Carol opened her eyes when she felt the truck stop moving. Looking around she saw their new shelter was an old convenience store. Moving slowly she began to stand, her sore muscles protesting. She was the last out of the truck and was confronted with the sight of Daryl and Kristen having a conversation in the truck in front of her. Not liking the jealousy she was feeling, she quickly turned toward the building. Everyone was busy moving what supplies they would need into the store. When she was close to the door she realized she had been there before. She had stayed a day here with Robin, Debra and Liam.

Entering the store she could hear different conversations happening all around her. There was only one that caught her attention. "We are low on water and everyone is dehydrated." She didn't know the person talking. Joining the group she pointed out "I know where we can get water," everyone turned in her direction. "I can take you there." She could see by the expression on some of their faces they were hesitant to trust her. Maggie's "Great!" seemed to do the job. She didn't blame them for not trusting her. She was sure is she was confronted by someone in her state she would have a hard time trusting them too.

"If we leave now we can be back before dark." Grabbing all the water containers they could carry, Maggie, Carol and Glenn left the store. Carol saw Daryl and Kristen walking their way. She ignored them and continued on her way, but she heard Maggie and Glenn stop and tell them the plan. Not wanting to run off and leave her companions she stopped to wait. She heard Daryl tell them to keep an eye on her and they were off again.

They walked most of the way in a companionable silence all tired from the day's events. The silence was broken by Glenn, "You're shoulder looks pretty bad. I think there are some things for burns in our med kit." Carol couldn't help by smile. Glenn was always the one to care. She was sure he would never change. They found the hidden springs quickly. Maggie and Glenn quickly filled the containers while Carol kept watch. "Carol," turning she saw Maggie holding out a water bottle. Taking it gratefully she drank down half of it before making herself stop. "I'll fill it back up," Carol finished it off before handing it back to Maggie.

Loaded down with dozens of containers full of water the trip back was slower. Carol walked in silence listening to the couple banter back and forth. She couldn't remember ever being able to talk to anyone with the ease these two did. They were only stopped once by a walker who had stumbled up to them. Glenn had dropped it easily.

The trip back had taken longer than expected so it was dark when they reached the store. Carol could see the dim glow of a fire through the windows of the store. Occasionally the silhouette of a person would pass in front of the window. They were exposed, but the needed the protection the building offered. As they got closer to the building Carol could see two men with guns walking around in the front. At least they would have people on watch.

Entering the store the air was filled with softly spoken conversations and the smell of food. At the smell Carol's stomach let out an obnoxious growl causing Glenn and Maggie to look at her in surprise. She just shrugged. The water was distributed along with bowls of a chili one of the women had managed to cook with the combined supplies of the two groups. Carol couldn't remember ever eating anything so good.

"You're a mess," the remark startled her, but she relaxed when she realized it was Glenn. He dropped down beside, her holding a rag and bottle of water. "Can I look at your face?" he asked softly. Too tired to argue she gave in without a fight. She sat still as he gently wiped away the mud and dried blood from the last few days. "Maggie is looking for you some clothes," Glenn spoke as he worked. "This isn't too deep. I think we can just leave it uncovered." Finished with her cheek he moved to check on her burned shoulder. "This is pretty bad," he carefully moved her shirt away from the wound. With the shirt moved his eyes were drawn to the scarring around Carol's neck. Without thinking he ran his finger over the scar, knowing immediately what it was from.

Carol jerked away from him violently looking back at him with cold eyes. He held is hands up quickly, "I'm sorry. Just let me finish with your shoulder." She gave him a small nod, but he could feel a tenseness in her that wasn't there before. He was nauseous as thoughts of how the scars could have gotten there raced through his mind. "You have some blistering here. It's not too bad though. You were lucky." He had just finished when Maggie walked up carrying a small bag and a blanket.

