Hope watched numbly as the trees whizz past her. The caravan wasted no time in leaving what was left of the CDC. The sound attracted more walkers.

She wasn't sure how far away they were from Atlanta. But it was far enough that the cement and steel of the city turned into trees and grass of the country. The sun was starting to set; the red and orange hues reminding her of the flames that engulfed the CDC.

She wiped miserably at her face and sniffled. She couldn't seem to stop crying.

Daryl glanced over at Hope. "You hurt?"

Hope shook her head.

Daryl focused on the road once more. A few moments passed in silence. Her sniffles breaking the quiet. Daryl shifted in his seat. He'd rather face a horde of walkers than be trapped in a truck with a crying woman. He glanced over at her again. He should say something. Try to make her feel better. Maybe then she'd stop crying.

He cleared his throat. "It's gonna be all right." Awkwardly he reached out to pat her shoulder. She flinched.

Hope looked at him. "Is it?"

Daryl didn't have an answer for that. They silence stretched like miles between them.

After driving a while longer the caravan finally pulled to a stop alongside the road. Everyone parked in a circle; effectively creating a small blockade should any walkers pass by. One by one everyone exited their cars. They gathered in the center of the camp. Hope stayed inside the truck. She didn't want to move just yet. Daryl stayed inside too. He gave no explanation just turned the engine off and sat back. Neither of them spoke. Dale was right. Words really could be meager things.

Sometime later Daryl yawned and stretched. He cracked his neck. "I need some air." She didn't bother to look away from the window; she was watching the others sit quietly around the campfire. Melancholy coloring the silence.

Hope heard a thud against the hood of the truck. She peered curiously of the windshield as Daryl clambered onto the roof. A few seconds later she was staring at his upside down face. He knocked twice on the roof and mouthed 'come on'. She sighed and opened her door. A minute later she was sitting next to Daryl on the roof of his truck.

"Where's Jacqui?"

The question startled Daryl. Hope hadn't said a word in hours. He coughed slightly. "She, uh," he fumbled for the right words. "She stayed with Jenner in the CDC."

Hope looked at him and then looked down. She picked at her cuticles. "Maybe they had the right idea."

She could feel Daryl's gaze on her face. She didn't meet his eyes. "Nah, way I see it we've survived this long. It'd be stupid to give up now. I'm gonna keep fighting till' my last breath and then I'll fight some more. Take some of those dead bastards with me." He leaned back on his elbows.

Hope sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Course' I am."

There was a pregnant pause.

"What happened to you?"

Hope blinked in confusion. "What?"

"You weren't running around those woods with no shoes on for no reason."

Hope looked down and sighed. She'd seen this coming. She was surprised she hadn't gotten this question sooner. "I was running from him."

"I figured that."

"He kept me down there for a month. He had a friend and they would-" Hope took a shaky breath. She swallowed thickly. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Daryl nodded. "You never talk about what life was like…before."

"Neither do you."

"That's cause' there ain't shit to talk about. I wasn't anybody and I wasn't going anywhere."

She frowned and picked at her thumbnail. "I don't remember anything before a month ago. It's like someone went in my head and bleached my brain. I don't know where my house is, what my favorite foods are, where my family lives, if I was married. Nothing, it's all gone. I don't even know how to tie my shoe." Daryl looked down and saw the laces tucked inside her shoe.

"I'll teach you."

Hope looked at Daryl. "What?"

"You heard me. I'll teach you. I went through all the trouble of saving you. It'd be downright embarrassing if you tripped and fell on a knife or something.

Hope giggled. "That happen often?"

"You know what I mean." Daryl faced Hope. "Whatever you need to learn, I'll teach you."

Hope smiled. "Thank you."

"Whatever."

Sleep eluded her that night and what little she got was interrupted by a nightmare. She woke up in the truck with a hand on her mouth.

"It's just dream. It's just a dream. Stop screaming. You're gonna wake everybody up," Daryl whispered.

Hope pushed violently at his hand; still in the nightmare's grips. She punched at his chest and kicked his legs. He grunted and dropped his hand from her mouth. She curled up with her back to the window breathing harshly.

"Sorry, didn't know how else to get you to quiet down. You were gonna wake everyone up." Daryl seemed almost as shaken as she was.

"I know, I just, I thought you were Lawrence. He…they-" she said her heart finally slowing down. "I don't like being touched." She looked straight at him. "Please don't do that again," she said her voice small.

Daryl nodded, "Promise." He grinned a bit. "Next time I'll just throw some cold water on you."

Despite the dread that made her stomach cramp and her palms sweat, Hope laughed.

