Vatos

Jacqui

Afternoon had approached quickly, and with all the work done around camp and since Shane hadn't come up with anything more for them to do yet, Jacqui had taken a blanket down to the side of the lake as it was cooler there than in camp with all the others. The two youngest girls had decided to take a swim in the lake, but Amy had left as soon as Andrea called her up to camp. Jacqui, meanwhile, had been tasked with looking after Juliet's glasses and ensuring they didn't get broken. Andrea and Amy had passed a while later, carrying Dale's boat. He hadn't been far behind them, worried that they might hurt themselves carrying it, but both were more than capable of doing so.

As they had rowed towards the middle Jacqui had watched as Juliet had swum alongside them, making idle chit chat before she got tired and swum back to shore. She was lying in the sun now on one of the large rocks by the water, glad she had remembered to bring her book down. Deciding she was bored on her own, but currently not possessing the will to go back up to camp to find Lori to talk to, Jacqui had gone over to Juliet.

"I'm so glad Shane's not making us work this afternoon." Juliet looked up from her book and smiled at her, and nodded, folding her page and laying the book by her side.

"Well, we're on top of things around here, and we'll pass out if we do too much in this heat."

"I miss my air conditioning."

"I miss having ice in my drinks." Jacqui hummed in agreement, taking the beginning of a conversation to mean that she could sit down with her. Juliet didn't seem to mind. The younger girl looked quite glad of the company actually.

"And in winter we'll be complaining because we miss our central heating and hot drinks. I was just thinking about my coffee maker earlier. I never used to care how hot it was, I'd have coffee every morning regardless of whether or not I nearly melted from adding to the heat by just being in close proximity to a hot drink. I just couldn't force myself to get up without the promise of an espresso before I had to do anything productive."

"I'm just the same. Me and my roommate used to get up every morning and go to the flat next door and flirt horrendously with the guys that lived there so they'd let us use their nice coffee machine because we were too poor to afford our own."

"You were in college right?" Juliet nodded.

"Yeah. Waitressing to make a little money on the side, but it was hardly a lucrative profession. I had dreams of being this big high-flying magazine editor one day, jetting all over the world to meet important people and writing my own books, the kind that everyone's read, you know? Guess all that hard work was for nothing though."

"I know what you mean. I worked damn hard at my job, and it's all for nothing now. No promotion for all my hard work, no moving on to bigger or better things. I may as well have just done a half-assed job the whole time I worked there, it wouldn't make any difference now."

"But I bet if neither of us had worked hard this never would have happened. Sods law, right?" Jacqui smiled at her, and shrugged.

"I think there might have been more of a cause than just the two of us. I think if it was just us though, we both have quite a bit to answer for." Juliet chuckled, running a hand back through her hair, which was dry on the top but with wet tips from where it had dragged in the water as she had swum earlier.

"Yeah, just the complete annihilation of the world. I'm sure everyone would forgive us."

"I'm not so sure about that…"

"Do you ever wonder though? About what really caused this?"

"I did at the start before I realised it doesn't make any difference. We're here, with no equipment or research techniques… There's no way for us to figure it out, and even if we did it's not like we're going to find the cure that everyone keeps assuming exists. Those people, the ones who get bitten are gone, no coming back. You look at them, flesh rotting off their bones… How can anyone believe there's a cure for that?" Jacqui looked at Juliet who was looking down solemnly. "Sorry."

"No, I think that too. There's no cure, and there never will be. The sooner everyone realises that the sooner we can all start to rebuild some kind of lives for ourselves."

"Exactly." Jacqui agreed whole-heartedly with her. The first week of camp everyone had talked excitedly about when they would be rescued and when the cure would be distributed. Some of them, including herself, Shane, and Juliet now she thought back on it, had stayed out of those conversations, not wanting to dampen their hope, but also not wanting to have to lie about what they thought was realistically going to happen. "So, on a brighter note, what are you reading?" Juliet grinned and held up her book so Jacqui could see. "Rebecca is one of my top five favourite books of all time."