"I found you come clothes and other things you might need," Maggie announced kneeling in front of Carol. Taking the things Carol gave a quiet "Thanks." Maggie smiled and turned her attention to Glenn. "Daryl wants to talk to us," Glenn got to his feet and watched as Carol used the bag Maggie brought as a pillow and laid down in the spot he vacated. Glenn saw her grimace from the pain and wanted to help her, but didn't have any way to do so. With a sigh he turned and followed Maggie to where Daryl was standing with the rest of their group. Glenn noticed Daryl looking in Carol's direction. When Daryl noticed Glenn watching him he asked, "Is she OK?"

"I'm not sure if she's OK but her wounds are serious," Daryl frowned at his comment but they would have to wait for later to discuss it. Trying to get his mind back on the matter at hand Daryl focused on his group, "I talked to the other group and told them about the compound. I offered to take them with us and they have accepted," he paused to take in everyone's reaction to the news. They all seemed fine with it.

He was about to continue when the door burst open and a man shouted, "Get down!" right before the front windows burst and the air was filled with gunfire. There was instant chaos as people screamed and bullets ricocheted about the room. Daryl looked around as much as he could from his position on the floor. Beside him Maggie was laying on the ground with Glenn laying half on her shielding her. Their eyes met his and he could see the fear there. He wanted to reassure them but he was just as scared.

After what seemed like hours the spray of bullets stopped. Daryl knew not to assume it was over. Raising a little he looked for his weapons, but remembered he left them in the small office he had claimed for himself. Sparing looks to the rest of his group he saw they only had knives. Remembering Carol had a gun he looked across to where she had been laying, but she was nowhere in sight. He had just started moving toward his weapons when a voice stopped him.

"Well ain't this just one big happy family," a gruff male spoke from the front of the store. Daryl watched as the man who warned them raised his gun, and jumped when he was immediately shot in the head.

"This is how this is gonna work," the man spoke again. "We know you have some ladies in here and we're just a couple of lonely guys lookin' for some company." The two men who stood behind the man were laughing. "You can give em' to us or we can take em'," when no one made a move the man pointed his gun at a man cowering close to him.

"Wait, wait," a man stood up from the floor hands raised. He was talking to the gun men but Daryl was distracted by movement at his foot. Looking down his body he saw Carol. She was on her stomach and in her hands were two guns. Reaching up she held out one to him. When he took it she pointed at him and then pointed to the side of the store. Then she did the same to herself, but pointed to the opposite side. He gave a nod of understanding and then they were moving.

Once they were in position behind shelves but able to see each other they checked their weapons and the Carol did a countdown from three with her hand and they were moving again. He moved out from behind the shelf yelling "Hey!" drawing attention to himself as Carol took the first shot. She hit one of the back men in the cheek. He dropped instantly. Daryl took the next shot hitting the main man between the eyes dropping him. The last man up seeing his comrade's fall dropped his weapon and held up his hands. Daryl lowered his weapon, but Carol shot him in the head without hesitation. Shocked Daryl could only watch as Carol moved out of the building. A few moments passed before Daryl snapped out of it. His blood was boiling.

Carol was soon back, "We have walkers heading this way," pulling her knife out of its sheath she went out again, this time several others followed her with knives drawn. Daryl tried not to pay attention to the woman on the ground crying over the man who had lost his life, trying to save theirs. She was soon pulled away by two other women.

"We need to start packing and moving toward the trucks," Daryl announced over the chaos in the room. Before they could even start a man came back in, "They knifed the tires. The trucks are goners." Daryl couldn't really say he was surprised, he probably would have done the same thing. "OK let's move the shelves to the front." Daryl was helping move the shelves when Carol walked back into the store using a back door. Storming toward her he yelled, "Hey!" the outburst caused everyone to freeze. Carol turned, a slightly startled expression on her face.

Getting in Carols face he exploded, "What the hell was that? The man was surrendering."

Carol gave him an annoyed look before starting to turn. She was stopped with a hand roughly grasping her arm. Turning quickly and pushing Daryl's hand away she squared off with him. They stood in a tense silence, "Rapists don't get to live," Carol explained simply.

