She wasn't sure where she was, but everything was dark around her. She felt chains around her wrists and she desperately pulled against them. She whimpered and realized she was gagged. Hot tears ran down her face as she looked down at her tattered clothes. She heard groaning in a nearby corner and froze in her movements. A walker straggled out and turned its head as it looked at her. But this wasn't an ordinary walker.

"B-Ben?"

A groan answered back and she sobbed and tried to get through to him. Calling his name, his nickname, begging him to become normal again, to be alive. Ben fell to his knees and grabbed her by the shoulders. At first, she screamed out for him to stop. Then, she started screaming out for Daryl to come and save her. She felt Ben's teeth grazing her neck-

Johanna snapped up on her cot. She was soaked to the bone with a cold sheen of sweat and tears rolling down her face. She breathed hard and willed herself to calm down.

"It's not real, Jo. It's not real." She whispered out. She tucked her knees up to her chest and let her head hang down as she tried to get a grip. "He's dead. He's not coming back." She wasn't sure how that was supposed to comfort her, but it seemed better to think that he wouldn't come back as one of those things.

She smoothed her hair back and away from her face. She had some nightmares before, but this one was totally different. It all felt too real for her to manage, like it was actually happening to her. She could feel the rotten teeth against her neck. She looked up from her lap and blankly across her tent. She could tell it was morning, but it was probably too early for anyone to be up. She was wrong.

"Johanna?" A voice asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm fine." She called back. The tent unzipped itself anyway and Dale's face softened when he saw the redness and puffiness under her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie."

"I'm fine. Please just go away." She begged him. "I just had a bad dream, Dale. Seriously, I had them a lot even before this. This isn't uncommon." That was a lie. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"I was keeping watch." He corrected.

"Sorry for bothering you then." Dale didn't move and she shook her head as she sniffed away her tears. "Please Dale, just go away for right now. I just wanna go back to sleep."

He sighed, but got up and walked out of her tent. He zipped it back up and walked back to his post. Johanna grabbed a towel she had packed and began to wipe the sweat of her skin. She brushed her hair out of the mess it was in and slipped into another pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She laid back down on her bumpy cot and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her eyes almost burned and it hurt to just close her eyes.

XXXXXXX

Daryl walked out of his tent that morning and saw that a few people were already up. He walked over to the RV to grab his breakfast. His plan was to go off on his own and just leave the rest of them to talk but "golden pond" wasn't having any of that.

"Son, I need to talk to you." Daryl glared at the older man but Dale lifted his hands up as a peace offering. "Just a couple of minutes. It's about Johanna."

"What 'bout her?" Daryl looked around the camp and didn't see Johanna anywhere. His brows furrowed and looked back at Dale. "She alright?"

"I don't think she's handling her brother's death as well as you might think. I heard her crying in her tent this morning. When I walked in, she was sweating and looked like she had seen a ghost. I just thought I would let you know, seemin' like y'all are close and all."

"Thanks, old man, but I think I can look after my own." Daryl replied and stalked away. He saw Johanna coming out of her tent and sighed. He turned back around and fixed another plate before walking over to her. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt Ben had given her because she had stolen it from him so much. He always heard Ben "complaining" about it when she did steal it. It was one of those old band t-shirts with AC/DC on the front. She looked up at him with a small smile and he gave her the plate.

"Thanks."

"Don' mention it." He replied. Daryl actually thought back to what Dale said and was about to ask her about what happened.

"Didn't get me a plate, Darlina?" Merle cackled and smacked his brother's back.

"Mornin'." Daryl grumbled and Johanna smirked at the brothers. Merle walked to get his food and whistled at Andrea.

"Hey there sugar tits." He greeted and Johanna gasped.

"Merle!"

"Wha?"

"Don't talk to her like that, ya ape!" She scolded. "She has a name!" Andrea looked over at Johanna, shocked at her little outburst.

"I think if she has a problem she can tell me." Merle replied and Johanna crossed her arms.

"Shit." Daryl whispered to himself. It was never a good sign when Johanna crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg.

"No one appreciates a nickname like that, asshole." Merle just rolled his eyes, grabbed his food, and walked back to his tent.

"Thanks." Andrea told Johanna.

"Not something I haven't dealt with before." She replied and was about to walk away but Daryl finally listened to that little part in the back of his brain and grabbed her arm quickly. She turned back to him with a confused look on her face. "What?"

"Are ya alright?" She looked at him for a moment or two, then nodded her head.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Jus' makin' sure." He told her. "I think we're gonna go huntin' today." He started to walk away but she came after him.

"Wait up!" She whispered harshly and grabbed his arm. He spun around quickly and pulled his arm away from her.