"Really?" Juliet sounded excited that she had someone else in camp who read similar things to her. Jacqui knew that Amy preferred films, and she had seen how bookish Juliet was.

"Yeah, I read it a few years ago for the first time. I actually have a first edition. Well, I had a first edition."

"That's awesome, mine's just a standard reprint, but I love it, and it looks old because I've read it a billion times." Jacqui asked her silently with a look if she could pick it up, and Juliet nodded. Immediately she skimmed to her favourite parts of the book. The pages were a little different, but she found the scenes she liked with ease, and Juliet was quite happy just to let her read through them again for a few minutes in silence.

"When you're done reading it through again, could I borrow it? I promise I won't lose it or drop it in the lake." Juliet laughed.

"Of course, and feel free to look through my stuff to see if there are any others you might like to read; I know it gets dull around here and I actually have more books than clothes – there's at least fifteen of them in there. It seemed like a good idea while I was packing because books provide an escape that clothes just don't, but now I'm kind of regretting that fact that all my practical clothes are back in California."

"Coming home was so bad you brought that many books?" Juliet nodded almost unperceivably. "What airline lets you bring that many anyway? Must have cost a small fortune in excess weight."

"Me and a couple of friends from my course took a road trip. We worked out that splitting the gas three ways would be cheaper than flights."

"They came from Georgia too?"

"Hattie was from North Carolina, and Peter was from Virginia. They were travelling on after they dropped me, going to meet each other's parents for the first time. I think he wanted to propose to her actually. I wonder if he ever got the chance."

"Hopefully he did, and they managed to stay safe together." Jacqui said sympathetically. It was always hard when people popped in to your head, wondering if they were alive, dead, if so for how long, if they'd ever come back, if someone had put them down, how many people they might have killed in their new state.

"Even if they'd got stuck in their car they would have been well prepared. Hattie was insanely paranoid so they had like three guns in the trunk and more ammo than we have. Hopefully he knew how to hold a gun as well as she did."

"Maybe it wasn't so bad up North."

"Maybe." Juliet didn't sound hopeful. Jacqui managed to steer the conversation back to books after a few moments of quiet contemplation, and marvelled silently at how quickly her mood changed, or at least appeared to change, as the conversation shifted to a less bleak topic. She wondered how much of Juliet's excitement and happiness was for show and how much of it was real. There always seemed to be an underlying sort of sadness with her, something that could be brought out at the most minor of provocations and seemed to dissipate as soon as she realised it was there again.

"I need to get a drink." Jacqui announced as soon as their conversation died down. "Wanna walk back up with me?" Juliet nodded, and tucking her book under her arm, she got up and the two started walking back.

"Wait up!" They heard coming from behind them, and both turned to see Amy and Andrea hurrying up the path, carrying a huge amount of fish for the camp. Both of them looked proud of what they'd caught, as they rightly should. It was an incredible amount.

"Wow guys, we're gonna eat well tonight!" Juliet gushed. "So, who won the bet?"

"I did, I caught sixteen to her twelve." Amy said proudly. Andrea suddenly looked a lot less happy than she had before.

Amy linked arms with Juliet and the two hurried back up the path to camp, Jacqui and Andrea hot on their heels, neither too bothered about keeping up with the younger pair.

Juliet and Jacqui went to get drinks, taking their time at the buckets of water they kept the drinking water in before they returned to what had rapidly turned in to a very chaotic scene. Most of the camp had headed a little ways up the hill, and were gathered around someone who Jacqui quickly identified as Jim who was stood digging holes, lots of them. He was in the middle of arguing with Shane. Jacqui watched as Juliet quickly made her way over to her little sister before her mother could get to her, holding her close, telling her quietly that it was going to be okay and that she had nothing to worry about.

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will." Lori cut in to the argument, hoping perhaps if the others couldn't that she might be able to reason with him. "You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter." Lori looked over at Juliet who mouthed a thank you to her, still trying to console her younger sister. Jacqui thought for a moment how terrible it must be to be a child in all this, how frightening. She as an adult could barely comprehend it, it must be near impossible for a child to understand what was going on in the world now. As quickly as the thought had come to her, she pushed it out of her head.

