We drove into Atlanta, and stopped for the night in an empty building. We discussed that we were now driving to Fort Benning. To save on gas, we had to get rid of a few cars. Daryl got rid of his pick up and is now riding on his brother's bike. I took his bag and Jamie and I were now riding in the RV. T-Dog left his van and Shane also got rid of his jeep and is riding with Tyler.

I haven't spoken to Tyler in a while, which scared me. If he kept his feelings bottled inside, he'll explode eventually. And I know that I'll be on that tail end of anger.

Daryl rode first on the motorcycle, then it was the RV, the Cherokee, and Tyler's truck. We were silent for a few hours, Jamie napping on my lap, when Dale spoke,

"Oh, jeez."

I looked out the windshield and saw that there was a car pile up on the road in front of us. Daryl drove back to Dale's window,

"See a way through?" Dale asked him.

Daryl nodded and motioned for Dale to follow before Daryl turned the bike around and the RV followed.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back." Glenn suggested, "There's an interstate bypass-"

"We can't spare the fuel." Dale replied.

I tried not to look out the window as we passed by the cars. I knew there were probably dead bodies inside. Then the front of the RV popped and made a clanking noise. Dale stopped the vehicle and hit the steering wheel, "Damn it."

I woke Jamie up and we got out of the RV,

"I said it." Dale said, "Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water."

"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked as he met up with us.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-." Dale stopped and looked around, "Okay, that was dumb."

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane began.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl said, looking through a SUV.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog replied.

"Maybe some water." Carol continued.

"And food."

"This is a graveyard." Lori said, "I don't know how I feel about this."

"Come on, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can." Shane said after a moment of silence.

I set Jamie on his feet an we walked over to a car and I started going through it.

"Momma, look what I found." Jamie said exitingly.

I looked up and saw the happy grin on his face as he held up a notepad he could draw on.

"Good job, Jamie." I said, "Why don't you go back to the RV and put it in your back pack."

He nodded and got out of the car and ran towards the RV. After grabbing a bag and putting a box of crackers and some blankets in there, I looked up and saw Jamie on the RV with Dale. That's probably the safest place for him right now.

I moved onto the next car and noticed that there was a baby seat in the back. There used to be a little kid in this car. The car seat looked like Jamie's size and I went into the trunk and found a few clothes for the boy. After stuffing a few shirts and pants, I found some more food. In the compartment in the trunk, there was a gun and a few boxes of bullets.

"Jack pot." I whispered before putting that in the bag.

I was about to walk ahead when there was a hand on my mouth and around my waist and I was pulled into the car beside me.

"Shh." I heard Daryl whisper in my ear as I struggled. "Walkers."

"Jamie." I whispered when he took his hand away.

"He's with Dale. He's safe." Daryl replied, "Stay here."

He kissed the back of my head before leaving the car and shutting it softly. There was a towel next to me and I covered my head with it and locked the door before crouching lower in the seat. Outside the car, I heard the moans and shuffles of a lot of walkers. Once the noise was gone, I quietly opened the door. I then heard screams and I saw Sophia get out from under a car and run into the forest on the side of the road. I grabbed my knife and started running after her and the walkers. I felt my shirt being tugged and I looked behind me to see Rick. We ran parallel with Sophia until I stopped Rick.

"You get the walkers, I'll get Sophia." I said.

He nodded before we separated and continued running. I saw her trip and fall and I ran over to her. I helped her up before running over to a tree.

"Climb up, and do not come down until Rick and I come, got that?" I asked.

She nodded and I helped her up the tree before I heard the walkers.

"Stay there!" I yelled at her before I continued running. "If I don't come back, got straight back the way your came. The others are on the highway!"

I ran until I came upon a small river and I fell in. I laid there for a moment until I heard another splash. I grabbed my knife and prepared myself to stab the walker, but it was Rick.

"Where's Sophia?" He asked as he helped me up.

I had her climb a tree. Where's the walkers?" I questioned.

"Behind me." He answered I looked over his shoulders.

I heard the moans and they suddenly appeared beside the creek and fell in. We slowly traveled up the river, having the walkers follow.

"You take on, I take the other?" I asked.

"All right." Rick replied.

I got out of the creek and onto dry land and had one walker follow me while the other followed Rick. I ran as it followed me and I hid behind a tree and waited for the walker to catch up. Once I heard it stumble upon the trees, I griped the hilt of my knife and tackled it before stabbing it in it's eye. I stabbed it a few times before walking back towards the river.

"Violet!" I heard a hushed whisper.

I looked over and saw Rick limping over to me.

"Come on. Let's get Sophia." I told him before I walked back towards the tree where I left her.

Once we got to the tree, I looked up and didn't see her.

"Sophia?!"

When there was no response, I kicked the tree in frustration.

"You sure this is the tree?" Rick asked.

I looked up and saw a torn piece of fabric on a branch, the same color as Sophia's rainbow shirt.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I answered, pointing at the blue shirt piece.

"Maybe she's back on the highway, let's go." Rick replied, grabbing my arm and we went back to the road where the others, and hopefully Sophia, were waiting for us.

"Mommy!" I hear Jamie yell and he ran and hugged me.

"Hey, baby." I whispered as I petted down his hair.

"Where's Sophia?" Carol asked.

I looked up and around, noting the girl wasn't here.

"She-she's not back?" I asked.

Carol let out a sob and Lori wrapped her arm around her shoulders. I put Jamie back on the ground and turned to Rick,

"We got to go back." I said.

"I'll go back to the tree with Daryl, Glenn, and Shane. You stay here with your boy." He replied.

"Rick-" I started.