"Whut?"

"What if… what do you want me to do if something happens?" She asked almost painfully. Daryl shifted his weight and thought for a moment or two.

"Take the truck, go back to the CVS. We'll find ya there." Johanna nodded and she squinted from the sun blinding her.

"Alright. Y'all be careful." She told him before she went to go sit with Andrea.

"Is Merle always like that?" She asked as more people began to emerge from their tents. It was already scorching hot so Johanna could tell that maybe the black t-shirt was a bad idea.

"Sometimes. He was never like that with me, but that's only because he's known me since I was baby."

"Your brother must've been quite a bit older than you." Amy interjected and sat down next to her sister. "Me and Andrea are twelve years apart."

"Got you beat. My brother and I were fifteen years apart." Johanna smiled and the sisters laughed.

"Wow, so you're a late baby!" T-Dog commented as he sat in one of those cheap plastic chairs where the white was brown and the yellow looked green.

"My parents were young when they had Ben. My mom was seventeen, my dad was eighteen." She revealed and ate some more of her breakfast. "So, in the normal sense, I'm not a late baby. But in my situation, I was really late." The people around her chuckled.

"I had Carl when I was pretty young too." Lori said.

"Oh? How old was Shane?" The group went silent. Shit. Shane started shaking his head with a small laugh.

"Uh, ain't like that."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I just thought that…I'll go to my tent now to try and regain my dignity." Johanna said and got up. Jacqui pulled her back down with a warm smile.

"My husband, Carl's father, was actually a sheriff. He was shot on duty and was in the hospital when this all happened. Shane was his partner and best friend. When he went to go get him…"

"I'm so sorry Lori. I didn't mean to pry." Johanna replied softly.

"Where're those Dixons?" Jim asked.

"They were goin' huntin' today." She answered. "I dunno when they'll be back."

"So, what happened to your parents?" Dale asked and Johanna almost glared daggers at him, but restrained herself.

"Um…well…I don't like to talk about it. It happened a long time ago." She looked down at the dirt and some floated from the ground. She rubbed her own arm and prayed to anything that they wouldn't ask her anymore questions.

Anything wasn't on her side that day.

"Was it an accident?" Carl asked suddenly and Lori sent a pointed look to him.

"Carl!"
"No, two separate events." Johanna explained gently but didn't go into any more detail than that. She didn't know these people, she wasn't going to let them in her life that easily. Especially with something as agonizingly painful like her parents. "Again, I really don't like to talk about it."

"That's fine, sweetie." Jacqui told her. "So, the Dixons are good at huntin'?"

"Yeah! We would buy their kills from them for the bar I worked at." She replied. "Always good with the right seasoning, especially some Tony Satcharies."

"You're in luck, we have some of that in the RV." Dale smiled.

"What're the plans for today?"

"Eh, just dabbling into everything I guess. Might go check the water supply." Shane answered.

"Actually we've been meaning to ask you something." Morales started. "How good are you at math?" Johanna's brows furrowed and saw the Dixons wandering into the woods out of the corner of her eye.

"Be careful!" Dale called out but the brothers didn't say anything.

"I'm pretty good. I'd do them for fun sometimes, as lame as that sounds." They all chuckled and Lori nodded.

"Well, do you think you could tutor the kids?"

"Of course, I would love to! Just tell me when."

"I guess sometime before dinner." Miranda Morales replied. Eliza and Louis sat next to her and groaned at the thought of math. Johanna had to think of how she was going to be able to teach these different grade level kids their math. Carl and Sophia would be easy, the rest not so much.

XXXXXXX

"Okay you two, what's this that keeps on going in both directions without stopping?" Johanna asked as she drew on the graph paper. The sun was finally setting for the day but there was still enough natural light to finish up an introduction to geometry. She had taught Luis, who was six, about counting time and money. She had taught Eliza, who was ten, about adding and subtracting.

"Um…" Carl flustered as he looked away from his new teacher.

"A line." Sophia replied quietly.

"Awesome!" Johanna reached across the small table and high fived the young girl, who beamed at her praise. "Alright, what about this one where it stops on one side, but continues on the other side?" She drew it quickly and Sophia raised her hand. "Let's see if Carl can get this one, alright sweetie?"

"C'mon Carl, I know the answer." Sophia bragged and Johanna giggled. Johanna slipped some of the hair that had slipped from the clip at the top of her hair back so that her bangs weren't slicked to her forehead.

"A ray?" He replied, unsure of his answer.

"You got it, cutie." She high fived Carl and he blushed. "Only one more and we're done for today.

"I like this, though." Sophia whispered.

"We'll do it again tomorrow, don't worry." Johanna cooed.