"They got nothin' to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?" Jim asked.

"Because we're worried about you. You're gonna do some serious harm to yourself if you keep working like this in this heat." Juliet said quietly, stroking one hand soothingly through her little sister's hair. The younger girl had her arms clutched tightly around her, but Juliet didn't seem to mind.

"Juliet's right… It's too hot to be workin' like this." Shane said, giving her a grateful smile. "Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what… maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?"

"Or what?" Jim was still not willing to be reasoned with. Jacqui could see that this was about to go even further downhill momentarily, and honestly she wasn't sure she wanted to watch it, but like the others, she found herself frozen in place, watching the scene playing out in front of her.

"There is no or what." Shane was still attempting to stay calm. "I'm askin' you. I'm comin' to you and I'm askin' you, please. I don't wanna have to take it from you."

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you? Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it. See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you." Jacqui pursed her lips. She'd been there. If she'd had strength on her side like Shane did, she would have done exactly the same. Any guy who beat his wife like that deserved to have it taken out on him that way. She had no remorse for what had happened to Ed.

"That was different, Jim." In Jacqui's opinion, and probably most other peoples, Shane had no reason to defend himself.

"You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurtin' his wife." Amy said quietly. Jacqui looked over at Juliet. The girl looked very on edge like she was about to start screaming at him, though whether she wanted to do so because he was scaring her sister or because he didn't agree that Ed deserved the beating he had gotten was debatable. Jacqui reasoned that it was probably a little of both.

"That is their marriage. That is not his. He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?"

"We all did when we realised we couldn't run shit without him." Juliet's voice shook as she spoke. She had let go of Sophia, who was now over with her mother. "Ed deserved everything he got, every bruise, every cut, every punch thrown his way, he deserved. In fact he deserved more, so don't you dare try and use that against Shane, because if your roles had been reversed and it was you down by the lake and not him and you hadn't had the balls to stop what he was doing, none of us would have been able to look you in the eye again." Amy put a hand on her arm and she took a deep breath. "Just give Shane the shovel and stop talking about crap you don't understand." Juliet wasn't known for talking much around camp. A lot of people were just staring at her in awe. For most people, it was the most they'd heard her say. Even Jacqui was staring at her.

While Jim's attention was diverted to the younger girl, and everyone else's for that matter, Shane lunged for the shovel in his hand. Jim attempted to fight back, but Shane had him floored before he could do any harm. Shane shushed him continuously, not responding properly when Jim argued.

"Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you." Shane promised, still holding him down as he struggled. "You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?"

"That's a lie." Jim said coldly. Jacqui could tell he was returning to normal and coming to his senses a little. "That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it a hundred times. It didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family." He stopped struggling, defeated.

"I'm gonna let you up now, okay? Then we're gonna get you in the shade, you'll cool off. It'll be okay." Shane loosened his grip on him. Jim staggered to his feet, leaving the shovel that had caused so much trouble in the first place laying on the ground. He wobbled a little, and Shane caught him, propping him up. "Juliet, help me get him in to the shade, yeah?" Juliet nodded and walked over. Both put one of Jims arms round their shoulders and helped him in to a little wooded area. Most people went back to camp, realising the chaos was over now, but Jacqui stayed, as did Lori, Carol, and their children.

The pair helped Jim down by a tree. Jacqui folded her arms.

"You just gonna leave him like that?" she asked disapprovingly. "He's… He's dangerous at the moment."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Shane asked her.

"Tie him up. At least until we know he's okay."

"Jacqui, we can't do that!" Juliet exclaimed. "He seems a lot more like himself now, surely it's inhumane to leave him tied up there." She looked to Shane for help, but the man looked rather conflicted. Jim was exhaustedly leaning against the tree trunk, not caring that he was being discussed without being consulted about what he wanted.

"Juliet, she's right. You want him like that around Sophia again?" She shook her head. "Settled then. Anyone have any rope with them?" Jacqui nodded and untied the knot from her belt and handed it over.