The cold fury in Carol's eyes shocked Daryl into silence. When Carol turned to walk away Daryl stopped her. "What gives you the right to make that judgement?"

Carol sighed and rubbed her forehead, "They killed one of our people, shot up our shelter, and trapped us with no vehicles. Maybe he wouldn't have done anything, but I think he already did enough that the punishment was befitting of the crime."

Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing these words come out of Carol's mouth. Feeling the anger and confusion boiling to the surface he lashed out by shoving Carol. "Who are you right now?"

He was shocked again when she shoved him back almost knocking him down. He recovered quickly and stepped toward her again, but Glenn stepped in front of him stopping him in his tracks. He could see Maggie doing the same with Carol. Noticing the silence he looked around seeing everyone focused on them, "We gotta move the shelves," he said to refocus people. He tensed when Carol brushed by him and Glenn going to help with the shelves.

It didn't take long to get the shelves moved. They were now all sitting around anxiously waiting for morning. Carol sat against the wall where she could easily see the front of the store. From her vantage point she could see the children snuggled together asleep. The little girl who had taken the dog was asleep with the dog snuggled in her arms. She was glad she could make the little girl happy in this new dark world.

She tensed when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head she saw Kristen moving to sit beside Daryl. She watched them discreetly as they talked quietly. Kristen had her hand on Daryl's thigh leaning close. Carol watched as she moved her face closer to Daryl's and then brushed her lips softly over his. She saw him respond slightly, but then pull back shaking his head and then they continued their conversation. Carol turned her head away not wanting to witness anymore of the intimacy.

As soon as the sky started to lighten everyone was up and packing what they could into their packs. Daryl's group would have to leave most of their supplies in the useless vehicles. The morning was cold and everyone was in low spirits after the attack. They had bundled the kids as well as they could. Everyone was on edge at being so exposed with such a large group. They decided to keep the kids in the middle with the armed members in front and back. They were moving slowly because of the breaks for the kids to rest. The rough terrain was also slowing everyone down, everyone but Carol who had been living in these woods.

When the sky was starting to darken they stopped to have a meeting on what they were going to do overnight. They were all grouped together discussing strategy when Carol walked up, "There's a stream about an hour's walk from here. There's a house not too far passed that."

"The kids are about to drop they'll never make that tonight," one of the women pointed out.

Everyone agreed, they decided to Carol would take a couple of people to get water while the others stayed and set up camp. Carol, Kristen, and Jace started off immediately. They walked briskly and Jace and Kristen talked quietly amongst themselves, while ignoring Carol. Carol only had one task on her mind so didn't mind being ignored. They made it to the stream and worked as a team to fill as many containers as they could comfortably carry.

The sky was completely dark on the way back. They were completely dependent on the small beams from their flashlights. The night was eerily quiet and they could hear the occasional moan and shuffle of walkers moving near them. They were moving quickly and quietly, extremely alert. Nearly half way back Carol noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Grabbing the arm closest to her the group stopped just as five walkers stumbled out of the woods in front of them. They all pulled their weapons and took them out quickly, but the sound of the struggle was drawing more walkers to them. They were quickly over-run.

They were struggling to stay ahead of the hoard. Sensing that they were fighting a losing battle, Carol made a quick decision. Yelling, "Run," to the others she made as much noise as possible drawing the walkers to her and away from the others. She watched them hesitate briefly before they both turned and ran. Carol kept making noise and moving away from the group, separating herself from the others again.


Daryl was restless from feeling exposed and from having members separated from him. He had had an uneasy feeling for the past hour, having expected Carol and the other back by now. He had been pacing the perimeter sense he discovered they were late. He froze when he noticed flashlight beams moving in the direction of camp. Maggie and Glenn came to stand beside him. When Daryl only saw Kristen and Jace his stomach dropped. As they walked toward him he kept looking past them hoping Carol was simply lagging behind.

