"What the hell is that?"

"It's a tree."

"I know trees and that is not a tree."

"Alright, calm down Tarzan. It's not done yet." Louie rolled her eyes. She sat poised on her knees on the floor, bare legs (because she never slept with pants on), hovering over her canvas that was set on a sheet so that she wouldn't get paint on the carpet floors. Daryl was laying shirtless on the bed that was pushed against the window and not but two feet away from where she was on the floor. Without moving his body, he tilted his head to get a better view of what she was painting. The window's curtain's were pushed back and the room was golden from the setting sun illuminating each zombie that dragged by, outside the window.

"What time do you have to go?" he asked, playing with her anklet that had come off somehow, in his hands.

"Soon. Maybe. I don't know," she replied inattentively, pushing her hair out of her face and getting some paint on her forehead. A zombie came tumbling out of the bathroom and stumbled right out the open door. Neither even flinched. Daryl remained fiddling with the trinket in between his fingers and Louie kept painting.

"Huh?" a noise erupted from the back of Louie's throat as she was stirred awake from a soft tink, tink, tink coming from beside her head. She sleepily turned her gaze to the side window and saw a hand tapping at the window. Barely with her eyes open, she got the window to go down and rested her temple at the edge, curling up to the door.

"Hey, hey," Daryl whispered leaning up to get Louie's conscious attention.

"Hmm," she replied her eyes shutting and then opening half way.

"I'm leavin' soon," he whispered to her. She moved her temple so that her face was sticking out the window to see him and her arm dangling out of the RV.

"Is this a dream?" she tried to speak but she was so sleepy her motor skills weren't functioning fully.

"Huh?"

"Will you come back?" she whispered, trying to get her eyes to open and her lips to move properly.

"Do you want me to?" When she didn't reply right away he asked again, "Hey," he whispered, grabbing hold of her hand and shaking it gently to wake her up. "Do you want me to?"

"Yeah."

"I'll come back then." He let go of her hand and she let go of consciousness. When she woke up, the camp was somber and quiet provided the low cackling of the fire and the shuffling of feet over dead leaves. And the emptiness that came with the departure of some of the survivors.

"Louie, c'mere and see what I got you," Jacqui said as she stepped out of the RV. Louie smiled and ignored the hollowness she felt in her stomach and went over to her tent. Jacqui ducked her head in the tent and brought out a full shopping bag. "Andrea snuck a little something in there too," she muffled her laugh. Louie suspiciously thanked her and went to find Andrea to thank her as well but Dale informed her that she was with Amy fishing on the quarry. Louie saw that she was standing near the Dixon brothers' tent. Looking around her to see if anybody was watching, she ducked her head in and entered their living quarters quietly. As she stood at the entrance of their semi-permanent home, she realized it was the first time she was in a tent since she was rescued. But this tent didn't rekindle any horrible memories or stir any emotion in her. It was just a tent. She figured out of the two sleeping bags, the one with the dented arrow on top, was Daryl's. She set herself down on his sleeping bag and crossing her legs, she started sifting through the things she was brought.

When she pulled out a pair of dark navy blue sweats and a t-shirt, she peeled off her dress and set it back in the bag.

"Oh God," she groaned with a chuckle when she pulled out the sexy nightie at the bottom of the bag holding it up, when suddenly a commotion of screams came from outside. Racing out of the tent, she was met with Shane tying Jim to a tree. She looked helplessly around until she looked at Dale and he quietly explained how Jim was acting curiously strange and it started to scare some of the folks and that his behavior could spark something dangerous. Louie sadly looked at the restrained man and he gave her an attempted reassuring smile.

"It's not right," she muttered and tore away from Dale who was trying to reassure her. She knew what it was like to be tied up and couldn't see how there wasn't another way of dealing with the problem. She marched over to the quarry and saw Andrea and Amy climbing out of their canoe.