"Listen to him, Vi." Daryl said, "I'll help look for the girl."

I sighed and nodded, picking Jamie up again. Daryl grabbed his crossbow from his back and kissed my temple and left with Rick, Glenn, and Shane. I frowned in confusion as I watched him leave. I sighed again before I turned back to the others.

"What happened?" Lori asked.

"She was being chased by some walkers. I put her up into a tree, told her that if Rick and I didn't come back, to come back here. When she wasn't in the tree, Rick thought that she came back here." I answered.

I brought Jamie back to the RV and he snuggled his head into my neck and cried. I tried to shush him and Dale came into the RV with some crackers.

"I found the bag you had while you searched through cars. THought you and Jamie might be hungry." Dale said.

I nodded and grabbed the box, "Thanks, Dale."

He nodded, "I'll be outside if you need me."

A while later, Shane and Glenn came back and we were given chores. Jamie stayed with Carl as I helped go through cars. A hand went around my mouth again and I was pushed against the car.

"You little slut." Tyler whispered in my ear.

I struggled against him and he gripped my arm tightly and turned me around before pinning me against the car again.

"You think you can move on from me that quickly? You whore. You think he likes you? Huh? No one wants you, bitch. He's using you. Hell, everyone uses you. Even that little boy. He's using you to survive. And that hick, he's probably using you for sex." Tyler said.

I growled before biting his hand.

"Ow! You bitch!" He exclaimed before I kneed him where the sun don't shine.

Once he was on his knees I rushed back towards the others. I saw Carol looking towards the woods and walked up to her.

"I'm sorry, Carol." I whispered.

"For what?" She asked, looking at me.

"I should have stayed with her. I thought by putting her in that tree and running off to kill the walker I was protecting her. And now she's lost." I replied.

"Oh, sweetheart. It ain't your fault." Carol responded before hugging my and I hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry." I repeated and hugged her back.

We leaned against the car that was behind us, waiting for Rick and Daryl to get back with Sophia. When the sun started going down, Andrea came over and touched Carol on the arm.

"It's late. Gonna be dark soon." Carol said.

"They'll find her." Andrea replied.

Jamie came over and he was sucking on a lollipop and I picked him up as Rick and Daryl came back. Without Sophia.

"You didn't find her?" Carol questioned.

"Her trail went cold." Rick replied. "We'll pick it up again at first light."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." Carol said.

"Out in the dark's no good." Daryl responded, "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."

"But she's twelve. She can't be out there on her own." Carol pleaded, "You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic." Rick said. "We know she was out there."

"We tracked her for awhile." Daryl added.

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick said.

"Is that blood?" Carol asked, looking at Daryl's jeans.

She started breathing heavily and Lori rubbed her shoulders.

"We took down a walker." Rick answered for him.

"A walker? Oh god."

"There was no sign it was ever near Sophia." Rick told her.

"How can you know that?" I asked.

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." Daryl answered.

Carol sighed and sat on the railing and Lori sat next to her, "My little girl got left in the woods."

Lori and Andrea comforted her and Rick started walking down the road. I went into the RV where T-Dog was resting and grabbed Jamie's sleeping bag before we left again. I found a pick up truck and I moved things around so there was enough room for Jamie to lay down. After spreading out his sleeping bag, I had him lay down.

"Night mommy." Jamie whispered.

I kissed his head, "Good night, sweetheart."

I leaned against the hood of the truck and sighed.

"He touched ya, again, didn't he?" I heard Daryl ask.

He was glaring down at my arm and I noticed there was a bruise, "Yeah."

He kicked the tire and leaned next to me, "Should've been there."

"You were looking for Sophia. Besides, you can't always be there." I replied.

"Yeah, well, I can sure try. I should beat the shit out of 'im." Daryl said.

"Already took care of it. Probably trying to find something cold to put on his crotch." I responded.

He let out a small chuckle before rubbing my arm, where the bruise was.

"It'll disappear." I whispered.

Daryl huffed, "Tomorrow, everyone's gonna go out and look for Sophia. T-Dog and Dale are stayin' behind. I want you and Jamie to, too, alright?"

"Alright." I replied. "Just find her, please?"

He stopped rubbing my arm and I looked up and into his light blue eyes. He leaned down and kissed me softly. I put my arms around his neck and he lifted me up and I sat on the hood of the truck. I felt his hands move up from my waist and into my dark hair.

The next morning Jamie was still asleep o the truck as the rest of us gathered around the hood of a car and Rick laid out an arsenal.

"Everybody takes a weapon."

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea replied. "What about the guns?"

"We've been over that." Shane said. "Daryl, Rick, and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea snapped.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment and a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it. " Shane replied.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side." Daryl said. "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Rick ordered.

I walked over and woke Jamie up and started rolling up his sleeping bag.

"Hey." I heard Daryl say as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

I smiled up at him, "Hi."

"We'll find her." He told me before kissing my head and looked at Jamie, who was watching us, "You take care of your momma, all right?"

Jamie nodded and Daryl ruffled his hair. He squeezed my hand before he left with the others. I brought Jamie to the RV and had him climb up on top of it with Dale. I decided to go through more cars. I knew we were gonna need more clothes and I was going through a suit case and I found some clothes in my size. Some shorts and a few tank tops. I even found some that might fit Carl. After putting them in a bag, I carried them over to the RV. When the sun was high in the sky, I knew it was probably around noon. I grabbed some jerky and gave it to Jamie.

A few hours later the group still wasn't back. I was starting to get worried. To keep myself occupied, I played checkers with Jamie. Then I heard a gunshot.