It hadn't taken Hank long to gather himself again. After a brief conversation about whether or not to go search the building, they decided to leave it. Both because it was too dangerous and Hank didn't want to encounter any of his family. Now they were on the road again trying to move quickly, but not quickly enough to meet back up with the herd.

Hank was being strong and trying not to show his sadness, but Carol could see it in everything he did. She wanted to comfort him and tell him everything would be fine, but she didn't even believe that herself, so she didn't insult him with empty words. They had been traveling in silence aside from the occasional warnings about straggling walkers. They traveled for hours before stumbling on a mobile home deep in the woods.

The trailer had definitely seen better days, it was missing windows and there was large holes in the roof, but it was getting dark and they were exhausted. They secured it as best they could and then laid down to sleep. Carol awoke to the sound of Hank moving around. It was still dark outside, she could see him in the dim light of his flashlight.

"What's wrong?" Carol moved to sit against the wall.

"I keep thinking too much, I'm trying to distract myself," Hank said, annoyance coating his words. "I found us some clothes though. They were in the back room in a closet." He threw a t-shirt and some jeans at her. She held the shirt up and laughed out when she saw the front. At Hanks questioning stare she turned the shirt toward him. It took him only a second to burst out laughing. On the front of the shirt were the words "Dawn of the Dead" in red with a zombie behind them.

"You know, I actually really liked that movie," Hank remarked through the laughter.

"I did too," Carol responded still laughing. Standing and moving to the other room, she quickly changed her clothes instantly feeling a million times better. She still smelled horrible but the fresh clothing seemed to infuse her with a new energy.

When she got back to the living room she saw that Hank too had changed into different clothes. His mood seemed to have lightened a little as well.

"How good are you at hunting?" Hank asked out of the blue.

Carol let out a very un-lady like snort. "I'm not…...not even a little bit."

Hank chuckled "Yeah I'm not either." He moved to look out a window. "I think we should try though. We're both starving. Surely between the two of us we can get something," he finished, not sounding confident at all.

Carol shrugged "Can't hurt to give it a shot." She moved to stand by him at the window. "There was a guy in my group…" she drifted into silence. Hank nudged her shoulder bringing her back to herself.

"Sorry, Daryl he was our hunter. He was great at it, he kept us full of squirrels." She finished lamely. Hank gave her a strange look, but turned back to the window.

Outside there was a small yard and then woods on all sides. They both stepped outside into the yard and looked around. "What's the plan?" Carol asked, having none of her own.

Hank had his hands on his hips looking around intently and his face set in concentration. "No idea," he said succinctly. Looking around some more he met Carols amused gaze. "Well you're the better shot so you have the gun," he explained handing it to her. "Then I guess we just wander around and hope for the best."

Two hours and 4 bullets later they were still empty handed. Dejected they were on their way back to the trailer. Carol was lost in her thoughts when she felt a hand on her arm. She looked to Hank to see him pointing at a rabbit near a fallen log. They both stood frozen in place until finally Carol snapped out of it and aimed the gun. She fired the shot and hit the rabbit in the side. She was startled when Hank ran forward and jumped on the rabbit. It was still alive, but Hank quickly finished it off with a quick snap of its neck.

Carol was startled yet again when Hank jumped up with a whoop and ran to her and picked her up in a hug. She couldn't help but be caught up in his excitement and hugged him back. Hank finally set her down and went to pick up the rabbit. We walked to her looking at the rabbit proudly, but then stopped suddenly, "I don't know how to start a fire."

Carol looked at him incredulously, wondering how he had lasted this long without learning to start a fire. "I have matches in my bag, if that doesn't work there are other ways." Carol almost laughed at the look of relief that passed over Hanks face.

Sometime later they were sitting at a fire stomachs growling at the scent of cooking meat. "It's almost done," Carol said, flipping the meat. Hank was practically drooling already at the thought of food. A few minutes later they were sitting inside both silently scarfing down their meal.

"Tell me about your group." Hank requested quietly.

Carol stayed quiet and Hank thought she wasn't going to respond when finally she started. "I don't know what to say about them. I was with some of them since almost the beginning, we were a family" She paused seemingly lost in thought.

