Louie, hazily woke up in the front seat of RV to the sound of a woman crying. Her insistence that she was recovered forced Dale back into his rightful bed and Jim (whose name she finally learned) in the bunk leaving her to sleep in driving seat. She rubbed her eyes and lifted her head to look out the passenger window to see Lori undoubtedly rubbing a woman's back, hoping to comfort or subdue her. Louie stayed in her seat and watched the scene unfold curiously from her position. She heard shuffling and turned her head to see Dale and Jim stirring and being awoken as well.

"What's happening?" Jim asked started to stand up. Louie shrugged and turned her head and looked back out the window. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and watched as campers poured out of their tents to see the commotion and could hear Dale and Jim exit the camper as well. She pressed a button to lower the passenger side window down so she could hear what was happening.

"Hey! What's goin' on?" Shane, ever ready to fulfill his obligation as an officer, approached the women. Though it made Louie somewhat bitter on the inside that he put on a façade that he was carrying out the extinct law, especially when she was being brutally savaged by men for weeks yards away from their campsite, it comforted her that there was order still being grounded.

"It can't be, it can't," the woman with gray choppy hair sobbed holding what looked to be a can.

"Lori, what happened?" Shane asked trying to make some sense out of the situation.

"It's our last can," She said dully to him, trying to subdue the woman's hysterics. Even though Shane's back was to her, Louie could tell that he was tense and perhaps even frightened. All the campers around the scene looked to each other frantically and alarmed asking each other what they were going to do.

They were out of food.

A prickling sensation made Louie turn around and look out the driver's side to see Daryl Dixon walk from the quarry. He walked around the front of the RV passing by the large windshield, not noticing Louie staring at him until he reached the other side and saw a hysterical woman clutching an empty can of beans. Louie watched his face melt into a frown as he looked to the RV to see Louie sitting still as a doe. He approached the passenger side window with a scrunched face.

"The hell is happenin'?" He asked displaying his obvious distaste of socializing with the other campers. Louie remained silent for a moment.

"We're out of food," she replied finally, her words hanging in the air. Daryl's eyebrows furrowed and his mouth hung open trying to comprehend the situation.

The solution was that a supply run would have to be made but the problem was who was going to do it. Everyone remained silent. Louie couldn't remember when the camp was ever this quiet since she'd arrive. To her horror she saw the look on Dale's face. Her breathing deepened and she felt anxiety start to bubble in her chest. And then he did it. He stepped forward.

"No!" she yelled and tore out of the RV as fast as she could, her feet barely touching the ground as she sprinted to Dale and flung herself to his back, clutching onto him as tight as she could. Dale in surprise almost staggered forward but managed to adjust her so that she was wrapped around his waist from the front.

"Don't worry," he explained to her soothingly while patting her head. "I'll come back,"

She looked at him desperately and shook her head wordlessly unable to let him sacrifice his life.

"I'll go too," the bald black man stepped up.

"If you go, I go," Jacqui said clutching on to his arm. Andrea also stepped up, unable to see one woman amongst men play heroics causing Amy to start a fit. It seemed to spark confidence in another man as he too volunteered, his wife immediately breaking into tears, his kids scared beyond belief.

"Dale should stay here," the Asian kid said. "I'll go. I know the city like the back of my hand and the less people to guide, the better." Louie looked at Dale for confirmation and after a pause he nodded and tightened his grip on Louie. When the plan was confirmed, the campers scattered to help prepare for the next day when the group would depart. Louie unlatched herself from Dale and caught up with the Asian boy.

"What's your name?" She asked catching him by his elbow. He stopped and stared at her in shock. "What?" She asked starting to feel self conscious as he gaped at her.

"I- uh, nothing. I just- you have a voice," he finally laughed causing her to look down at the ground shyly with a smile.

"I want to thank you. For taking Dale's place," she said sternly hoping he would understand how gratuitous she felt. He nodded with a tight smile and when he made to leave he paused.

"I know who you are, you know," he finally said. Louie froze. The calm and pleasant expression on her face fell. She stared at him with lack of conviction.

"You're such a big icon in Detroit. You were friends with that guy who painted your face on that alley where all the murals are-"

"You can't tell anyone," she snapped as she stepped forward with a serious glare. His own smile fell and he looked confused for a moment.