"Look what we got!" Andrea proudly held up their findings (bountiful amount of fish!) and Louie felt her anger disappear and patted Amy wordlessly on the back on a job well done. She sat alone by the quarry for a while and threw stones in the water feeling better with each 'kaplunk' sound it made. With a heavy sigh she started to head back with the setting sun smelling something that wasn't squirrel or beans. She was happy to see everything was back to semi-normal as they ate a hearty meal. She even gave a small smile when Dale explained the story behind his watch when he was teased about it.

It took about three seconds for everything to go wrong.

One: Controlling husband screaming.

Two: Amy screaming.

Three: Chaos.

Women and children screaming and scrambling for shelter and safety. The few men left over at the camp fighting for dominance. The darkness putting everyone at a disadvantage. Louie amongst the chaos scrambled to find a weapon and pulled out a jutting stick from the fire. As she felt something graze her ear, she shrieked and swung the enflamed branch at the zombie grabbing at her shirt, causing it to fall backwards. Another flanked her other end and she swung it once more to ward it off, which seemed to work as they couldn't find a way to get to her without being burned. She jumped when she felt the RV against her back and knew she was being cornered when a third came staggering towards her. She held the blazing stick out in front of her and knew she had to do something drastic. She swung as hard as she could at the one closest to her and almost like a premonition, she could see the other zombie lunging at her neck. But before the prophecy was fulfilled an arrow came protruding out of its forehead and without thinking, Louie skewered the last one through the eye, pinning its head which started to catch the flames and set on fire. With no weapon she scurried to the back of the RV to climb up the ladder, but half way there, a hand grabbed her ankle and she instinctively pulled and the dead creature proved to be strong. Half-sobbing, Louie brought her foot down as hard as she could and struck the monster in the face, its grip slackening. The sight of somebody's foot placed on the neck of the zombie and a knife right in the skull was never a welcoming sight before now. Daryl Dixon stood up covered in dirt and blood.

He held out a hand to her so that she'd come down from the ladder, "C'mon. It's over now." She accepted his extension and immediately morphed into him, sobbing into his chest leaving him to figure out what to do with his hands. She only indulged in her feelings for a minute before pulling away, panicked.

"Dale? Glenn- where's-" she heaved looking around at the destruction like a madwoman. "Dale? Dale!" she yelled before she saw him standing in the midst of the battlefield, his hands bloodied. He enveloped her small body in his arms and held her as she cried along with the rest the survivors.

"Don' give her that!" Daryl barked as Glenn handed Louie a shovel but it was too late, she was already helping T-Dog dig graves for their own. He marched over to her to take it away from her (like he had twice before) but this time she held the blade at him territorially.

"I'm helping," she said with finality. He grumbled about her being a wacko and ended up arguing and fighting with Glenn over how to dispose some of the bodies. It seemed like disaster after disaster struck the people as it was discovered that Jim was bitten.

"CDC," Rick had decided. Louie would follow that man to the end of the earth as long as they were gone from this God-forsaken spot. Once the bodies were buried and burned properly, everyone started to solemnly and grudgingly pack their belongings. Daryl raised an eyebrow when he saw a familiar dress crumpled on his sleeping bag. Inches away sat a shopping bag full of clothing as well as a discarded item. He lifted the item with his fingers and smirked.

"'Ey!" Daryl exited his tent and stopped Louie. "You in my tent?" he asked her quietly. When she didn't reply, he pulled something out from behind him. Louie's mouth dropped and her eyes widened as she lunged for the nightie that he was clutching in his fist. He quickly brought it away from reach, teasing her.

"This for me?" he lowered his head, forehead pressing against her temple so only she could see his teasing smile. She blushed ferociously and snatched the lacy devil when he brought it to her fingers and stomped into his tent to retrieve her other belongings. He followed her inside and made another quip about her clothing choice. She shot him a harsh glare but before leaving the tent, she turned to look at him.

"Thanks for coming back," she sighed. He rolled his eyes.

"Git," was all he said pushing her out of his tent. She stumbled out with him close behind to retrieve his boots that were sitting outside.

"What were you doin' in there?" Shane, who was passing by, had seen the pair leave the ten together, stopped and asked pointing an accusing finger at Louie. She also stopped at his accusation but only gave him a dumb-founded look in response.

