Everyone was nervous as the walls shook as the bodies slammed into them. The moans and snarls were louder than any of them had ever heard. Daryl stood in his perch watching the bodies still moving out of the woods. He tried hard not to think of Carol out there by herself, fighting for her life. He wanted more than anything to be out there with her, wanted to protect her. He refused to think that she wasn't still fighting, that she was one of those things.

"Daryl," Rick's voice drifted up to him.

Daryl looked over the edge to see Rick signaling for him to come down. At the bottom of the perch Rick, Glenn, Maggie and Michonne were all waiting for him.

"The herd is starting to thin. We thought you would want to be part of the group going to look for Carol when its time," Rick explained. Daryl gave a simple nod. "Hank said that they had to fight through herds before, she knows what she's doing Daryl," Rick continued feeling the stress coming off the other man.

"I know," Daryl said brusquely. "What's the plan?"

Eight hours later they were in the woods looking for Carol and taking out any of the left over walkers. An hour into their search they found their first clue about what might have happened. There was a significant pile of walkers all with knife wounds to the head. Someone had made a stand here. Daryl searched the area and came up short when he found a fresh body. It was a man, his throat was torn out, but a gunshot to the head had kept him from turning. As the group moved further they found five more bodies all bitten, but taken care of before they turned. None of them were Carol.

As the sky started to darken the group started back toward home. Daryl was trying to piece together where Carol fit into what they had just seen. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sounds of leaves rustling, raising his bow he moved slowly toward the sound. The others had all stopped as well weapons raised, covering Daryl from the back.

As Daryl got closer he could hear what sounded like crying, sobs and sniffles. When he could finally see the person he could tell it was a woman, but it wasn't Carol. The woman had her back to him, she was standing over something but from his vantage point he couldn't see it yet. As Daryl quietly moved around the woman he saw that on the ground was a small child, probably around 5 years old. There was an obvious bite mark on the child's shoulder. A gunshot wound to the head had taken care that she wouldn't turn, just like the others.

Daryl looked to the woman now, she had her own wound on her shoulder. The woman made eye contact with Daryl, before he could even open his mouth. She raised the gun to her temple and pulled the trigger. Daryl jumped at the sound and watched as she fell beside the child, her arm landing around the small frame forever protecting.

Daryl looked to his own group, they all stood silently tears in their eyes. They came back the next day and burned the bodies.

Daryl was sitting by himself outside in the yard when Hank came and a sat in the chair beside him. "I know she's still alive," Hank said simply.

Daryl looked at him closely, he looked like he had been through hell. "What happened to ya'll?" Daryl asked.

Hank shrugged "We survived," was all he said. Looking to Daryl again, "She is a fighter, you know this. She was armed. I don't know how we got separated. I guess I was just so excited about finding other people I left her. I know she was right behind me."

Hank seemed lost in his on world, Daryl simply listened. "We had to kill people. I've never done that, she said she had. She said it was just the way it was," Hank paused. "She can't be gone."

Hank looked to Daryl. "She can't"


Carol once again found herself running for her life. This time though she was alone. She wasn't even sure how she had managed to lose Hank, but one minute he was there the next minute gone. When she saw the herd she had started running in the opposite direction trying to out run around it instead of through it. She had seen other people, but had been unable to do anything for them. She had seen a small child and moved to protect her but was too slow and had to keep moving, just another failure to add to her growing list.

She had eventually stopped seeing walkers, but kept running to put more space between her and them. Now she was walking, she knew she couldn't be more than a few miles from where she had lost Hank and planned to go look for him, but needed to give the herd time to pass and needed to regain her bearings.

Walking close to the road she eventually stumbled upon a small gas station. Carol could tell even before entering it had been picked over several times, but the windows and doors were intact so she entered cautiously. She was met with the stench of death and the sound of snarling. There was three walkers were dispatched of quickly and pulled out of the door in the back. She couldn't risk burning them with a herd so close.

She searched the building only finding a few cans of food with no labels. She practically cried when she stumbled upon a bottle of hand sanitizer, immediately taking advantage of it. After securing the doors as best she could she made herself a little nest in an aisle toward the back, out of sight from the windows.

After settling down in a back room she started to think. She had gotten used to Hanks presence and now she was feeling a little lonely and exposed. Feeling her mind start to wonder to things and people she didn't want to be thinking about she decided to take stock of the supplies she had. She knew she would have to go tomorrow to find water, she had finished her last earlier that day and there was none in the store. She had a gun and a knife, four cans with no labels, the hand sanitizer and some candles. That was all she had to her name. She figured she could be doing worse. Her exhaustion eventually caught up with her, so using her lumpy bag as a pillow she was soon asleep.