"Never realised it would come in handy." she muttered.

"Juliet, do you mind staying with him?" Shane asked as he knelt beside him, winding the rope around him and the tree. "I'm going to go get him some water so he can cool down, Jacqui, you come with me, okay?" Jacqui nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Juliet immediately sat beside him. Shane started to make his way back down to camp and Jacqui followed him in silence.

"Come on, kids, let's finish up this schoolwork, okay?" Lori said to Sophia and Carl as Jacqui walked past. Neither looked to pleased, obviously not happy about the fact the end of the world had not equalled the end of fractions and complex sentences. Jacqui wondered what the point of it was other than giving them some routine. If it was in the faint hope that the world might return to normal and they didn't want their kids to fall behind in school, then Carol and Lori were clearly delusional. If it was for routine… Well, there were a lot more helpful things they could be doing routinely around camp instead of that.

Jim

Jim felt himself coming around a little, and looked around, seeing immediately the young girl knelt in front of him looking worried.

"Are you feeling okay? I think you blacked out for a little while." she said softly. She placed the back of her hand gently against his forehead. "You're burning up… I think Shane's bringing some water up, he shouldn't be too long." He'd seen her around camp with the little girl… They looked alike so they were probably sisters. He remembered the way she had held the younger girl earlier while he was arguing with Shane. Sisters made more sense than anything else. He couldn't remember either of their names; he'd never really had occasion to talk to either of them. The older girl was barely more than a kid herself, though she had some mouth on her from what he could remember of their interaction a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, I'm doin' okay." He realised he was tied up she looked at him pulling on the ropes.

"I told Shane not to do that, but he seemed to think it was for the best. I can take them off if you want me to, or loosen them at the very least." she offered. Jim shook his head. It was probably best not to get her in to trouble.

"I'm okay. Don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you while you were having your…" The girl stopped, looking lost for words. In all honesty, Jim wasn't too sure what to call it either.

"No, it's okay. I should have left what happened to Ed out of it." It took him a while in his mental state, but he realised now that her and the little girl were Ed's children. Luckily for her she looked a lot like a younger version of her pretty mother, and bore no resemblance to her father, much like the younger girl.

The girl said nothing more, and he saw Shane and Dale making their way up the path. He liked Dale, but he still took issue with Shane and his insistence that he was in charge. As far as Jim could see, he wasn't doing a great job. Better than some people might have done, but Shane was convinced there was no room for improvement in his leadership. It was clear to anyone paying attention, which Jim definitely was, that he could be a hell of a lot better.

"Hey, how's he doin'?" Shane asked the girl.

"Better." she replied, not looking behind her, instead keeping a watchful eye on Jim. I think he passed out for a minute or so after you left, he really needed to cool down." Jim heard what she was saying without outright saying it, that Shane had done the right thing. He knew he would have made himself ill had he carried on.

"Well, at least he's in the shade now." Shane said with a shrug. He was stood in front of him now. "Jim, take some water?" He finally directed what he was saying at Jim.

"All right." Jim said.

"Yeah?" Shane said, happy he was complying with his wishes now. "All right. Here you go, bud." Shane fed him some water since his hands were tied down. The girl still looked unhappy about the fact he was tied up. He was glad at least that some people around camp weren't completely heartless.

"Pour some on my head?" Jim asked him. He wished his hands were free. He understood though. He might do something crazy again and Shane had an obligation to keep safe the kid that trailed after him everywhere.

"Yeah. Coolin' you down, huh?" Shane asked as he obliged with the request. Jim assumed that for him, cooling down was synonymous for going back to a normal state of mind.

"Yeah. How long you gonna keep me like this?"

"Until I don't think that you're a danger to yourself or others. Juliet will look after you, right?" The girl nodded. So that was her name. Jim looked over at Lori and Carol.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and your little girl." He was genuinely apologetic about that. He'd just wanted to dig the holes, not that he could remember why. He hadn't wanted to cause a camp-wide panic, and still didn't entirely understand why it had. He hadn't been doing harm to anyone until Shane tried to make him stop.