A few hours later Daryl pulled into an abandoned gas station alongside Dale's RV. Daryl killed the engine. Rick got out of his car he signaled to Shane and Daryl. They got out and quickly scanned the area. After a few moments they gave the okay and the other survivors left their vehicles.

Hope took a deep breath and opened the truck door. She examined the group as she walked towards them. Andrea, Dale, Glenn, T-Dog, Lori, Carl, Shane, Rick, Daryl and she were all that were left.

"What do we do now?" Glenn's voice shook.

Rick looked at the group. They were scared. He was scared. Yesterday the rug had been pulled right from under them. Their only safe haven had gone up in flames.

Everyone looked to him for an answer. "Fort Benning is our only option at this point."

"We'll need supplies," Dale replied.

Rick looked around. The gas station had a small convenience store and a few cars on the other side of the lot. There was large sign on the door of the store it read: NO GAS HERE. "We'll take what supplies we can get from here. Anything else we'll find on the way. Lori, Carol, Andrea, see what supplies we have and move them into the RV. Glenn, T-Dog, check those cars over there and siphon as much fuel as you can. Dale you're with me and Shane. I wanna see exactly what route we'll take. And we're going to have to get rid of some of these cars too. Hope," she looked up from the ground. "Go see what supplies you can gather from the store." She nodded. "Daryl you go with her."

Everyone dispersed. Daryl walked towards the store, Hope trailed behind him. He opened the door carefully; his ever present crossbow aimed and ready to fire. Hope walked warily behind him. She grabbed a shopping basket from besides the door.

Daryl walked a few feet in front of her. "Stay behind me," he said without looking back.

Hope swallowed, "Okay." From what she could see there wasn't much to be looted from the store.

Quietly she began loading up her basket with food. She checked the expiration dates and for the most part the food was okay. It was mostly stale chips, trail mix and cookies. She got mildly excited when she saw the occasional can of spaghetti and meatballs. Once the first basket was full she deposited it outside. Daryl had long since swept the store and found nothing. He waited idly by the counter.

She worked quickly and about thirty minutes later she was done with all of the aisles. She even organized the baskets so some had food and others had supplies like batteries, flashlights, tape, and other stuff.

She stretched her tired muscles. The task had been just what she needed. Daryl hadn't offered to help and to be honest she hadn't wanted him to. It was good to turn off her brain for a while and just focus on something.

"Don't forget to check behind the counter."

She started a bit at Daryl's voice. She nodded and retrieved another basket.

There wasn't much behind the counter, just a small metal box. She opened it. Inside were a small handgun and a box of bullets. She put it on the counter. Daryl peered inside.

"You know how to shoot?"

Hope looked up startled. "What? I-no," she shook her head. "I don't think so," she frowned. "I'm not sure."

He shrugged. "It's easy you just point and shoot."

She looked at it.

"Take it. I'll teach you how to use it."

She glanced at him unsure.

"You really wanna be walking around without a something to protect yourself? Take it."

He had a point. Hope picked up the gun. The weight of it felt vaguely familiar, comfortable. A memory fluttered just on the edge of her mind. A target dummy in front of her, a warm comfortable presence behind her. Steady hands and a soothing voice in her ear. It disappeared a moment later.

Daryl pointed to the gun. "Here's the safety. You click that to turn it off."

Hope clicked it on and off a few times.

"When you take aim, hold it like this." Daryl cautiously moved his hands toward hers. Her eyes flicked to his. She nodded slowly. He placed her right hand on the grip. Her index finger automatically went into the trigger guard. He then slowly took her left hand and placed it around her right, supporting it from under. Her right thumb rested over her left. "Put your arms out straight. Shoulders back, legs out about shoulders width. Yeah, like that." Daryl moved back from the counter.

Hope breathed; the tightness in her chest slowly dissipating. She checked the safety once more and then stuffed the gun in the back of her pants. She put the box of bullets in the basket. "I'm finished."

"Let's go."

Daryl and Hope walked over to the RV where Lori, Andrea and Carol were putting away supplies.

"Nice," said Lori as Hope handed her a basket. She turned to Carl who was a few feet away. "Carl! Look what Hope found." She picked up a can of ravioli and showed it to him.

Carl beamed. "Awesome!"

Hope smiled.

"Daryl! We could use some help over here!" Rick waved from across the lot.

Daryl glanced at Hope. "Gotta go."

Hope nodded. "Okay."

He lingered a moment longer, shuffling from foot to foot. He opened his mouth to say something but then thought better of it. He turned on his heel and walked away. Hope stared curiously after him.

Lori and Carol shared a long look with each other, small smiles on their lips.

Hope stood for a moment unsure of what to do next.

"Hope?"

Hope turned to Lori.

Lori smiled. "Can you help me organize these supplies?"

