All I can do is apologize! I'm really going to try to do better but if any of you out there are writers then you understand that when there is nothing there, there is nothing there. You can't force it! Obviously, or this would have been out a week ago! Thank you Halo for all of your great ideas! You're a life saver. Or a story saver. Whatever. lol Thank you all for sticking with me. I'm sure this block will pass!

Mirage

Merle waited for Daryl to storm off before he said anything else to her. When he did open his mouth something unexpected came out. "You shouldn't go with us."

She frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? The more people that tags along the safer Sophia is going to be out there. You know that."

He did know that. He also knew that he was able to protect Sophia on his own no matter what. Andrea didn't need to come along. She was accident prone as it was and she had a sister here that needed her and, if he was being completely honest with himself, he just flat out didn't like the thought of her being in danger. "The three of us can handle Sophia. There really ain't no reason for you to go."

"I want to do this. I'm not useless, Merle," she snapped.

He knew this was going to happen as soon as he said something to her. She was going to instantly think that he was second guessing her ability to protect herself and others and it wasn't about that at all. He wasn't ready to tell her any of this though. He just wanted her to stay. "I ain't implyin' that you're useless. But I don't see why you would wanna go when it's pretty damn clear you ain't needed out there. You'd be more useful here."

She crossed her arms over her chest in that defensive gesture that she was a master at and glared at him as he stood up. Before she could say anything else he put up his own hands in surrender.

"If you're hell bent on goin' then by all means, Blondie, have at it. I was just sayin', if ya wanted to stay then you could. You ain't got nothin' to prove around here."

Her eyes seemed to search his face but then she nodded. "Amy is safe here without me. And I can help out there if things go south."

He just shrugged and glanced around his room one more time, deciding that he hadn't left anything behind before he turned off the lamp and stepped around her. The sun was coming up now and bathed the hallway in watery light from the big windows set on each side of the hall. He heard her pull his door shut and then she grabbed his hand.

He stopped and looked down at her, unsure what else she could have to say.

"Thank you, Merle," she said quietly, her hand still in his.

"For what?" He asked, genuinely curious.

She smiled and reached up, crushing his mouth with her own. It caught him off guard and he took a few steps back before hitting the wall, his arms snaking around her waist without him even telling them too. He instantly thought about letting his hands drift farther but he didn't. All that would do was get him all fired up again and it was obvious that she was going to make him work for it if he wanted her.

Someone clearing their throat a little further down the hall had her breaking the frantic kiss. When he looked up he saw the last person he wanted to see. He felt Andrea tense but she didn't try to pull away from him, which he saw as a win.

Rick took a couple of steps closer and then stopped. He didn't look as upset as Merle thought he would. He met Andrea's eyes squarely. "So, this is your decision?" He asked.

Andrea took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Merle wasn't even looking at Rick anymore. He was watching her. "It's just better this way, Rick. You need to put your family back together. Things are different now. You two still have a chance."

Rick smiled but there wasn't any humor in it and it didn't reach his eyes. "And you couldn't have told me this before you ended up in bed with me?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rick. I never should have done that." There was obvious pain in her voice. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She especially didn't want to hurt someone that she cared about and it was obvious that Rick really was someone that she cared for.

"Well. Good luck," Rick said before turning around. "Somethin' tells me you're gonna need it."

Merle wanted to say something but he didn't. He did manage to loosen his hold on her, almost embarrassed when he realized that his arms had tightened. What would he have done if she had tried to run to Rick? Hold her down? He needed to get a grip on himself. He was thinking out of his head. This wasn't him. Losing his mind over some woman wasn't Merle Dixon's style. Then again, almost nothing he had done these past few weeks had been his style.

"Let's go before your brother comes back up here to yell at us," she said, moving away from him but taking his hand once more.

He let her. Not breaking the contact with her even once they made it outside and he knew that Daryl or Carol would be able to see. Hell, it wasn't like Daryl could say anything to him about it. The way he was with Carol was way worse than Merle would ever be with a woman.

Maybe.

~H~

The morning wore on, the heat and humidity adding to their misery. They had managed to stick to the trees so far. When they reached a field they simply followed the tree line around the entire thing. They weren't making good time but then again, time didn't matter. Shane knew that there wasn't a real destination anymore. Not until they came upon some kind of store or landmark that would be able to tell him where the hell they were.

"Do you really think they would look for us on the road?" Sasha asked from beside him.

He glanced down at her and then towards the road they were following. "It's hard to say. I don't know about you but I don't want to find out."

She wiped sweat from her brow. "If we don't find water soon, I don't think we're gonna make it much farther."

He knew what she meant. He could feel himself getting weaker and weaker with every step he took. But they couldn't give up. There was sanctuary somewhere. If not the farm then surely there was something. There had to be.