"Why did you leave them?" Hank asked into the quite

"I didn't want to see them die," Carol answered simply.

Hank nodded "I can understand that."

They were both lost in their own thoughts only to be brought back by the sound of a body against the side of the trailer. They both jumped quickly to their feet, but neither moved, they stood listening. The telltale groans of the dead filled the air. There was several more thumps and the groans and snarls got louder. As the walkers piled up against the outside the trailer started to shake and sway. Knowing that trailer lacked in structural security Carol made the decision to run. She pushed Hanks shoulder and pointed to the door. He nodded in agreement. Grabbing their bags that they had kept near them, they moved toward the door.

Carol readied her knife and quickly pulled the door open. There was no bodies in the front. Carol could hear them still piling up in the back. With a quick glance around they were once again running blindly into the night.


It took Daryl a week to get a group back to the warehouse. The herd had taken longer to dissipate than anyone had thought. Now him, Shiloh, Dusty and Glenn were all shifting through the warehouse. They had told the warehouse group that they would bring back any personal items they could for them. Daryl was trying to be patient knowing how hard it was to lose everything, but all he wanted to do was to go check the cabin where Carol had last been found. Their plan was to hit the warehouse and then search the cabin and surrounding area.

Several hours later they were on their way to the cabin. Daryl's leg bounced in agitation. He could only think of the possibility of finding Carol as one of those things. He was actually shaking at the thought of seeing her lifeless, staggering about jaws clashing at the air, forever starving.

"Daryl," Glenn said loudly causing him to jump out of his thoughts. "I called your name three times. Where are you man?"

Daryl shook his head and cleared his throat "Sorry," was all he said. Sitting up he saw that they were pulling up to a cabin. Daryl and Shiloh both jumped out of the car immediately, rushing into the building. They both quickly went through checking every corner. As Daryl exited out the back door finding nothing he almost dropped to his knees in relief. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning he found Shiloh standing there with tears on his cheeks. Shiloh gave him a smile, Daryl gave a nod in return.

Glenn met them outside looking equally as relieved. "What do we do now?" he asked looking at the other two men.

Daryl looked around, "There's no way to track them," he said trying to make out footprints that just weren't there. "We know they at least got out of the cabin. We can search the woods, see if there are any signs of them." Everyone agreed and a short time later they were all walking through the woods.

There journey was uneventful until the stumbled upon a large field. There was an encampment in the middle, but the tents were in tatters and there was walkers stumbling around in the ruins. Not wanting to draw the unwanted attention the group quietly turned and went back into the woods. They continued on their trek, pausing briefly at a small creek to fill up their bottles. The walked for several hours, but never found any sign of Hank or Carol. Before they knew it they had circled back to the warehouse.

The sky was getting dark, "Maybe we should just stay in the warehouse tonight and go back for the car tomorrow morning." Glenn suggested. "We can keep a man on watch."

It only took everyone a few minutes to get settled into the warehouse. They had a brief meal of canned chili and canned peaches. Dusty volunteered for the first watch and the others eagerly accepted. Glenn was next up for watch so he decided to go ahead and get some sleep while Daryl and Shiloh side by side talking. Daryl had never been one for idle conversation, but something about the younger man made him comfortable enough to talk to.

"So how long have you and Carol been together?" Shiloh finally asked.

Daryl sighed "We were together at the beginning. There was a group of us at a quarry close to Atlanta."

Shiloh eyed him carefully "Is she you girlfriend or something?"

Daryl snorted "No, nothing like that. She's my…..." he paused searching for the word. He sighed again, "She's just Carol," was all he could think to say. Calling her a girlfriend or anything like that just didn't seem like enough. She was just his.

Looking at Shiloh he could see that he didn't understand. "So who's this Hank guy? He your boyfriend?"

Shiloh gave him a funny look a slight frown, "Uh…no," was his answer. "He and my brother were friends before the turn. I always considered him a friend, he always looked after me at school. I got picked on a lot and he would help me out. I lost my whole family and found him and we've been together surviving since. I don't know if I can do it without him."

Daryl look at Shiloh closely, seeing the fear he was trying to hide. "You can do it," said simply. "We go on living for the ones who couldn't."