"You had sunstroke. Nobody's blamin' you." Lori said nonchalantly.

"You're not scared now, are you?" he asked the little girl. She shook her head.

"No sir." she replied. Jim was glad about this. She seemed like a sweet kid; he didn't want to scare her. She was probably scared enough of older men, what with everything her father clearly did to her mother. Maybe she was still too young to understand that though.

"She's a tough one, aren't you Sophia?" her sister called over. The little girl – Sophia, grinned at her older sister and went back to her work.

"Your mama's right." he said to the young boy. "Sun just cooked my head is all."

"Jim, do you know why you were diggin'? Can you say?" Shane asked him.

"I had a reason. Don't remember. Somethin' I dreamt last night. Your dad was in it. You were too. You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest. You worried about your dad?" Again he directed it at the young boy. Poor kid had just got his dad back only for him to go off on a part rescue, part suicide mission to save a piece of scum worth less than the dirt under their feet.

"They're not back yet." the boy said. Jim assumed this meant yes.

"I'm sure they will be soon." Juliet assured him. "They're all strong, the one who've gone with him, they'll get him out. He'll be okay."

"We don't need to talk about that." Lori said coldly. She was obviously getting annoyed with him again.

"Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all. That man, he is tough as nails. I don't know him well but… I could see it in him. Am I right?"

"Oh yeah." Shane agreed. The boy looked a little more relaxed, his mother thankful that they had assured him his dad would be okay.

"There ain't nothin' gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that." Jim added.

"All right." Shane said, having had enough of the conversation, clearly. "Who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?" The kids looked excited, the girl next to him a little disgusted.

"Sweet. Come on, Sophia." the boy exclaimed, and the two ran off, the boy tripping in his hesitation to get back down to camp. Carol hurried after them, not saying a thing to her older daughter.

"Not for you, Juliet?" Shane asked the girl teasingly. She grimaced.

"Jim needs someone with him, remember? Besides, I can enjoy eating them a lot more later if I haven't had to prepare them while they're just dead and not food. Just… Don't leave any fish eyes where I can see them. Please." Juliet begged him. He gave her a wicked grin.

"I'll tell you what, I'll put them in a bucket in your tent, how does that sound?"

"You do that and I swear to God I will get revenge, one way or another." she threatened.

"We'll see. Depends how nice I'm feeling." Shane bid goodbye to both of the women left behind before he headed down to camp after the kids and Carol.

"I'm just gonna go get some more water, Lori, you'll make sure Jim's okay while I'm gone right?" Juliet asked her. Jim thought that was a very nice way of asking her to continue babysitting him that didn't patronise him.

"You got it." Lori said, and Juliet pushed herself off the ground and headed down after the others.

"You should keep your boy close. You should never let him out of your sight." Jim warned Lori. She looked conflicted. "The girl will be back in a minute. Ain't no sense you stayin' up here 'til then. Go watch your son."

Lori left immediately, one last passing glance over her shoulder at him, and Jim settled against the tree again, eyes closed, enjoying the solitude, and trying desperately to remember why he had been digging in the first place.

Carol

Amy and Andrea had decided to cook the fish they had caught for dinner, which meant Carol had little else to do for the afternoon. The ironing was done and they'd powered through all of the laundry already that morning. It was one of the first long periods of time that Carol hadn't had anything to do for. She was keeping half an eye on her youngest daughter as she first helped Shane clean the fish and then started playing with Carl, Eliza and Louis.

"You wanna borrow a book?" Carol heard the soft, recognisable voice from behind her and looked to see her older daughter. She turned away again without replying. "You're not talking to me? That makes a change." Usually it was the other way around.