Tyreese suddenly pointed up ahead to an obvious break in the trees. "You think we should go around again. We're adding miles and miles to our trek by keeping to the tree line. Sasha's right. If we don't find something soon we're gonna die out here. I don't know about you but I'm not ready for that. Not yet."

Shane rubbed a hand across his face and stopped walking. He eyed the break in the trees before he met Tyrees's steady gaze. "We can cut through. I don't know how smart it is but you're right. We keep on like this we'll all die out here. I guess if we hear that truck comin' we can all just drop and hope we look enough like corpses that they drive on past. We've seen our share of dead people since meetin' up so it wouldn't look all that suspicious."

Tyreese and Sasha both nodded in agreement. "Hope it don't come to that," Tyreese said when they finally made it to the edge of the trees. They cautiously stepped out, fully expecting acres of fields in front of them. All of them took in a shocked breath when what they found instead was a boarded up mini mart.

"Are you two seeing what I'm seeing? Because if this is a mirage then I think I'm gonna go ahead and lay down and die right now," Sasha whispered.

Tyreese let out a low whistle. "No, it's there. And it seems to be intact. It looks like the owners just boarded it up and skipped out."

Shane's heart was beating fast in anticipation. There had to be food and water still inside. The only thing that had him feeling nervous was the fact that it did seem to be completely untouched. It was like a flashing neon sign for anyone on the road, including their enemies. "It's a risk but it's one we really don't have a choice but to take."

The three of them walked quickly to the back of the building, hoping there was a door there so they wouldn't have to try to pry the boards from the windows or doors in the front. There was only one door and it seemed to be chained shut. There were two smaller windows back here and neither man hesitated to start prying the wood off of one of the window.

Shane and Tyreese both nearly fell when the wood gave way easily. Under the board the window was already busted out.

They looked at each other and then over their shoulder at Sasha. She scowled. "Why in the hell would someone board this place up if it was already ransacked?" She asked.

"Maybe it isn't ransacked," Shane mumbled as he approached the window. They had lost most of their gear when they had escaped that group so he didn't have a decent weapon and they didn't have a flashlight. He moved closer and strained his ear to listen for any sounds of walkers but he heard nothing at first.

From further back in the store he heard the telltale sound of someone stepping on glass and then more silence. No walker would have a reason to be that cautious. He stepped away from the window and put his back against the hot bricks and motioned for Sasha and Tyreese to do the same. He glanced at them with his finger to his lips.

"There's somebody in there. Somebody alive," he whispered.

"Then we need to see who it is," Sasha hissed. "Shane, we can't leave. We don't know when we'll find another building and we'll all end up dying. Maybe we can rest here."

Shane turned back to her but closed his mouth when he saw that there was someone new standing there. It was a woman standing with her shoulder leaning against the bricks not even five feet away from them. She met his eyes but the expression on her face never changed.

"Who the hell are you?" Shane snapped as Tyreese and Sasha finally turned to see the newcomer.

"Have any of you been bit?" The woman asked, eying them with a level gaze.

"No, none of us have been bit," Sasha said as she stepped past her brother. She shook off Tyreese's grip when he made a grab for her to pull her back. "We've been on the run from some pretty bad guys. We have no weapons and we need water."

Shane cursed under his breath. The last thing they should tell some stranger was that they weren't armed.

After a few more silent moments the woman finally sighed and then motioned for them to follow her around the side of the building. Sasha went to follow but this time Shane beat Tyreese to it. He grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"We don't know that woman. There could be more people just waitin' to ambush us now that they know we aren't armed," he snapped.

"It's just me," the woman said as she poked her head around the corner. "There's food and water in here and you're welcome to it. But if one of you try anything, I won't have a choice but to kill you." Without another word she disappeared again. This time Shane, Tyreese and Sasha followed.

The woman moved one of the boards out of the way easily, revealing a door that was still intact. She went through, holding the door open until they were all inside. She quickly fixed the board back as she pulled the door closed. The room was plunged into darkness and Shane instinctively pulled Sasha until she was safely behind him, her body smashed between his back and the wall. He tried to force his eyes to adjust to the darkness but suddenly the woman had a lantern in her hands, the small flame coming to life and bathing the room in a soft glow.

"Can you give me a little breathing room now?" Sasha asked from behind him.

He mumbled an apology as he moved away from her. His eyes tracked the woman as she moved to the other side of a rack that held candies and bags of potato chips. Shane's mouth watered as he took in the trove of junk foods.

"Here," The woman came back around with bottles of water, handing each of them one before opening one of her own.

"Thank you," Sasha said after she drank half of her bottle in a few long gulps. "I'm Sasha and this is my brother Tyreese and our friend Shane. We really appreciate the help."

The woman took a drink and then nodded, her face still unreadable. Shane had had enough of all this mysterious crap. "You gotta name, lady?" He finally asked when she didn't offer one.

