Disclaimer: I do not own TWD

Rick watched Alice and Glenn walk ahead of the rest of the group and towards the highway. They hadn't been able to find Sophia where he left her and it brought about a disappointment he'd never felt. He couldn't find the little girl. He told her to stay, he told her she was safe, but she didn't listen. Was he so bad at keeping the group safe that even a little girl knew she was better off trying her hand than waiting for Rick? Had he let yet another person down? Everyone that had gone looking for the girl were tired and their clothes damp from searching the creek.

Alice let her head roll from side to side, trying to gain relief from the knot in her neck. Her back was aching dully from being hunched over so long in the creek and her clothes clung uncomfortably to her frame. She had prayed they would find Sophia, but the little girl was nowhere in sight. She couldn't help but wonder why Sophia had left instead of waiting like Rick asked.

"Are you sure she understood what you were asking of her?" Shane asked lowly, not wanting the others to hear their conversation.

"She understood me fine." Rick snapped. He was already in a bad mood and didn't feel like being questioned.

Shane frowned, but nodded his head. "We're gonna find her. She's gonna be tuckered out hiding in the bush somewhere."

Rick nodded his head silently. He wanted to believe Shane was right, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that was telling him otherwise. He had given her specific directions and for some reason she hadn't follow them. Had there been more walkers he hadn't seen? It was a simple task and yet it hadn't gone right. His head was buzzing with thoughts he couldn't silence. The weight of everyone's dependency was starting to become too much. He wanted to make things right so badly.

He ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the roots in frustration. He was tired, but he couldn't call it quits just yet.

"Daryl." He called, his voice hinting at the exhaustion he was starting to feel. "I want to keep looking. Do you mind coming with me since you know these woods?"

Daryl eyed Rick for a moment, but nodded his head. At first he had be weary of Rick, especially after he had left his last kin handcuffed to a roof. But Rick had proven himself. The redneck sort of felt bad for the former Sheriff. He was the leader of this group and it was a job Daryl definitely didn't want.

"You're gonna keep looking brother?" Shane asked, eyeing Daryl up and down for a moment.

"Yeah. She couldn't have gotten far. Make sure they get back to the highway." He nodded his head in the direction of Glenn and Alice.

"You know I will."

Glenn and Alice stopped walking, realizing the others weren't following them. Alice wiped the sweat off her forehead, hating how hot it was.

"What's wrong?" she asked, letting her tongue dart across her dry lips.

"We're gonna keep looking. Shane's gonna go back with you two." Rick answered. Alice opened her mouth to speak, but Rick held his hand up. "You guys are tired. You need to go back to the highway and rest up. You're no good to us if you pass out."

"I'm not gonna argue against that." Glenn spoke. He took his hat off and began fanning himself with it. "It's hotter than holy hell out here."

"I'm so sorry Carol." Alice whispered while the woman cried into the curve of her neck. She felt the warm tears against her bare skin. There was so much she wanted to say, but nothing seemed like it would be good enough. Carol had lost her daughter and no one could answer where she was. Nothing anyone could say would be enough. "We looked, we looked really hard. Rick and Daryl looked too. We're gonna keep looking till we find her."

"My baby is gonna be all alone tonight." Carol's words came out muffled as her body shook from her sobs. "I don't know what to do Alice. What can I do?"

"Pray Carol." It was all she could offer the mother. Her hand stroked Carols hair, trying to sooth her while the other rubbed her back. She couldn't relate to what was happening, but she knew Carol was in deep pain. Nothing but seeing Sophia alive would make things better.

Rick watched from a distance, his lips in a deep frown. He felt like a failure. He couldn't even bring a little girl back to her mother. He couldn't imagine what he would do if it had been Carl. All he wanted to do was find that little girl. Everyone kept putting their hope in him and all he did was let them down. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a loud sigh. He had no idea what their next move would be or how long they should keep looking.

He knew Carol blamed him. She blamed him for everything because it was easier that way. He knew it wasn't all his fault, but for some reason he couldn't shake the guilt. Had it really been his fault? No one had told him that it wasn't. Did he try as hard as he could to get her? Was there something different he could have done? So many questioned swirled around his head and all he wanted to do was make it stop. He wanted the endless blame and guilt he felt to just stop.

He looked at Lori, hoping for a comforting look in his direction. Instead she gave him one of pity. Pity because he hadn't found Sophia and Carol blamed him. All he needed was for someone to tell him it wasn't his fault and that it was going to all work out, but that seemed to be the last thing he had been receiving.

"Alice, can I talk to you for a moment." Alice looked up from the gauze she had applied to T-dog. He kept bleeding and it was starting to worry her. Shane stood in front of her, his hands in his pant pockets.

"Um sure." She answered, standing up from T-dog. "Come get me if you feel a lot of pain or get a fever, ok?" T-dog nodded, watching her walk away with her husband. He just couldn't understand how such a good woman ended up with Shane. Shane had no idea what he had.

"I wanted to talk to you about earlier." Shane spoke, cutting to the chase once they exited the RV. "You made me look like a fool in front of everyone." His teeth were clenched together as the last few words passed his slightly dry lips. He wanted her to stay behind where it was safer, but she just couldn't listen. She had to be all gun-hoe and roll with the boys. She didn't understand that she wasn't cut out for that and he was just trying to keep her safe.