"Okay, I guess. Yeah," he said unsurely. She thought to leave but granted him an explanation since he was doing her a great favor.

"I know nobody knows who I am and it's not that big of deal but," she sighed. "I need time before I can be that person again. That's why I need Dale. I don't think I'm ready to keep living yet," she murmured with grim eyes. He grimaced and then nodded somberly.

"M-my name's Glenn by the way," he tried lightheartedly and she returned the weak smile before patting his shoulder and going back to the RV.

She spotted Andrea and decided to ask her for a favor and luckily she was talking to Jacqui. She cleared her throat and the two women turn to look at her with concern.

"Is everything alright?" Andrea asked.

"I need to ask a favor," Louie said quietly and the women exchanged looks before smiling at her.

"We'll take care of it. What size are you, sweetie?" Jacqui asked and Louie sheepishly told her but asked for smaller sizes since her weight loss.

"Can I do anything in exchange?" Louie asked desperately.

"Just keep an eye out for Amy," Andrea said kindly and added, "and Dale. He needs you too, y'know."

Merle came back from the quarry to find his younger brother perched on a log and asked him for any new news. Daryl informed him briefly, excluding the scene the girl had caused with the old man. Chrissake. Were they sleepin' together or somethin'?

"Well shit son," Merle drawled. "We gotta git some action then. Whaddya say?"

"Nah man," was all Daryl replied while tightening the strings on his crossbow.

"What, you gon' trust a nigger to git the real work done?" Merle barked getting in his face. Daryl sneered and turned his head away.

"Fuck off man. I tracked that damn deer off the trail last night. I ain't goin' nowhere," he muttered.

"Fine baby doll, but the winner gon' get the real prize when he comes home, ain't that right sugar?" Merle brayed as Louie walked by them towards her haven. She cast a weary and annoyed glance at him. "Damn girl, don' act like you ain't never got some. We all know you have," he cooed. "An' when I come back, I'ma see how you do,"

"There's one thing I learned when I was back there Merle. All bitches know how to play dead but they don't all roll over," she jabbed. Daryl snorted. This only heightened Merle's reaction.

"HOOOOO WEEEE!" he howled slapping his knee. He rubbed his shaved head and lowered his voice, never taking his eyes off her retreating back. "Shit, lil' brother. I can't wait to git back."

And the next morning when the group was departing the camp and Merle clapped his younger brother's back good heartedly; Daryl didn't acknowledge the feeling that he didn't want his brother to come back. He turned to see the band being sent off by their loved ones and felt his forehead crease when he saw the rape girl intimately hugging the chink, her ear resting on his shoulder, her arms around his waist. He rolled his eyes and went back to his tent before taking off towards the quarry.

"Please tell me you ain't here to get more water," he rolled his eyes when he saw her perched on a rock. When she saw who was speaking to her, she quietly slipped off the rock and started off towards the campsite.

"I'll be gone for a few days," he found himself saying to her as she neared him. She stopped.

"So?" she asked softly after a moment. He noticed that about her; she didn't speak but when she did, she did it deliberately and it seemed like she calculated every word as if they were expensive.

He tightened his grip on his crossbow over his shoulder, "You best stay outta Merle's sight when he comes back. He'll come after you first," he muttered. "An' he always gets the prize in the end."

Louie wasn't surprised that she found herself perched above the RV with Dale talking idly about his wife, Erma; his everything. She was beautiful. Kind. Funny. They were really in love. She developed cancer and Dale retired so that they could take a trip together in the RV, but her ill timed passing left Dale alone in the apocalypse.

"I didn't care about anyone. I wanted to jump in that hole with her," Dale began to find himself turning serious and Louie hung on to every word feeling what he did at that exact moment. "I hated the world. We were good people. We recycled and donated to charity. We did our part. Why did they have to take her away?" Dale rambled distantly but then came back to point. "So I left. I just- I didn't care about anybody. I wasn't me without my Erma anyways." He turned to look at her. "But I was wrong. Erma died. Not me. And this- this… end of the world of sorts is a sign, I think. I survived a lot and I'll be damned if I don't make her proud."

