K-Mart stared silently ahead with unseeing eyes as she huddled close to Carlos, who stared equally unseeing into a fire that had been lit near the yellow SUV. The slightest sound would create a unison jump from the hundred member group- all except Carlos and K-Mart.

Claire gazed at the pair that had not let go of each other since Carlos had taken the girl into his arms and glared at Claire, LJ, and Mikey as though they alone were at fault for K-Mart's near death. Something about the experience had fused them back together, but this time it was not on K-Mart's side alone, but also on Carlos's.

The ever-strong man had dropped all emotional walls, holding the girl tightly to his chest. He refused to release her even when they moved next to the fire, at which point he had gathered K-Mart up in his arms and carried her. Equally desperate to stay close to him, K-Mart had made no move unglue herself from him. Neither said anything, but their words were written by movements and gazes. Even as Claire watched them, K-Mart rested her head back upon the man's chest, Carlos laying his head gently upon her own, closing his eyes.

Brows knitted tightly, Claire poked at the small fire before her, her heart clenching. Good lord, what would either of them do when one was lost? The fact that eventually, one or the other would be bitten was a frightening thought. Carlos and K-Mart had become so inseparable over time, that the convoy had come to think of them as a singular person. She was not sure that either could live without the other, and she was not sure the convoy would continue without them.

To the convoy, Carlos and K-Mart had become a sign of hope- a hope that a strong relationship could live through this desert-land nightmare. K-Mart's close call had shaken them all, but it had quaked Claire a different way. She had become grudgingly fond of the honey-haired girl that worshiped Carlos's every move, and for the first time in eight years, someone's face with death hit her personally. She had always worried about the convoy, but she had not taken a personal blow for near a decade. The emotions were reeling and unfamiliar, causing her heart to clench and cold stone to drop into her stomach. Sometimes she felt lonely and thought about allowing herself friends again, but it was nights like tonight that reminded her why she had cut her emotions off from the world in the first place.

Tossing a metal canteen she had been holding at the base of the small fire, she laid back, gun in hand, and closed her eyes in attempt to sleep.

Carlos's body was stiff from holding K-Mart in the same position for hours, but he was loath to release her for fear of loosing her again. He clenched his jaw, a muscle in his cheek twitching once. He could not let things continue like this. The ridiculous connection that had been the core of so many issues recently was going to be the death of him, whether physically or psychologically. The warm body curled up against him still jolted with every sound around them, and he held her firmly each time. She, of all the convoy, had a right to be jumpy tonight.

"Carlos?"

Now he jumped, but he looked down at her blond crown of hair with worry. A vicious voice in his head whispered of her telling him to let go, but he pushed it down. If that was what she wanted, then that would be what happened. He just didn't want to loose his little sister…again.

"Hm?"

"This isn't about me."

Carlos's brows came together in confusion.

"What?"

"This..." he felt her small hands squeeze his arm gently. "This is about the little sister you lost. Not me." She was not saying this to gain pity or attention, but simply stating a fact. His heart skipped a painful beat, and he did not answer for a moment. Sighing, he held her closer and shook his head.

"I miss my sister…but you are not her." He paused again, choosing his words wisely. The girl, however strong she appeared, was fragile beneath it all. "She's dead. You are my sister now... and I nearly lost you. It scared me almost as much as it scared you, I think." He smiled gently. "You finally got to use a gun. Enjoy it?"

K-Mart shuddered against him.

"I thought I could handle it…shit, I wanted it." Carlos tsked at a word that he used often, but had never heard emit from her mouth. She ignored his tsking and continued on. "But when I pointed that gun at him and pulled the trigger, I realized what I was shooting."

"You shot a creature, undead," he quipped. She shook her head.

"They may not think like us anymore… but they're still human. It does not change what they are."

"K-Mart…"

"I know. We have to survive. It's just hard to shoot something that was once an innocent human."

Carlos looked into the fire with steely eyes. "No human is innocent. Most of them deserved it." K-Mart nodded, and Carlos let out a tense breath. They were both silent for a moment before K-Mart spoke again.

"If I ever get bitten and turn…give me a bullet in the head for Shila."

Carlos started, but said nothing, feeling his stomach clench violently. This was not what he had wanted for an outcome.