"Mind yer business," Daryl drawled from behind hr and straightening up.

"The fuck you say?" Shane asked charging towards the Dixon man. T-Dog quickly intervened by locking his arms around Shane's waist so he couldn't attack whereas Louie stood in front of Daryl trying to get him to look at her face rather than his opponent's to steer the anger.

"Shhh," she said finally getting a hold of his face in her hands, her items discarded on the ground. She steadied his gaze so that he was only looking at her. "Leave it," she whispered. He grunted and ripped his head out of her grip to bend down and pick her stuff up and hand it to her.

"Don' forget to take yer dirties sweethear'," Daryl bawled loudly so that Shane would wind up again. Louie snatched the bag out of his hand and gave him a disgusted look that didn't bother him in the slightest and marched off. If he wanted to get a beating, then she wouldn't be there to watch.

"You're a fucking dead man," Shane said pointing straight at Daryl as T-Dog dragged him off. Daryl smirked and made a gun with his forefinger and thumb holding it up to his eye.

"Boom," he winked.

"That can't be safe," she muttered as Daryl unnecessarily revved the engine to his motorcycle.

"Ironic," Glenn laughed.

"We're not talking about that, remember?" she whipped her head at him and hissed.

"Sorry, sorry," he held his hands up in surrender. They were seated in the RV booth behind the driver's side, leaving Jim at his request somewhere along the way like road kill. She would never forget his last wish that he asked of her before they left. Take care of Dale. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and returned to the camper wordlessly. Daryl would circle the RV and swerve in the space between it and Shane's jeep just to annoy him. Louie made her way and sat up front with Dale in the passenger seat.

"Why has Daryl taken a sudden fascination towards you?" he asked as Daryl maneuvered his bike on the opposite side of the RV where she was sitting, near her window. She didn't reply, but only tucked her knees under her chin. "I know Shane could have handled it differently-"

"He saved my life," she finally piped up, resting her chin on her arms.

"It doesn't belong to him though. Remember that," he reprimanded.

I feel like it's the other way around, she thought but dared not say aloud.

"Do you trust Rick?" Louie asked to change the subject. The quest to the CDC was a dangerous one and improvised if not aimless. Rick had blind faith that the government was trying to save the people. But did the people have faith in the government if there still was one? This time it was Dale's turn to remain quiet.

"Do you?" he turned the question around.

"I trust you," she offered.

"Do you trust Daryl?"

"With my life," she didn't miss a beat. Dale let this sink in.

"I trust Rick," he finally said.

"What a coincidence. Me too," she added. Dale laughed.

"Glad we're on the same page."

Death has a distinct smell. It's putrid and stings every sense in your body. Your eyes water, your nose stings, your ears prick and your mouth dries. One could argue smelling death is a bad omen. If so, then the survivors would lose their title and the clan from Atlanta would be no more. Jacqui clasped her hands with Louie and they sprinted towards the CDC behind Rick trying not to throw up as the bodies littered around the lawn were decaying.

"Don't look," Lori ordered her son. Louie wished someone told her that.

"It's closed," Jacqui gasped and the group erupted into frenzy. Rick, seemingly deranged, started yelling at a security camera trying to bargain everyone's life. Jacqui tugged on Louie's arm as she remained staring at Rick's feeble attempt to persuade the invisible force. She waited for the tell-tale sign of defeat. If Rick gave up, she would too. Maybe she even wanted him to give up, so she wouldn't have to make the decision herself. Jacqui, had released her hand a while ago and was running with the others back to the vehicles.

"You're killing us!" Rick was screaming. Louie shakily stepped forward and reached out to grab his hand but before she could, a force was picking her up. Shane practically threw her over his shoulder and tried to wrestle with Rick to retreat. Lori was screaming somewhere in the background and children were crying helplessly.

And then the doors opened.

They were let in. They were saved.

Everyone rushed forward and entered the building without thinking because the dead were starting to get closer. When the doors closed behind them, everyone gave a sigh of relief. Louie remained in shock until someone touched her shoulder.