"Were you a teacher?" Carl asked and she shook her head.

"I was a pathologist."

"What's a pathologist?" Sophia asked.

"Well, I…hm, I worked in a hospital and…I cut…I worked with….people." Johanna stumbled, but that seemed sufficient to the twelve year olds. "Alright, back on topic you two. She drew another line. "What's this one with both side that end at a definite spot?"

"Line segment!"

"Alright, guys, A pluses for the both of you! Go find the other kids and leave me alone to grade!"

"Thanks Miss Johanna!" Carl replied and grabbed Sophia's hand as they ran away.

"Be careful!" Johanna called out and shook her head. Maybe she had missed her calling as a teacher?

Johanna cleaned up the papers, the books, and put the pencils back into the Ziploc bag she had found. She walked back into the RV, put them in their rightful place, and walked back out to see T-Dog stirring a pot over the fire.

"Smells good." She complimented.

"An old family tradition for a cheap box of food." He replied and she laughed.
"I know a lot of those."

"Help me out sometime and I'll teach you how to really cook." He joked and she pretended to be offended.

"You've wounded me, Theodore! How shall I ever forgive you?"

"After you try some of this magic stew right here." He flashed that billion dollar smile and she laughed.

"Alright, alright. I'll try it and you teach me some time."

"Carl seems to have quite the crush on you. He seems to be hot for teacher."

"He's twelve, T-Dog! He can't be hot for teacher." Johanna sat down next to T-Dog and he let her taste the stew. "Oh, that is good."

"Toldya." He smirked and she playfully punched his arm. "Would be better with some fresh meat in it."

"The Dixons will bring some soon." She replied. "But that's good all by itself."

"Learned how to cook from my church." He replied. "Where did you learn?"

"One of the chefs at the bar and my brother." She replied. "Lafayette was quite resourceful when I would go over to his house. He taught me how to cook on a budget so I wouldn't starve in college."

"Smart move."

"It helped me out more than I can say." They heard some rustling behind them and she spun around to see Merle stumbling out of the woods. She sighed, but felt panic rise in her chest when she didn't see Daryl. She jumped up and jogged over to the eldest Dixon.

"Where's Daryl?"

"Don' worry 'bout him. He's still out there somewhere." He almost slurred and she scoffed at him.

"Are you drunk?" She asked and he shrugged. "Dammit Merle."

"Don't 'dammit Merle' me, bunny!"

"Wait, you left Daryl out there alone?" She restrained herself from yelling at him.

"He'll be fine! Don't get yer panties in a twist!" Merle pushed her away and she grabbed his arm.

"We're goin' to your tent." She told him and escorted him over to his cot. "Just lay down and sleep it off, ass." He grumbled but then fell asleep. She reached into her tent and grabbed her baseball bat before she walked into the woods.

The Georgia woods didn't really smell different than they did before. It was if it had been untouched by the dead, which was a good sign for Johanna and Daryl. She still kept her guard up as she stepped down on the vines and leaves in the dark, soft dirt. Birds were flying overhead and a few squirrels scurried away from her as she delved further into the wilderness. The sky was getting darker, but there was still light outside. She cursed herself for not bringing a flashlight, just in case the search lasted longer than she originally thought. She had only been out there fifteen minutes but she could feel her heart racing and the thought of losing another person was creeping up in her mind. She heard the rustling of bushes next to her and spun with her arms like springs, ready to release their power. Daryl popped out and glistened with the sweat on his forehead and arms.

"The hell are ya doin' out here, girl?" He asked angrily.

"Makin' sure your ass wasn't dead since Merle left you out here drunker than Mick Jagger!" She defended.

"I told ya not to leave the group unless somethin' happened!"

"You were out here alone! The dead are walkin' around nowadays if you didn't get the memo! Was I supposed to just leave you out here?"

"Ya were suppos' ta listen to me!" He snarled.

"I brought my bat, I was ready and focused on fighting anythin'!" She replied. "Damn, I'm just tryin' to make sure you don't get killed since you got no one watchin' your back!"

"I don' need you watchin' my back!" He replied. "What makes you think I can't handle myself?"

"The fact that, again, the dead are walkin' around and we don't know where they are!" They suddenly became aware of their shouting match and Daryl grabbed her hand.

"Gettin' back to camp before those things can find us. C'mon!" He pulled her with him as he stomped through the forest and back to camp. He let go of her wrist as soon as they got next to the RV and went to the wooden table to dress the squirrel and rabbits he had caught that day. She chewed her bottom lip in frustration before going over and fixing something to eat.
"Are you gonna take some over to Mr. Daryl?" Carl asked.

"He can handle himself." Joanna replied bitterly. "Don't worry about him."