Until Juliet had called a few weeks before she had come to visit, Carol hadn't heard a word from her since she went to college. She knew that she sent Sophia letters and emailed her occasionally, but if not for that it would have been easy for Carol to start questioning whether she was even still alive or not. She hadn't really understood why Juliet wanted to come to stay with them, a question which had been answered quickly on her first evening home – she hadn't. Sophia had apparently been on the phone to her, crying, telling her how bad things were there, and it had been simply a sense of duty to her younger sister than meant she was there, scoping things out. Carol wondered exactly what Juliet would have done if the world hadn't ended before she got the chance. She wasn't sure she would have been above packing Sophia's things up and marching her over to California with her.

If not for Sophia then the day Juliet had left for college would have been the last time either of her parents heard from her. Ed might not have cared, but to Carol, that hurt, although she knew Juliet had reason enough to hate her.

Carol looked around, scoping out how many people were around. Just the kids, she determined, which meant she could at least try to say her peace with her daughter without the others either interfering or listening in.

"You didn't have to say that earlier. About your father." Carol said, sounding a lot colder than she usually did.

"No, I didn't have to say that, but I did, and I'm not sorry about it. One of us has to teach Sophia that what Ed does is wrong, and if it's not going to be you then I'm more than up for the job." Carol stood and looked her daughter in the eyes. Neither woman was particularly tall, though Carol was still a centimetre or two taller than her daughter.

"It is not your job to tell me how to raise Sophia. I am trying…"

"No, you're not! You are bringing her up in an environment which teaches her that domestic abuse is just something she'll have to put up with in life. Carol, when I came home… It's gotten so much worse since I left. I don't understand… You could have left him. You have friends who'd put you up, your aunt, even just for a few weeks while you got yourself together and found a job, an apartment or something for the two of you."

"I never would have been able to provide for her on my own. I had to stay with him."

"Carol, she's terrified of him. Hell, I hate him for what he did to me and I don't know how to forgive you for letting it happen but what he did to me isn't shit compared to what he does to her. You can ignore it all you want but we both know it's not just the beating with her, is it?"

"Juliet, just stop it! This is none of your business anymore; it hasn't been since you left."

"She is my family too. Of course it's my business. And it's not fair for you to use me leaving against me; I went to college, I was trying to build a life for myself. What, did you expect me to sit there and wait until Sophia could leave to so I could divert some of the violence on to myself?"

"I know you don't think I did, but I tried to protect you both, I really did. I just… I never knew what to do. I still don't. I couldn't leave him when he provided for us all and when he would have just come after me if I did, dragged me home, probably killed me from whatever beating he gave me and risk leaving Sophia alone with him, I couldn't stop him, I wasn't strong enough and if I tried then he made it worse for you, and for me. I couldn't call the police because they would have taken you both away from me, probably separated you, and despite what you might think and whether it was right or wrong, I loved you both and I wasn't going to lose either of you like that. I know I should have tried harder but I didn't know how without making it worse."

Juliet was very quiet for a long time, still just staring at her mother. It was only when her own vision was no longer blurred by tears that she realised Juliet was crying silently. Despite knowing she wouldn't want her to, Carol stepped forward a couple of paces and wrapped her arms around her daughter. She was stiff at first but relaxed after a moment, not putting her arms around Carol but also not pushing her away.

It was a start, at least.

Neither would apologise yet, though there was reason for both to. Carol felt terrible about what Juliet had been put through, what she had to go through again because she was stuck with them now with no way out other than to brave the apocalypse on her own. Juliet had said and done malicious things that it was clear she regretted. Carol felt slightly ashamed though, that it had taken two months of being stuck together like this to catalyse them talking. They had avoided each other as much as possible in the early days, being civil only for the good of Sophia. Carol had watched as Ed went over to her a few times, watched her revert back to the scared ten year old standing in front of her baby sister, both terror and determination in her deep blue eyes. She'd never believe it if Carol told her so, but she was proud of her oldest daughter.

Carol let go of her after a minute or so, and looked at her. Juliet nodded, telling her silently that she was okay and smiled weakly.

"Better go clean up before dinner. I… Yeah. See you." There really wasn't much else she could have said, Carol thought, watching her go back to her tent. She smiled sadly before deciding to go and find Sophia to bring her to dinner.