"What happened?" he heard Renee ask as she walked to Kristen grasping her hand. Jace was the one to answer, "We were on our way back and we got over-run. She told us to run and then distracted the walkers. I heard gunshots as we were running."

Kristen seemed to be in shock, "She doesn't even know us and she risked her life, I haven't even been nice to her." Renee led her to sit near the fire.

"It's not safe to go after her tonight," Jace said seeming upset. "I don't think I've ever seen someone so willing to sacrifice themselves for strangers. She could still be alive," he finished, his voice full of hope.

"Of course she can," Daryl responded. "We'll leave a first light. We can't separate anymore. You should get some sleep Jace." He knew Jace was slightly in shock just like Kristen.

Most of the people were awake, feeling too exposed to close their eyes. The night seemed to drag by as Daryl thought about where they could be. He refused to think that she was dead. He couldn't find her just to lose her permanently.

As soon as they could see they set off toward the area they had lost Carol. It would have been easier and fast to leave the others behind, but Daryl refused to lose anyone else. They soon came upon the downed walkers and discarded water containers. After a quick conversation they started walking in the direction Carol had led the walkers. They all had their weapons at the ready, with the kids protected at the back.

It didn't take them long to start seeing signs of Carol. There was random walkers on the ground, whatever had happened she had fought hard. Daryl was filled with dread when they found her empty gun laying on the ground. Nearly half a mile away they found a group of walkers shuffling around under a tree. It didn't take long for them to take notice of the group and head in their direction. They were taken down easily. Daryl saw a boot under the tree. Thinking back to what Carol had been wearing he knew it was hers. Spinning in a slow circle he tried to determine which way she could have gone.

Then he hear shuffling from above him. Looking up he saw Carol looking down at him with a sleepy expression, "Uh….hey," was all he could manage to get out. She was about ten feet up sitting in a bowl created by the trunk and limbs of the tree. "How did you get up there?"

Carol snorted, "Apparently when I'm full of adrenaline and fear, I can climb a tree like a monkey." She was looking around, "Can you get down?" Daryl asked trying not to laugh at the look of consternation on her face.

After a pause she seemed to make a decision and started to move, "Yeah, but not gracefully," she grunted as she worked her way down, finally landing on her butt with a thud in front of Daryl. He heard her mutter "ouch." Chuckling he reached his hand out to help her up. He was surprised when she actually took it. His whole body filled with warmth at the contact and it was gone to quickly as she let go. Holding up her shoe he had to ask, "How did this happen?"

Grabbing her shoe she mumbled, "I got annoyed and threw it." Daryl laughed out. He warmed again when he saw the corner of her mouth quirk in a familiar smirk. Taking a chance he squeezed her arm when he moved past her. He was relieved when she didn't tense. He didn't look back thought to see her face.

On her way over to rejoin the group Carol was stopped by Kristen and Jace, who handed her a bottle of water and some jerky. "We owe you out lives. We'll never be able to thank you enough." Carol shook her head, "You don't owe me anything," Jace and Kristen both gave nods and then moved back to the group.

She was met with a, "Nice landing," from Glenn and a chuckle from the others. Carol couldn't help but laugh with them, even though she could already feel the bruise forming on her backside. They all sat down and refueled while discussing the next plan of action. They decided they were going to try to make it to the house Carol had mentioned. It was a house Carol had taken shelter in but had to leave when supplies had run out. She had been with Debra, Robin, and Liam. It had actually been a nice couple of days.

They were lucky and made it to the house just before dark. It wasn't big and they would be crowded, but they would be protected. The windows and doors were still intact even though it looked like it had been picked over several times. When they entered the house they were confronted with the smell of trash and dirty bodies, making noise didn't rouse any walkers, but Daryl noticed an opened can of beans sitting close to a discarded book laying near the wall. Wisps of smoke rose from a discarded cigarette laying on the ground. Daryl held up a hand to stop the others.

"Come on out. We know you're in here," Daryl shouted, holding his crossbow at the ready. There was the sound of movement from the hall beyond the front room.