Pain in her shoulders from her uncomfortable sleeping position caused Carol to wake early. She let out a un-lady like grunt as she moved to her feet, there was nothing like a night on a hard floor to make you feel your age. Moving slowly she took care of her morning routine and then sat down on a desk to eat breakfast. The can didn't have a label on it so she held her breath as she opened it, hoping for something good. She frowned and threw the can top on the floor when she discovered corn would be her breakfast that morning.

The corn had been underwhelming, but she was full. Now she was trying to figure where she was, with all the running the day before she wasn't able to place the area. She had paid little attention to her surroundings the day before. It was mid-day when she heard the noise she had been searching for, the faint sound of a stream. She immediately changed directions heading toward the sound. When she found it she paused a moment enjoying the beauty of the water, the she quickly filled her bottle and downed it, before filling it again along with two extras she brought.

As she was tightening the cap of the last bottle she became aware of voices. She could just make out what sounded like two women arguing. She sat and listened and couldn't help but chuckle when she realized the very heated argument was over berries. Not being able to help herself she decided to get a closer look at the feuding women.

As quietly as she could she moved toward the voices. They came into view right as the younger woman tossed a handful of berries into the other woman's face. The indignant look on the face of the woman hit in the face was enough to make Carol laugh out. The duo didn't hear her though as they had already started yelling again. It was only then she noticed a small boy sitting on the ground playing with a toy truck. He was around seven or eight Carol guessed. He looked bored out of his mind. Carol watched as he leaned over and picked up one of the fallen berries, but before he could even move it to his mouth the youngest woman knocked it out of his hand.

Sighing, knowing she wouldn't be able to just walk away from the obviously hungry trio she moved out of her hiding spot. The women immediately stopped arguing and both reached for the boy, pulling him to stand behind them. Holding up her hands Carol moved a little closer before saying, "You know there's an apocalypse happening. You can't just be yelling out in the open like this."

When she was close enough she stopped and looked at the berries they were arguing over. "Those are poisonous," Carol said casually. Daryl had given her a berry lesson once when they had been trying to avoid people in the crowded prison. Shaking her head slightly to keep from thinking about Daryl she put her bag on the ground. Kneeling to dig out two cans she opened them, before standing to hand them to the women. There was only a second's hesitation before they each took one with a thanks. Seeing that neither of them had any bags or any sign of water she gave them each a bottle of water, knowing they would share with the boy as they were both alternating bites with him from their cans.

Carol stood slightly awkwardly as the small family ate and drank like they hadn't in days, which of course was most likely true. She saw the oldest woman tense and gasp as she was looking past Carol. Carol heard the snarls before she turned. There was only two walkers but the terror was radiating off the small group. She knew immediately that they had no experience with the walkers. Pulling her blade from her belt she met the walkers half way and dispatched of them quickly.

When she looked back at the women they both had shocked expressions on their faces. Carol was impressed to see that they had again moved the boy to shield him behind them. Meeting the little boy's big blue eyes, she knew she wouldn't be able to leave them to fend for themselves. Wiping her knife on the ground she asked, "Where have you been hiding?"

The oldest woman was the one to answer "We had a small camp from the very beginning. It was a government set up thing. We haven't been out of the walls since it started," she paused a look of pain passing her face. "We were overrun a couple of days ago. There was a big cluster of them and the walls failed. We had a car and drove until we ran out of gas yesterday. Then we just walked."

"Which direction did you come from? What direction was the herd moving?" Carol interrupted.

The younger woman explained that they came from the west and the herd was moving in the opposite direction. Carol was relieved that the herd she had out run and this other herd wouldn't be meeting up anytime soon. "I'm in a store back that way," Carol said pointing. "It's too late now, but tomorrow we need to try to find you some supplies. You can't be running around unarmed and unprepared. You're just lucky that the walkers all seemed bunched together right now." She knew she sounded harsh, but she didn't care.

She told them to follow her and after stopping by the stream to refill their bottles they started back toward the store. There was no conversation and Carol was fine with that. By the time they reached the front of the store the sky was almost completely dark. Pulling out her flashlight and gun Carol entered the store first, telling the others to wait. Not wanting to take any chances that some traveler and stumbled upon her hiding spot. When the coast was clean Carol called the other in and blocked off the entrance.

Moving everybody to the back room she lit a couple of candles throwing the room in a dull yellow light. Turning off her flashlight to save batteries she sat on the ground motioning the others to join her. The women sat with the boy between them. There was an awkward silence until finally the youngest woman spoke, "My name is Robin, this is my mom Debra, and this is my son Liam."