Shiloh looked to be lost in thought, staring into the dark room. "We should get some sleep." Daryl said moving to lay down. Sometime later Daryl was awoken by the sound of someone moving around the room. Sitting up he saw it was just Dusty waking Glenn for watch. Knowing he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon he went outside to take a leak.

Seeing Glenn sitting in a chair in front of the building Daryl moved to sit by him. He sat on the ground with his back against the warehouse, "Do you think it's stupid to keep looking?" Daryl asked Glenn suddenly. An uncharacteristic hint of insecurity in his voice.

Glenn looked to Daryl surprised, "No of course not," he said with conviction. "You never give up until you know in your heart that there's nothing left for you to do. I know that it's not time to give up," Glenn finished.

Daryl looked Glenn over the same way that he had Shiloh. He couldn't exactly pin point when it had happened, but somewhere along the way Glenn had become a very close friend, the whole group had. In the beginning Daryl couldn't even stand the guy. It was strange how the world changed things these days. He would give his life for Glenn and knew that Glenn would do the same for him.

The next morning everyone was up early, Daryl and Shiloh decided to go further on foot checking the woods while Glenn and Dusty went back to the car. They would meet up the road. Daryl and Shiloh walked through the woods talking occasionally and taking care of walkers as needed.

Daryl and Shiloh wandered upon a mobile home in the woods. The walls were down and the doors and windows busted. Not sure why Daryl felt he should check the house anyway, just a niggling in the back of his mind. As they moved to the front yard they could see a makeshift fire pit. It could have been anyone, but Daryl couldn't help the hope he had in stomach.

"That was Hank's," Shiloh said pointing to a shirt laying on the ground. "He wore all the time."

"That's good, that means they changed clothes," Daryl said. "It looks like they had to leave quickly. Anytime there's no fresh walkers is a good thing though," he added wanting to comfort the man a little.

"We're not going to give up." Daryl said after an awkward moment of silence.

"I know," Shiloh said. He looked sad, but was putting on a tough front.

After a brief conversation on what to do, they decided to keep moving forward to see if they found any more evidence. They still had several hours before they had to meet the others. They walked in silence, both searching the area intently looking for any signs.

After wandering around with no luck they made their way back to the road and met with the other two men. Everyone piled into the car feeling dejected. They were once again going home empty handed.


"Is that a car?" Hank asked suddenly, looking around.

"Yeah I think it is," Carol answered. "It's moving pretty fast though."

Carol and Hank had been walking for three days with no luck in finding any shelter. They had been walking while only taking breaks for short naps while one watched. They were tired and mostly keeping to themselves only occasionally warning each other of danger. They were lucky enough to get another rabbit on their second night out. Now they were walking close to the road trying to find something for shelter.

"Which way is it coming from?" Hank said looking up and down the road. "Do we chance it or do we hide?"

Carol thought for only a second before saying "Hide."

They moved quickly away from the road, hiding behind the high brush and trees. As the car passed Carol could just make out four silhouettes. She had a brief flash that maybe they had made the wrong decision, but quickly pushed it down and the kept moving. It was another day of traveling before they finally got lucky and found a small farm house. The windows were boarded and it had very obviously been picked through once or twice.

"Oh looky what I found," Hank said from the kitchen. Carol looked up to see Hank proudly holding up two jars of pickled pig's feet. Carol got queasy at the thought of eating them and her stomach growled at the thought of food.

Hank chuckled at her "Apparently even at the end of the world some people are picky." He sat down beside her and handed her a jar. "I used to eat these with my dad all the time. For some reason he loved them. I mostly ate them just to see him smile," Hank remembered as he opened the jar. He watched as Carol opened the jar and sniffed it tentatively, wincing at the strong smell of vinegar.

"If I've ever had them I can't remember it," Carol admitted as she looked into the jar with a look of detest. After a minute of hesitation she dipped her finger into the slightly jelled mess and starting eating hesitantly. After a two bites she decided it was bearable and dug in with gusto. They were eating in silence with only the occasional sound of slurping feeling the room. She was left with only a liquid at the bottom of her jar when she looked to Hank. Hank was happily drinking what was left in his jar.

The sound of gagging made Hank glance at Carol. "It's the best part," Hank said, nudging Carol's arm with his elbow.