"We're not armed," a gruff male voice said before Daryl saw the man step into the room arms raised. He walked out a few steps and Daryl could see a woman behind him. Her arms were raised as well. The two were dirty but looked healthy. Before he could even open his mouth again Carol walked past him. He saw the eyes of the woman widen and then she gasped, "Oh my God," right before she rushed forward a few steps and pulled Carol into her arms. The other man seemed just as shocked as Daryl was as they stood awkwardly looking at the two women. Beside him he could see Glenn who looked just as confused.

Carol was overwhelmed. She couldn't believe she was actually hugging Barbara. She had known her before the world had ended. Through all the hell that Ed had put her through Barbara had been her only friend. She had taken her to the hospital after Ed had beaten her. She took care of Sophia when Carol wasn't able to. Through all this Carol had never felt judged or pitied. Barbara had been a constant source of support and her savior more than once.

After a while Barbara pushed Carol back and put her hands on Carol's cheeks, "I can't believe you here," she said with tears in her eyes. Carol could only nod in agreement too overwhelmed to respond. Seeing someone from before had her brain going in every different direction. After several minutes Barbara pulled away when her companion said her name.

Carol saw the man not even noticing him before. When Barbara moved beside him he put a protective arm around her waist. Carol looked at her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Barbara smirked back, "Shut up," causing Carol to laugh. Back when she knew her Barbara had enjoyed the company of women and had sworn she would die before she was with a man.

Hearing a throat cleared behind her Carol turned. She was confronted by several sets of eyes watching her curiously. Daryl and several others still had their weapons raised, "It's ok. This is Barbara Ann. I knew her from before," she explained. "I don't know you though," she said to the man.

"I'm Dean," he said simply reaching a hand out to shake.

"There's a lot of us, we've had a rough couple of days. Do you mind if we squeeze in here?" Maggie asked as she stepped forward.

Barbara and Dean looked at each other and without hesitation motioned the others in. While everyone piled in Barbara and Carol moved to a corner to catch up.

"Is it just you left?" Barbara asked gently. Carol nodded and gave her a short version of the events that had happened after the change. They talked until they were interrupted by an argument between Daryl and Dean. Carol let Barbara take care of it as she searched for a place to settle for the night. Everywhere she looked there was someone there. She suddenly felt the walls closing in on her and decided to walk outside and take watch. There was already a man there from the other group. He gave her a large smile when she told him she would take over.

The night was chilly but clear. She was looking at the stars when she heard the door open behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Daryl standing awkwardly in front of the door. She turned back and waited for him to say something. For several minutes nothing happened and then he moved to sit on the stairs beside her, "Dean is an asshole," he finally spoke.

The unexpected words and petulant tone shocked a laugh out of Carol, "You literally just met him. How can you already know that?"

"He was in there telling me I came in the house wrong. Said I needed to be stealthier," the incredulousness in his tone made her laugh again. He gave her an exasperated look causing her to laugh harder. Ignoring her he questioned, "How did you know Barbara before?"

"She was a neighbor. One day I was all beat up and struggling to my car with Sophia and she was out walking. I never asked for help because I didn't want the pity, but with Barbara Ann there was none. She sort of became my secret support system."

Daryl smiled slightly, "I'm glad you had that." They lapsed into a companionable silence. Suddenly Daryl asked, "Do you hear that?"

Carol shook her head, but listened closer, "Is that barking?" Daryl didn't respond, but she didn't need him to the barking was getting closer. Daryl turned and yelled something into the house that she couldn't make out, seconds later others came out of the door armed. Glenn, Maggie, Jace, Barbara and Dean, along with two men she didn't know. They all stood waiting while the sound of barking and growling grew closer. "Oh my God," Carol could see the beams of flashlights now. There were at least ten men and four of them were holding the leashes to four dogs each. They were growling and lunging against their restraints. Carol briefly met the eyes of Daryl and she could see the fear in them. With a harsh shout from one of the men the dogs were set loose and heading straight for them.