She sighed. "Michonne."

~H~

"What the hell is that?" Daryl asked as he squinted. The sun was was right in front of them and he hadn't thought to bring any sunglasses. The last thing a person usually thought about when the dead had risen to eat the living was UV damage.

"Smoke," Carol muttered from the passenger seat as she shielded her eyes from the glaring sun.

Sure enough it looked like something was burning in the middle of the woods in front of them and slightly to the right. He frowned. "Only a dumb ass would intentionally start a fire that big out here. Not unless they wanted to get someones attention," Daryl said as he slowed the truck a bit.

"Should we..."

"Turn!" Sophia nearly screamed from the backseat, causing Daryl to swerve in the road.

Daryl cursed under his breath. "Turn where? There ain't no goddamn road up here."

"Daryl," Carol pointed to a small gap in the trees, "There's a driveway there."

"You sure about this, Sophia?" Daryl asked as he slowed the truck down to a crawl.

"He's been there. I know he's been there," she said quickly.

Carol turned in the seat. "Sophia, honey, how can you know that?"

Sophia groaned and then rubbed her temples. "Merle told me?"

Daryl's eyes shifted in the rear view mirror to meet his brothers. Merle shook his head. "I didn't tell ya nothin' like that."

"Not you," Sophia growled as Daryl pulled into the hidden drive.

No one else said anything as they made their way towards the smoke. If the men had still been there surely "Merle" would have told her that part as well. The whole thing seemed very surreal and it made his blood run a little cold in his veins, washing a chill up his spine. He didn't try to wrap his mind around what it was that Sophia could do. He simply accepted it. They all did because if any of them ever tried to figure it out then they would likely lose their minds in the mystery of it. There was plenty enough to fill everyones thoughts without trying to carry the burdens of one little girl. He worried about her constantly but he was pretty sure that this gift, or curse, was something she was strong enough to carry. It made her stronger than he would ever be, that was a fact.

"I'm gonna pull off. You never know if there's still somebody there keepin' watch." Surely they wouldn't have started a fire that big and just leave it. It seemed like whoever set it were trying to draw people in or warn people away. It wasn't making any sense to Daryl either way.

They all agreed and as soon as he found a spot to pull over they all climbed out. They all stood there by the tail of the truck, waiting for Daryl to tell them what the plan was going to be. He opened his mouth to say something but when he glanced down at Sophia he closed it with a frown. She was looking pretty pale and she was sweating something fierce.

"Hey," he muttered as he knelt down in front of her, gripping her shoulders. "You feelin' okay?"

She nodded and then motioned for the woods. "I think it'd be smartest of we went through the woods just in case. I don't think there's anyone left there but this stuff isn't one hundred percent."

He stood up and nodded. Taking her hand he was about to head into the trees when she suddenly stopped. "I have to tell you something," she said quietly.

His eyebrows came together as he stared at her. She still looked rather sick but there was another look in her eyes as well. Guilt. "Sophia," he said in a warning voice.

She huffed and then glanced over her shoulder. "Okay," she called as loud as she dared.

Daryl scowled and looked in the direction Sophia was looking. Suddenly there was someone standing in the bed of the truck, looking just as guilty as Sophia did.

"Goddamn it, Carl!" Daryl barked and then glanced around when he realized how loud he'd said the boys name.

Carl jumped from the truck and made his way to them. "I'm sorry, Daryl. I really am. I just couldn't let her come out here without me." He faced Daryl bravely.

"It was my idea," Sophia said as she tugged on Daryl's hand.

"Bullshit!" Daryl growled. "You know how far this sets us back? We gotta take him all the way back to the farm. Rick and Lori are probably freakin' the hell out right now." He kicked at a shrub.

"I couldn't let her go without me," Carl repeated causing Daryl to stop in his tracks and glare the boy down.

"You're a kid, Carl. You do whatever the hell we tell you to do, do you understand that?"

"Daryl," Sophia said, taking his hand again. "We don't have time to take him back to the farm. That man was here. If we go back now we'll never find him. He isn't gonna stay in this area forever."

Daryl felt his face heat up as his blood pressure sky rocketed. "Fine!" He snapped and then suddenly his finger was shoved in Carl's face, "But you best listen to everything I say, you got it. I tell you to do anything, you gotta listen to me. We can't have you wonderin' off and gettin' into trouble. This is serious."

Carl narrowed his eyes. "I'm not a stupid little kid," he bit out bravely. "Not like I was before. I know what I'm doin' if you guys would all just give me a chance."

Daryl snorted. "Not that little kid, huh? The one thing you were asked to do was stay in the damn house, Carl! You sure as hell ain't provin' to me that you changed any."

"Are you people ever gonna let me live that one down?" Carl complained as he made his way to Sophia's side, heading through the trees.