Carol nodded, "My name is Carol."

Robin smiled seeming slightly more comfortable now that she knew Carols name. "Have you been alone the whole time?" Robin asked curiously.

Briefly lost in memories Carol didn't immediately answer. Then realizing the hanging question she simply answered, "No." Pulling the last can out of her bag she offered it and the can opener to her new companions. Knowing it wasn't smart to use up there last can of food so quickly, she couldn't let the Liam go hungry either. They would set out tomorrow to look for supplies and weapons. She wouldn't let these women be weak like she had been, not too long ago.


After a nice night's sleep Hanks mind was clearer and he had gone back out with Daryl again down the mountain and in the surrounding woods to look for Carol again. Hank knew that she would have kept running until she had felt safe and there was no real way of knowing which direction she would have gone in. He told Daryl as much, but the man had searched the entire day before returning to the camp with slumped shoulders.

"At least we know she out ran the herd," Hank said to Daryl later that night as they stood in line for food. Daryl only gave a nod. Hank wanted to say more, but he knew whatever he said wouldn't help any. He knew how he felt when he thought he had lost Shiloh. He didn't know the exact relationship of Carol and Daryl but he could feel the pain pouring off the man and knew there was a deep connection there. Carol hadn't said too much about her personal stuff, but he had felt that she was missing someone. Hank knew he would do whatever he could to get the two back together. He owed them both that much.


Carol was the first to wake up, she had slept sitting up against the wall allowing the others to sprawl out a little more. She looked at the others and they were cuddled in a pile Robin and Debra had their arms protectively over Liam. Carol felt very lonely despite the full room. Standing quickly and quietly she quickly moved out of the room, giving the others slightly longer to sleep. When Carol was able to see out the windows she saw that it was still really early. The sky was just beginning to lighten.

She stood staring out the window until she heard the others moving about in the small room. It didn't take long for them to come out of the room looking to take care of morning routines. Thirty minutes later and with very little conversation they were heading out the door. As much as Carol didn't want to go the opposite direction of where she lost Hank she knew that there was nothing in that direction that would be helpful. They would have to double back when the others were better supplied.

Having been behind the walls for so long the other two women were slightly out of shape and they had to take several more breaks than Carol had wanted. Nobody had complained not even Liam, who was simply walking quietly along with them. They had a slightly slower pace so his shorter legs could keep pace. They were making their way through a thickly weeded area when Carol paused, causing Liam to bump into her. She gave him a smile and he gave her a bashful one back. She looked up at the confused women and smiled. "These berries we can eat," Carol said with a chuckle pulling a berry off the vine and popping it in her mouth. "You can eat the red ones, but they aren't as sweet."

She smiled when Liam started eating them with gusto, and laughed out loud when he ate a red one and made an ugly face at the bitterly sour taste. They ate all the ones they could find from the sparse bush and then moved on. They all seemed to have a little more pep in there step and were making better time.

It was late afternoon when they happened upon a small shopping center. There was a grocery store and a shoe store and several clothing stores and even a sporting goods store. Carol didn't get her hopes up knowing most likely that they all had been picked over. She told the group as much, getting nods of understanding.

They started with a shoe store, the others were all wearing tennis shoes, which wasn't conducive to walker slaying. The shoe store had been picked through several times, but they were lucky enough to find new boots for them all. Carol had even replaced her beloved boots with a nice pair of hiking boots. They found some backpacks and stuffed some clean socks and extra laces in the bags. They were getting ready to leave when Liam decided he needed his own back and found a small bag with trucks on it. He put it on his back and gave the others a nod and they left.

They hit several clothing stores next and each changed into clean clothes, and Carol told them to each pack at least one extra set of clothes. Carol felt like a new person with new clothes on. After everyone was clothed with new duds, they moved to the sporting goods store. Not surprisingly the place had been picked through more than the others. After Carol took care of a lone walker they searched the place. When they finished, they each had a blanket and Carol had a new Leatherman that she found under a pile of junk. She had also found knives for Robin and Debra. She also found two machetes, keeping one for herself she gave Debra the other. Robin had managed to find a couple of small medical kits and emergency food packs. Carol shoved a couple of extra folding knives and matches into her bag, and with them all very impressed with their finds they left the store.

The sky was beginning to darken but there was still enough light to see the bodies moving in the grocery store window. They had the telltale shuffle of the dead. Carol counted five walkers but couldn't guarantee that there wasn't more hiding in the aisles. Giving Debra an assessing once over she decided it was worth the risk. "Are you ready for your first lesson?" she asked Debra.