Sophia was up by herself sitting outside the tent now, not with the other children.

"You okay sweetheart?" she asked her. Sophia nodded.

"I didn't wanna hear you and Juliet arguing, so I came up here."

"We're not arguing anymore, so it's okay for you to come back. Dinner's almost ready. Let's get your dad, okay, and then we can go down and eat those fish that you helped to prepare earlier." Sophia grinned, and Carol took her hand and led her in to the tent.

"Ed, it's us." she said softly. He was lying on his side, and he didn't respond to her. The bruises she could see were a multitude of colours. Juliet had explained to Sophia what had happened, which meant Carol had no idea what she knew. Sophia had probably just been told that he deserved what had been done to him. "It'll be dinner soon. Why don't you come outside with everybody?"

"Hell with them people. Wouldn't piss on them if their heads were on fire." She pursed her lips. She hated the way he spoke around Sophia. At least most of the time Juliet was apologetic about swearing in front of her.

"One of those people is your daughter, Ed." she reminded him gently, not wanting to anger him.

"Hell with her most of all."

Carol looked down at Sophia and shrugged, and started to lead her out of the tent. Ed grabbed a hold of Sophia's arm before she left. Carol kept one hand resting on her back, hoping it was soothing enough that she wouldn't panic and annoy him.

"Hey! Why don't you stay here? Keep your daddy company."

"Ed, she wants to join in." She was almost shocked at herself for being so blunt about arguing with him. It was the bruises, she realised, his bruises, that told her someone was willing to hurt him if he hurt her again. She honestly didn't doubt Shane's promise to do even worse next time around, and it had given her a little confidence. Having it all out with Juliet hadn't hurt either. "Come on." She said to Sophia, leading her out.

"Fine. Hell with the both of you." Ed said as she took Sophia away. "Ain't no need to be bothering me no more the rest of the night."

"Gladly." Carol whispered, under her breath enough that not even Sophia, standing half a foot away could have heard her say it. She directed her daughter back to camp and listened to her chattering excitedly about the fish she had helped Shane with.

Juliet was right, as far as she could see. Sophia was still just a kid, a scared child who didn't deserve anything that happened to her. She deserved a better mother who could actually take care of her, a father who wouldn't hit her and do worse to her. The only family who deserved Sophia was Juliet; regardless of what danger it meant for herself Carol couldn't remember a time when Juliet had been living with them that she hadn't put herself in front of Sophia if Ed raised his hand or his belt to her. Juliet would take care of Sophia. Carol wished for the millionth time that when she had gone to college she would have gone somewhere closer to Georgia so Sophia at the very least could have seen her a few times a year. Juliet though had been happy to leave her parents as fast and as far behind her as she possibly could.

"Can we sit with Juliet?" Sophia asked her. She looked over – Juliet was by herself, for once not with Amy, the new friend she had immediately made at camp. Both her daughters were likeable girls who never had difficulty making friends.

"You can, if you ask her nicely." She was careful to say 'you' instead of we. Juliet would never have a problem with Sophia sitting with her, but she was unlikely to want Carol with her, regardless of what had just transpired between them.

"Juliet, can I sit with you?" Sophia asked, rushing over. Juliet looked up past Sophia to Carol.

"What did Carol say?"

"She said I could if I asked you nicely." Juliet smiled.

"Does she not want to sit with you too then?" Sophia shrugged. "Are you coming to sit with us, Carol?" Juliet called over to her. She was smiling brightly and invitingly, and she actually looked hopeful that Carol would accept. Perhaps since their conversation she was warming to the idea of rebuilding their relationship a little. Of course it would only be for Sophia's sake if she wanted to, but she was glad she looked to at least be thinking about it. She couldn't live indefinitely with her oldest daughter refusing to look her in the eye.

"I'd love to. Thank you for inviting me."

As they ate, Sophia sat by Juliet, chattering happily to them both. It was quite amazing that she could talk so quickly and eat so much at the same time. Juliet kept looking over and smiling at her, eventually taking Carols hand and giving it a quick squeeze before she let go. Carol hoped that Juliet was coming to realise she needed her as much as she needed Juliet.