With only a slight moment of hesitation Carol lifted the jar and finished off the contents. Hank gave a laugh at Carol's grimace and laughed even harder when Carol finally said, "That was good," smacking her lips.

They stayed in the shelter of the house until hunger set in and they had to search for food. They were lucky this time and found shelter quickly. This time it was another small house, but was full of canned goods.

They had been there for four days when they were both pulled from sleep by the sound of voices. They grabbed their knives and Hanks gun and moved to the room furthest from the door, trying to give themselves time to judge the amount of threat they faced.

Carol heard the people talking, they were loud and seemed completely unafraid of bringing the walker upon themselves. She could hear both female and male voices. All laughing and making crude remarks toward each other. Carol was nauseous with dread. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hank waving his hand to get her attention. He held up 6 fingers, which was the number she had figured there was also. She knew in her heart that this was going to be yet another battle for their lives.

They didn't have to wait long until they could hear footsteps moving down the hall toward their room. Carol gripped her knife tightly and took several calming breaths. Hank stood behind the door and Carol stood with her back toward the wall furthest from the door. They used the loudness of the group to their advantage, using the voices to know the number of people coming down the hall.

They were ready when the door opened. Hank let the first man pass letting him get closer to Carol. He took the second man. They both raised their guns, but never got a shot off as they were dispensed of with knifes to the throat, almost simultaneously. Hank and Carol both stood frozen, both surprised it had been so easy. Quickly grabbing the guns they retook their positions. Soon the rest of the group were yelling down the hall. They listened as someone was told to go check on the others.

A woman walked in the door her gun raised. Her eyes were huge as she took in the bodies on the floor. Her eyes flicked up to Carol and she snarled as she pulled the trigger. Her shot was knocked off target my Hank ramming her into the wall. Since they had already made so much noise he simply put a bullet through her temple, instantly stopping her struggle.

Even though they knew they were exposed they stayed in the room guns aimed at the ready. Again they heard footsteps, but the person stopped before they got to the door. From her vantage point she could see a head just slightly peak around the corner. The man seemed almost cocky as he put his full body into view in the doorway. Carol could smell the man's body odor from where she was standing across the room. The man's gaze ran over her body and she tensed, his look reminding her of how Charles and Jacob had looked at her. Like she was there for their entertainment.

He took a few more steps into the room, ignoring the bodies of his comrades on the ground, seeming to only have eyes for Carol. When he reaches the middle of the room Hank moves to attack, but is brought up short by the sound of a man and woman talking as they walk down the hall. Hank meets Carols gaze with a nod and Carol pulls the trigger, the first man dropping instantly. There was an instance of total chaos and then everything stopped.

Hank and Carol were left standing in middle of the room breathing heavily. "Why do we always run into the assholes?" Hank asked still panting slightly.

Carol gave a derisive snort, "We're just lucky like that."

They gathered the weapons they could and got out of the house as quickly as possible, not wanting to chance that there was more people in the group. They walked for hours wanting to put as much space between them and the old house as possible.


Three Weeks Later

The yard was abnormally busy, the bright sun and warm air bringing more people out into the fresh air. Daryl was actually enjoying himself walking around and watching people interact. Even though they had all been together for months now, it still surprised Daryl at how well everyone seemed to get along. He had even found himself having conversations with random people and not wanting to kill himself.

Shouts and commotion drew him to the gate. "What's going on?" he asked, not talking to anyone in particular. He was told that someone was coming up the hill. Fighting his way through the crowd, he saw a man slowly making his way up the hill, sliding and catching himself every few feet. Daryl had just raised his bow and was about to shout at the man when a blur streaked past him.

"Hank!" Shiloh shouted as he slid on his knees embracing the fallen Hank. Daryl followed quickly searching the area for any sign of Carol.

"Where's Carol?" He shouted grabbing Hank by the shoulders. Hank looked at him confused, before standing and looking around.

"She was right behind me," he said looking around more frantically now. "We got caught up in another herd, or the same herd I don't know. We ran and were fighting through them. She was right behind me," he finished, tears in his eyes.

All three men were standing looking into the woods when the first bodies stumbled out of the covering of trees, growling and snapping.