Debra gave her a slight nod, even though she looked terrified. Leaving their newly filled bags with Robin and Liam at the side of the building out of sight, they stood in front of the door. "You aim for the head. Let them come to you. Don't rush. They're not quick but they will take you by surprise. You have a big knife try to stay as far away as you can. I'm going right you go left," after receiving a nod from Debra Carol opened the door and moved inside.

They worked quickly and quietly, there had been four more that Carol hadn't been able to see from the outside. Carol kept throwing quick glances in Debra's direction, but despite a few startled yelps she seemed to be holding her own. Carol had taken out six of the walkers but was impressed with Debra's first foray into walker slaying. When the last walker fell Debra face was flushed and her eyes bright. Carol knew the feeling she was feeling. That feeling of figuring out you could take care of yourself.

After telling Robin and Liam it was clear Carol took note of the grocery store. It smelled of spoiled milk, rotten vegetables and walkers. It was a combination, but there was a surprising amount of canned goods left and even two boxes of cereal bars. Carol immediately tore into one of the boxes and passed out the sweet bars. She figured they deserved a treat.

"I think we should stay here tonight. There's an office in the back we can hide in. We can block off the doors like we did in the gas station. It's too late to be wandering around outside," Carol observed. Robin and Debra nodded in agreement. Carol noticed Liam staring at her bag, she was confused for a second before smiling and digging out another bar and handing it to him. With a big smile he sat in the middle of the aisle and went to work eating his treat. Eating slowly this time seeming to savor every bite. The women chuckled at his innocent excitement.

After blocking off the front door and the door in the back they moved to the hidden office. It was bigger than the one in the gas station. There was a desk that they moved in front of the door and made themselves comfortable against the far wall. They were all low on water, having not found any during their search of the store. Taking the bottles and combing them into one bottle to share that night, they each took a small drink, even Liam only taking a small sip.

Carol was awoken by her head falling to her chest where she had fallen asleep against the wall again. The room was still dimly lit by a candle that they had lit upon entering. Debra was curled on her side asleep snoring softly into her makeshift pillow. Robin was awake watching as Liam drew on some paper that they had found somewhere. Carol watched the two silently. Robin was running her fingers through Liam's hair and every few minutes Liam would excitedly show her what he had drawn. It was mostly odd shapes Carol couldn't make out. She watched them for several minutes before Robin looked up and saw Carol watching them.

"He hasn't talked since we were attacked. I think everyone telling him to be quiet so the things don't get has him scared to talk. I keep telling him it's OK, but I don't think he believes me," Robin explained.

Carol watched Liam look at his mom and then go back to drawing. "It's a hard world for children to understand," Carol said thinking of Lizzie. She felt a tickle on her cheek and wiped at it realizing she was crying. Sniffling and rubbing her face briskly she sat up straighter, "Sorry, just thinking."

Robin gave her a curious look, but thankfully decided not to ask questions. Carol continued watching mother and son interact until she felt her eyelids growing heavy again. Shifting onto her side she used her new blanket as a pillow and went to sleep. It felt like only moments later she was being shaken awake. "There's voices outside," came Debra's frantic whisper. Sitting up quickly Carol motioned for silence. The voices outside were male and female, none of them familiar. They were exchanging vulgar comments between them and laughing loudly.

As the voices grew closer to the door to the office Carol and the others sat frozen. When the door knob turned and started to the door started to move. They all moved as one and pressed against the desk in front of the door. They sagged in relief when they heard the voice say that the door was stuck and move on.

It was an hour later and the people were still outside loud and showing no concern for drawing walkers. Carol could make out at least six different voices. Three women and three men. Carol looked around the office trying to figure out something to do. Just sitting and waiting was torture.

Carol lost track of time as she listened and waited. The sound of yelling and glass bottles breaking startled the office group, but they kept themselves from crying out. From the slurred state of the voices now Carol figured that the group was way passed drunk now. Eventually all the noise died down and there was only silence. Neither of them new how long they had been waiting, having lost track hours ago. Carol thought for several minutes before whispering, "I think we need to make a run for it. They are probably passed out. We have a better chance against them drunk than if they are sober. We don't know how long they plan to stay."

Robin and Debra both seemed hesitant, Carol didn't blame them. She didn't really think it was a good idea either, but was afraid of waiting without being able to tell what was going on out there. Silently moving the desk and collecting their things Carol grasped her knife tightly as she eased the door open. Relieved to see that was still plenty of daylight outside Carol peaked her head out of the door. The place was even more trashed than it had been with five bodies piled together in the center of the bread aisle. Carol was certain there had been six voices so she looked for the sixth. Not seeing anyone she looked to the others in the office. "Stay here," she whispered as she moved out of the room silently.