"C'mon, everyone's movin'," Shane said prodding her forward as the group turned around the bend. Not wanting to be alone with him, she scrambled to catch up with everyone else.

His name was Dr. Jenner. The man who saved them all. Not only saved but continued to save with his ample amount of food and hot water. It seemed like Rick was going to be pushed off the top of the ladder right and end up with Shane if this kept up. Everyone hoped it would. At least they did when they were sober. Everyone could forget their sorrow with the help of the copious amount of alcohol the doctor seemed to have. Louie wasn't interested in the booze as she was the food. But that doesn't mean she didn't pass a bottle back and forth with Daryl. The only one who didn't savor the moment was Glenn, who was tipsy just by the smell of alcohol. Everyone cracked jokes, laughed loudly and were radiating with happiness. Louie forced herself to stand amidst all the laughing and talking.

"Where are you going?" Jacqui asked. Without even bothering to look at anyone's face, she held up her pinky and staggered out of the room. Daryl noticed she nicked a bottle sitting behind Jenner as she left. He smirked. She wasn't a social drinker. He sought her out after he found a place to sleep in a staff member's office on the sofa; the area was segregated from the other campers just the way he liked it. Daryl was confused as whether the alcohol was making it hard to find her or whether she was being very sneaky. Clutching his bottle from earlier in his hand, he prowled hallway after hallway looking for her.

"What'chu lookin' for, Dixon?" Shane asked standing at the end of a hallway. Daryl snorted.

"I lost a girl about ye' high," he said holding his hand up to where Louie would approximately be. "And real pretty," he added to get on his nerves.

"You better stay away from her or else,"

"I guess you'd like that," Daryl muttered going to walk past him.

"What's that suppose to mean? Huh? Speak up boy!" Shane yelled bumping his chest with Daryl's and getting in his face.

"You best git outta my way," Daryl curtly responded.

"Now that big brother's gone, you don't have to worry about the competition, am I right?" Shane taunted, pacing back and forth. "You ain't gotta get sloppy seconds, you can have the first slice all to your-"

Shane flew back as Daryl charged forward and tackled him in the stomach. Before he could lay a punch, the ever present T-Dog was there to pull Daryl off and pull Shane down before a fight erupted.

"Man, y'all are ruining something that can be good for all of us!" T-Dog yelled, clearly upset that the men were choosing to fight their battle at someone's 'home.' Shane sneered and stomped off, giving Daryl some satisfaction. He gave up and decided to head back to him room, having a hot shower and going to sleep. The next morning he found her sitting with Jenner eating breakfast. She was staring at her plate and Jenner was asking her question after question without response.

"How old are you?"

"…"

"Do you like being that age?"

"…"

"Fascinating. Tell me more."

"She's not gonna say anything," Daryl grumbled dropping in the empty seat next to her, grabbing the fork out of her hand and scooping some eggs into his own mouth before letting it clatter on her plate.

"Good lord, she isn't deaf is she?" Jenner asked. The two looked at him exasperatedly. "Got it," he muttered and stood up.

"Where'd you go? Last night, I mean," Daryl picked her toast off her plate and munched on it.

"Somewhere you can't find me," she said before snatching her toast back out of his hands. He sat forward.

"I'm the best tracker this side of Georgia's ever seen," he said lowly dipping his head towards her.

"Clearly not," she shrugged before continuing her breakfast. Daryl frowned and leaned back in his seat. That usually impressed the ladies. "Is that where we are?" she asked after a moment of silence. "Georgia?"

"Damn girl. You don't even know where you are?" he asked the pitiful thing. She shrugged. "Where'd you come from anyways?"

"Michigan," Glenn sat down in front of the two. They both gave him separate looks; one confusion and the other anger. Louie had the look of anger. "Ok, you really need to specify what I can and can not know," Glenn sighed feeling guilty for revealing something he shouldn't have.

"You two know each other?" Daryl spat. Glenn opened his mouth to respond but was stopped by her pointed look.