Louie sighed when she woke up the next morning. They hadn't returned the previous evening. Neither had Daryl. She woke up to the sound of the RV clinking and making distant sounds and when she sat up in the make-shift driver seat bed to look out the windshield, she saw Dale tinkering with it's engine. Amy was fretting near him as she had been for hours and it was starting to get on Louie's nerves until she had to remind herself that her sister was most likely getting personal with zombies. The radio crackled and a distressed voice couldn't be understood through the static before the line went dead. Amy started crying. Louie fell back into the seat. It wasn't until that evening did everyone receive some relief, but not before they sensed some fear.

They heard it before they saw them. A whining? A high pitch- no it had a pattern. An alarm? Dust started to pick up in the distance and all the distressed campers didn't know whether to see who would emerge from the encountering red sports vehicle or flee. Louie saw the hat and felt the pressure off her heart. Shane caused a huge commotion over the sound and managed to get it to cease before it attracted unwanted attention. Amy nearly flung herself at Glenn asking about Andrea's whereabouts especially as he arrived alone. Everyone's prayers were answered as a giant moving truck followed the trail made by Glenn. Louie hopped off the RV and approached him with open arms. She grabbed both sides of his head and pushed her forehead against his in an affectionate manner before turning to greet the rest of the gang.

She froze and remembered Daryl's words distinctly about Merle. Her heart started beating fast and in that moment she thought it best to get away while everyone's attention was diverted. She took refuge in the shallow woods by the quarry until she felt that her anxiety would subside. Sitting against the trunk of the tree, she thought of all the possible ways she could kill a man if it would come to that. None of them seemed realistic. The sound of hooves was behind her and she saw a flash of the deer's hind legs and the sound fading distantly into the woods behind her. Sleep came to her suddenly and subdued her until the morning. Waking, she hazily remembered something about a deer. And if there was something to hunt, one could bet that a hunter would be nearby. Specifically Daryl. Making these connections in her head she decided to come out of hiding and creep into the RV unnoticed, hoping Dale wouldn't notice. He did. The sports car was being taken apart so that the RV would sustain. Thankfully he only thought she crept out of the RV in the morning and didn't know she was gone for the whole night.

"He almost shit his pants when he didn't see you," Glenn said gloomily as he watched the car being disassembled.

"You must be Mary Lou," the strange tall man standing next to Glenn turned to her. He wore an officer's uniform, similar to Shane's and had a face that looked familiar. She nodded hesitantly and received his hand in a small handshake.

"Name's Rick. My wife told me about you. Guess you're not the new kid anymore," he joked. She cocked her head to the side. His wife? Andrea was married? He sensed her confusion because he added, "Lori?"

Louie didn't understand. Shane was always in Lori's tent- oh. Oh no. Lori? Lori? Attempting to cover up her shock and disbelief, Louie gave a curt smile and left to find Dale. She could overhear Glenn explaining her common detachment from everyone and that it was normal.

"Just act normal," Dale said without removing his eyes from the front of the RV.

"I just can't believe it," Louie gasped.

"It's none of our business anyways," he murmured. A scream and a shriek about a 'walker' caused Dale to hastily tell her to 'stay there' and ran over with the other men where the commotion was caused. Louie retreated to her "bed" in the RV where she could easily see all the drama and awaited for the scene to unfold.

"Merle! Merle!" Daryl Dixon strode into the middle of camp looking dirty and worn out trying to find his brother before he got his prize. But it was probably too late anyways. Whatever. He warned her.

Louie curiously waited to see the infamous Merle Dixon make his appearance and then resume his cave-manly duties and come after her but didn't expected what ensued: Daryl Dixon in a headlock by Shane and Rick speaking to him like a dog. When he was released he furiously proclaimed he would get his brother back with Rick announcing his allegiance as well as T-Dog, which was in fact a name, and Glenn was volunteered because of his skills. As Daryl stalked towards his tent, his mean eyes turned to see her safely shielded behind the glass.

"Did you at least get the deer?" she asked.

"Fuck off," he snarled without missing a beat.

Sorry for not updating yesterday! I made this a little longer for your patience :) Thanks for all the reviews and subscribers.