As she stood silently listening she could just make out the sound of liquid being poured. Frowning slightly she moved toward the sound. As she approached the aisle the sound was coming from she saw a man reliving himself, giggling as he peed on shelves and floor. Rolling her eyes she moved as quietly as she could. Just as she got behind him her shoe squeaked on the wet floor and the man turned quick slashing out with a knife he had removed from his waist with astonishing speed considering he was plastered.

She looked at the snarling man easily reading his mind as he lunged toward her. Knocking his knife with her fee hand she plunged her knife into his stomach falling to the ground with him and covering his mouth as he let out a loud groan. Pulling the knife out of his stomach and plunging into his chest. Her hand kept him quite as he grunted. She held the hand over his mouth until she felt his last breath expelled against the back of her hand. She felt nauseous as she looked as his eyes staring wide and lifelessly up to the ceiling. Making a quick decision she removed her knife again and slammed it harshly into his eye socket.

Moving silently passed the still unconscious dog pile, she opened the door to the office silently motion the others to be quite. She motioned for them to follow her. Taking her bag from Debra she moved the group toward the door. She was proud with how silent the other three were. Once outside they all noticed an ugly rusted SUV that hadn't been there before. Moving toward it immediately Carol went to the driver side and was actually surprised to see the keys in the ignition. Hopping into the vehicle she started it up. The others quickly hopped in back and she tore out of the parking lot, no longer caring about volume.

The further they drove and the more the adrenaline left her body, Carol became increasingly aware of a pain in her hand. Not wanting to look at it until they were able to stop somewhere safe away from the road. After a bit she found a dirt road and turned down it. Driving down it a bit they were surprised to see a rather large house at the end. Telling Debra to follow her Carol got out of the car.

Standing in the entryway carol banged her fist against the wall. There was no sound from within, there wasn't even the smell of death that seemed to permeate every part of the world these days. Doing a room to room search anyway, they found everything intact from when the house was abandoned. There was a full pantry and the cabinets were full. Carol tested the faucet out of habit and wasn't surprised when nothing happened. Checking out the back door she was delighted to see a garden that had managed to grow several different vegetables.

Moving into the kitchen she found the others sitting in stools at the kitchen counter. They had a pack of water on the counter each enjoying a fresh bottle. Debra handed Carol one noticing the grayed haired woman seemed very pale, "Are you OK Carol?" she asked concerned.

Nodding Carol put her hand on the counter blood dripping from her fingers. "I hurt my hand," she said weakly starting to feel a little light headed. Carol was startled when Debra blurted out a loud, "Shit," and then attacked her hand with a towel that had been on the counter. Grimacing as Debra added pressure to the injury.

After what seemed like hours Debra removed the towel and peaked at the injury. The wound was in the meat of her palm. It was deep but not deep enough to hit anything important. "You'll need stitches," Debra said bluntly. Carol just nodded. "I can do them, but I haven't done them in a while," Debra continued. Carol gave her a raised eyebrow and a hollow, "Yay."

An in depth search of draws in the house produced a needle, thread and luckily some peroxide. Carol sat calmly at the kitchen counter watching curiously as Debra continued to look through the cabinets. Before long Debra was letting out a triumphant whoop and holding up a bottle of gold liquid.

"Drink up," Debra said with a chuckle. Carol had always been a light weight when it came to alcohol, so it didn't take long for her to start feeling the effects. She thought briefly of how jealous Daryl would be if he knew she was drinking whiskey right now. No matter how much she managed to drink the whole ordeal was extremely painful. No matter how used to pain you were getting stitched up when no pain killers sucked.

"All done," Debra said finally.

Carol looked at the wound and was impressed with the neat stitches. Frowning and still looking at her hand Carol slurred "How'd you do that?" Holding her hand closer to her face didn't bring about any answers either. Debra laughed causing Carols head to jerk up, throwing off her balance. She swayed dangerously on the stool and Debra grabbed her before she could tumble off.

As Debra helped Carol to the couch in the living room Carol started giggling, "I'm floating." She said quietly like it was a secret. Debra chuckled and helped Carol lay down on the couch. Carol got a serious expression as Debra pulled a blanket over her.

Debra smoothed Carols hair off of her forehead "What is it?" she asked quietly.

Carol sighed deeply, "I left him," she said tiredly, a tear leaking out of the corner of her eye.

Debra wanted to ask who, but Carol was already asleep.