"No, not really," he said meekly. Daryl huffed a 'whatever' and got up to leave and Louie put her head back down to keep eating. The rest of the day, Louie stayed in Dale's room on his bed sleeping most of the time. She was awoken when a loud beep resounded in the building and the air conditioning stopped. Louie lifted her head as a group passed by her door causing commotion. She got up and peered out the door to see everybody following Dr. Jenner with complaints. She decided to follow and they were led back into his main research room. After dismissing a quarrel Rick was holding up, he pushed a few buttons and the doors to the room closed and locked. They soon discovered that Dr. Jenner was suicidal and was planning on blowing the whole CDC up, along with him. It was ill fate that the survivors had found him at this point. Louie watched silently as Daryl tried to take a swing at him with his axe, Andrea announcing her support of Jenner, Lori begging, Shane's gun threat, Carol's tears and Rick's persuasion.

"I had to keep hope alive didn't I?" Rick asked, sweating buckets knowing that saying the wrong thing could end up killing everyone.

"There is no hope. There never was." Dr. Jenner was no longer a giving and saintly man but rather a defeated one who had nothing left to live for. He was going to mercy kill everyone. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything."

Louie looked up at Jenner. He had a calm way about him. He was ready. "No pain?" she asked meekly. Dr. Jenner locked eyes with her and gave her a single nod. Daryl's head snapped as he looked at her defeated face. He continued to strike the locked doors hoping that he could break it open and bust them all out even if it was by force.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, to be more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Louie had this far away look to her like she was hearing an opera; wonderment, amazement. She didn't hear anything after that nor saw that the doors were opened and everyone ran out. Jacqui stayed and Andrea stayed with her. All three shared an understanding look.

"Hey! Get up! C'mon! We gotta go!" Daryl barked. She looked at him with teary eyes. Dale seemed to be trying Andrea to leave as well. T-Dog failed with Jacqui.

"I don't want to," Louie's voice cracked as Daryl got closer.

"Nobody wants to. But you gotta man up and do it anyways. Otherwise you aint' nothing but gettin' in the way. You wanted me to come back," he barked. "You wanted me to come back! Stop bein' such a baby about it. Let's go. C'mon. I'm here," Daryl snapped at her holding out his hand. She didn't accept it though tears were streaming down her face.

"What do you want!" he shouted. Louie flinched at the pitch of his voice and started shaking. She looked at the clock counting down the moments till they would all be dead and at Jacqui and Andrea's calm faces. How could they feel such tranquility when she was having a heart attack? They were going to die. End their lives. Everything would be over. That's when it hit her.

"I want to live," she croaked. That's all Daryl needed to hear. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the exits. She looked back to beckon Dale but he was sitting down with Andrea, looking as if he wasn't going anywhere either.

"Don't pull this, Dale," Andrea threatened. Louie opened her mouth to tell Dale to hurry but her heart broke as she heard him say:

"I'm not pulling anything. If you're staying, I stay too. He's right; we know what's waiting for us out there. I don't want to face it alone."

She looked at him shocked, her face contorted in disbelief. Didn't want to face it alone? She was nothing to him. Andrea would always come first. Daryl was tugging on her hand and she let him take control as they sprinted down the stair well and saw the others running to their vehicles as they reached a giant gapping hole in the glass wall.

"C'mon!" Daryl grunted as they hopped over dead bodies and ran for cover. They behind the RV and he turned her away from the building wrapping his arms around her and shielding her from the explosion that caused them both to fall to the ground. Though she wasn't facing the blast, her eyes burned and she felt uncomfortably hot, like her skin was on fire. Scrambling up when it was over, Daryl pulled her over to the motorcycle where he beckoned her to climb behind him.

"Louie!"

Louie saw Dale climbing onto the RV with Andrea not before trying to stop her from riding with Daryl.

"Mary Lou," he said softly, almost hurt. She looked at him solemnly before climbing on the back of Daryl's bike.

"You sure?" he turned his head to the side and muttered.

"He doesn't need me," she said bitterly and wrapped her arms around his waist.