"It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. You saw that walker, it was here, and it was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we got. We need 'em here, we need 'em in camp."

"Now he listens," Evelyn said, mostly to herself.

"It seems to me what you really need here most- is more guns."

"Right, the guns," Glenn said, as if suddenly realizing something.

"What guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. 700 rounds of assorted ammo. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Now, that, was certainly a lot of fire power, Evelyn thought to herself. And his statement confirmed that they had known each other before hand. Lori proceeded to speak out against the entire plan, even though she was the one who suggested it in the first place. She also heard Carl call him 'dad', which was interesting because she'd always just assumed Lori and Shane had always been together. Whatever the case may be, she didn't really feel the need to linger on it at the moment. She tossed her arrows into her quiver and fetched a bit of water and dried up meat. "Here," she said, holding it out to Daryl. Daryl opened his mouth to protest, but Evelyn quickly interrupted, "if you want to save your brother, you need it. You're already running on fumes as it is."

He didn't attempt to argue with her, he just grumbled, "fine," and took it as she finished gathering her weapons. Glenn already had a backpack on hand, so she didn't think she'd need to bring her own.

When Daryl finished eating they went to get in the truck, where Glenn was already perched in the driver's seat. Impatiently, Daryl started blowing on the horn, "c'mon, let's go!" T-Dog jumped into the back of the truck and sat across from her, while Daryl took the spot next to her and Rick got up in the passenger seat. "He better be okay," Daryl told T-Dog once they were within the city, "that's my only word on the matter."

"I told you, the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's going to get through that door is us," T-Dog said.

The truck stopped. "We walk from here," Glenn said, hopping out. Immediately Daryl opened the door and jumped onto the ground, Evelyn following suit. Her chest tightened as the only thing she could think was that her father had died somewhere in this city. It choked her, but she pushed the anguish aside and focused at the task at hand as she followed the group down the tracks and through a hole in the fence.

"Merle first or guns first?" Rick asked.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation," Daryl told him.

"We are. You know the geography, so it's your call," Rick told Glenn.

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. So Merle first," he responded as they jogged off through the city. They made their way quietly around the buildings until they reached a department store. There was one walker wandering about on its own, so Daryl stepped up to take care of it. "Damn, you are one ugly skank," he mumbled before firing an arrow between its eyes. He yanked the arrow out and they hurriedly found their way to the service stairwell. When they finally reached the door, it had been locked, just as T-Dog said. He quickly cut the chain and Daryl burst through the door, "Merle! Merle!" Evelyn followed him outside, hoping Merle would be okay. But, when she burst through that door, that hope was shattered. "No!" Daryl hollered. Evelyn just stared in disbelief at what they had found. "No!" Daryl paced back and forth, clearly fighting his own tears, "No!" They didn't find Merle. Instead, they found a pair of red-stained handcuffs, a sawblade and a severed hand.