Alice crossed her arms over her chest. It was getting cold now that the sun had set. "I ain't make you look like nothing." She boldly replied. It was getting easier to say what she wanted. It felt amazing and freeing all at once.

"I asked you to stay behind for a reason Alice. I want to know you're safe." He tried to reason.

"I didn't ask you to do that." She felt a heat in the pit of her stomach as he attempted to justify wanting her to do what he said.

"I'm your husband." She frowned and looked away from Shane. "You ain't gotta ask me to do nothing."

"Husband." She repeated. Her body started to tremble slightly. From anger or the cold, she wasn't sure. He really had the nerve to play the husband card. A part of her wanted to outright laugh in his face. "Yeah, you been doing a great job at that, huh?"

Shane took a step back, caught off guard by her venomous sarcasm. "What did you say? I take care of you-"

"Fuck you." She hissed in a hushed tone. Shane's eyes grew wide, shocked by her words and tone. Who was speaking? It didn't sound like Alice. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. You think I don't know?"

"Know what?" Shane saw the rage that had been bottled up rising to the surface in her eyes. She had never looked at him like that. He saw her hands curl into first, her fingernails digging angry crescent marks in her palms.

"I ain't stupid. I know you were sleeping around with Lori. I know you still want to be with her." Shane wanted to say something, but words refused to leave his lips. That had been the last thing he expected her to say. "Fuck you if you think you have the right to try and be a husband now. You ain't been one for a long time so don't bother now." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I thought I'd always love you, I figured we'd always find a way to get past things, but you went too far Shane. Lori of all people? Your best friend's wife?"

"I thought he was dead Alice." He weakly explained.

"Who cares what you thought? How could you do that to me? With my friend. It was different when it was women I ain't know Shane." Her eyes started to sting, but the anger she felt refused to let him see her cry ever again. She had done enough of that to last her a lifetime. "You ran around on me with these women. You've embarrassed me countless times cause you couldn't keep it in your pants." She glanced down at his crotch with disgust. "Did you think I was gonna keep forgiving you?" he had to stop himself from saying yes. "You ain't just screw Lori, you fell in love with her. I can accept a lot from you, though I never should have, but I can't accept that. You ain't got the right to even look at me."

As the words flowed from her lips, she felt proud of herself. She had finally said what she needed to and it felt like a large weight had been lifted. But she still felt the anger in her chest. There was so much more she wanted to say, and not just to Shane.

"Alice…" He was still in shock. He hadn't expected her to blow up like that. He had thought he'd be the one that would be mad. "There ain't nothing going on between me and Lori."

"I bet. Not since Rick is back and all. You're so pathetic. I don't even know why it took me so long to see it."

"You don't mean that." Shane felt his chest begin to hurt. "You know I love you Alice." The tables had turned now and this wasn't how Shane had envisioned his conversation with his wife going.

She shook her head and held her hands up. "I don't care Shane. You had years to make me feel like you did. You could have fixed this."

"Baby please." He reached out for her, but she pulled back. "Alice, you don't know what you're saying. You're stressed." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

"I'm done Shane. I'm really done. I been on my own since this thing started. I didn't need you then, I don't need you now." A part of Alice felt bad for enjoying the pain Shane was feeling. He was finally getting a taste of what she had gone through for so long. "I won't tell Rick cause I know it'll destroy him. Don't need him feeling like I did."

"Alice…" he watched her back retreat into the RV. Not once did she look back. Shane grabbed the sides of his head and began to pull at his hair. He was starting to lose it more. He didn't want it to be this way, it wasn't supposed to be. Everything was falling apart and he didn't know how to handle it. His hand ran down his face and to his chest. His shirt felt tight all of a sudden. His chest was hurting. He had never felt this kind of indescribable pain before, not even when Lori rejected him

Was this what Alice always felt? How could she deal with this much pain all the time? His eye sight started to blur from tears building up. He kept looking at the RV door, expecting her to run out and say she was joking. She never came back.

Every breath he took was becoming harder and made his lungs feel like they were set aflame. This just wasn't right. Things weren't supposed to play out this way. He had no idea how to sooth this pain.

The pain of heartbreak.

A/N: Thank you for the follows, reviews, and favorite adds =) And I want to thank Exen44 for the suggestion. It was a great one and I definitely incorporated it. This is why I love reviews, gives me ideas ^_^

I was all inspired recently with and idea I just couldn't let go, so it's been delaying my other stories and oneshots. Fear not though, this story will keep getting updated regularly since it's halfway done... It's just my own laziness that delays this.

x XRoweenaJAugustineX x: I have to shout out awesome stories I've become addicted to! I'm already itching for 22! And thank you =) I tried to keep from Andrea bashing and keep her bratty-ass level reasonable.

bluecrush611: thank you! Oh, don't worry, the drama is just about to begin.

BellaLuz64: it means a lot to me that you liked how I portrayed Shane as well as Alice's growth. And I will definitely be touching on how Alice and Rick met.

Dean's Dirty Little Secert: You know as few Rick fanfics as there are, it wouldn't be a bad idea. I've just started reading some of your fanfics and you're good so I'm more than sure if you did a Rick fanfic it would be great!

-Hale: thank you! I hope this didn't disappoint!