Sophia stopped talking after a little while, and the two women took the opportunity to join the group conversation.

"I've got to ask you, man." Morales was saying to Dale as he wound his watch. "It's been driving me crazy."

"What?" Dale asked, confused.

"That watch." Morales said, pointing his fork at it, shaking his head. He was grinning. Everyone was relaxed this evening, genuinely happy for possibly the first time since they had all arrived and set up the camp.

"What's wrong with my watch?" Dale asked, still not getting it. Carol smiled.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass."

"I've wondered this myself." Jacqui said from across the little circle they were sat in. Most of the others, including Juliet were nodding. Even Carol had wondered about the watch.

"I'm missing the point."

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end." Jacqui said, grinning at him. "At least hit a speed bump for a good long while."

"But there's you every day winding that stupid watch." Morales added. Dale smiled at them both, in a way that suggested that if they didn't understand already they probably never would.

"Time… it's important to keep track, isn't it?" Dale said. He had the undivided attention of the entire group. " The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here." Andrea smiled and shrugged. "I like… I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.'."

"You are so weird." Amy said, shaking her head. "Juliet, why aren't you two best friends, you can sit and quote crap together all day." Juliet stuck her tongue out at her.

"I think that was a beautiful quote. You definitely did it justice." Juliet assured Dale, and he looked pleased that he had managed to resonate his words with at least one member of the camps younger generation, if not all of them.

Amy got up suddenly, and her sister looked worried.

"Where are you going?" she asked her immediately. Amy glared down at her.

"I have to pee." she replied, not bothering to keep her voice quiet. "Jeez, you try to be discreet around here…" Everyone laughed and Amy headed towards the RV.

The chatter continued, Dale and Juliet now exchanging their favourite Faulkner quotes much to the mock horror of everyone else, apart from Shane who was oddly able to join in. Carol wouldn't have had him down as the bookish type.

It was only as Amy stepped out of the RV, complaining about the lack of toilet paper, that everything changed.

The moment seemed to last forever. Try as she might to comprehend it later, Carol had no idea where the walker that bit her came from. It was just there, teeth clamped on her arm. Amy's fate was sealed before she even had the chance to scream. Andrea screamed at the same time she did, getting up and rushing over to her.

More walkers seemed to be pouring in to the camp from all directions. Carol could hear Sophia screaming, and her only priority now was keeping her daughter safe.

"Carol, get her away from this, get to Lori and keep her safe." Juliet said. She was blinking back tears at having just witnessed her friend die. Carol agreed immediately and Juliet ran to where they kept the baseball bats and took one. There were no guns left, so Carol tried to do as Juliet bade her and went to Lori, staying close to the other woman, clutching her daughter close to her. She watched as Juliet took out a few of them. She wasn't strong enough to kill them in one blow, but her hits were enough to keep them at bay, and when repeated the walkers dropped dead.

Shane was covering them with his gun, Lori calling out as to which direction the walkers were coming from. All those who had gone to Atlanta rushed back in to camp almost instantly. Carol could hear Rick shouting for his son, for Lori, and Carl shouting for him. The group that had just arrived took out several of them.

Carol screamed when she saw three approaching Juliet, capable as she was, she couldn't handle that with just a bat. Lori held her back.

She tripped, seemingly over nothing. She'd never been a graceful child.

Two were shot at the same time, one after. As far as Carol could tell, Glenn had shot one, Daryl two others. Both held their hands out and helped her up. With those three dead, it appeared that it was over, and Carol hung on to Sophia, hugging her in relief.

"I told you the dress was stupid." She heard Daryl say to Juliet, and she watched as her daughter gave him the barest of smiles before she looked out and finally comprehended the extent of the massacre that had just occurred.

The entire camp, for the first time, was silent for a few moment, before Amy died. Andrea began to scream, Carl and Sophia crying softly, but that was all until Jim spoke.

"I remember my dream now." he told them. "Why I dug the holes."