Hope walked over to her glad for something to do. She threw herself into the task blocking out everything else.

Though sleep had eluded her once again the night before Hope was up at dawn with the rest of the survivors. Everyone was eager to get on the road to Ft. Benning. Daryl had taken his brother's bike from the back of his truck, so Hope would be riding in the RV with Glenn, Andrea, Shane, T-Dog and Dale. Lori, Rick, Carl, Sophia, and Carol would ride in the Grimes car.

"You're Hope, right?"

Hope glanced at Glenn. She nodded. He'd been working up the courage to ask that question ever since he got into the RV. That had been an hour ago.

"I'm Glenn," he reached out to give her a handshake from across the table. "It's nice to meet you. Of-officially I mean." He smiled nervously. His eyes kept flitting between the scars on her wrist and the bruises on her face and arms.

Hope stared at his hand. She met his eyes and smiled politely before dropping her eyes back to the book Dale had given her to read.

Shane and Andrea laughed quietly at Glenn's awkward introduction.

"So how did you find our camp?"

Shane and Andrea stopped laughing.

Hope froze in her seat. She swallowed. "Daryl…found me in the woods. He brought me back to camp."

Glenn furrowed his brow. "Really? Daryl, helped you?"

Just then Daryl appeared next to the RV for a moment. Hope caught his eyes through the window for the briefest of moments before he revved the engine and pulled away. She continued to look out of the window. "He saved my life."

"Oh. Cool." Glenn stood up and shuffled awkwardly to the passenger seat.

Hope heard a loud pop and then the RV slowed to a stop. After her little chat with Glenn, she had moved to her old perch in the back of the RV. It freaked her out a little that Jim had spent some of his dying moments there, but she wasn't ready to give up the small niche she'd carved out for herself. Besides the few hours of peace and quiet had been good for her, but of course all good things came to an end eventually. She just wished it hadn't been so soon.

Hope squinted her eyes as she walked out of the RV. The sun was bright and warm again her eyes against her skin. She savored the feeling; leaning her head back with her eyes closed.

"Come on, y'all. Look around. Collect what you can." Shane passed her on his way into the RV.

Hope looked for Daryl and saw him walking away with T-Dog. She trotted towards him. "Can I help?"

Daryl glanced back at her. "You know how to siphon fuel from a car?"

"No."

Daryl stopped short. He looked her up and down for a moment. He smirked. "Guess that's one more thing I'll have to teach you."

Hope grinned.

T-Dog watched the exchange curiously. Daryl caught him staring. He brushed past him. "What the hell are you staring at?"

Hope heard a sharp whistle of alarm. Daryl who had been a few feet behind her was waving her to him. She dropped the book bag full of stuff she'd been carrying and jogged towards him. When she got near he pulled her down to kneel alongside him.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

Daryl put a finger to his lips. He pointed towards the RV. Hope looked at it confused. Then she saw it; a walker. She looked at Daryl. Why didn't they just shoot it? He pointed again. Her heart dropped. There were more, a lot more. Daryl tugged on her elbow. He was pointing under the car. His meaning was clear; she was supposed to hide under the car. She crawled under the car under the car expecting Daryl to be right behind her but he wasn't. He was already out of her sight before she could ask where he was going.

As the minutes passed Hope began to panic. She was alone, under a car and she couldn't see any of the group. There would be no one to help her if she got into trouble.

She smelled the herd long before they shuffled by her car. The stench of rotting flesh and death overwhelmed her. Hope wanted to gag but fear made her throat clench. She tried to stay as still as possible, praying to whatever god was listening that the walkers didn't notice her presence under the car.

It seemed like it would never end. The groans of the walkers reverberated in her skull making her skin crawl. Memories of Amy, Jim, Lawrence, and the walker from her dream had her pulse pounding in fear. She was ready, alert. Muscles tense, waiting for the first sign of danger; the first sign to run.

It never came. The herd shuffled off down the highway. Hope didn't move; the fear of any stragglers staying her twitching legs. She wondered how the others were doing.

She got her answer a few moments later when she heard a scream. It sounded like a little girl. Sophia. The screaming faded and the highway was eerily quiet. She heard nothing but the sound of her own breath. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist. Hope screamed and punched out her arm.

"Shit! What the hell?!" Daryl yelped.

Hope scrambled out from under the car. "Sorry! I didn't know it was you."

Daryl spit blood onto the ground. "It's all right, nothing's broken." He wiped his mouth and looked at her. "I didn't expect you to come out swinging."

Hope winced. "Sorry."

"Forget it. Come on, you need to stay by the RV we don't need to lose any more people."

"Any more people? I heard a scream. Was it Sophia? Did she get bit?"

"I don't know. A walker chased her into the woods. Rick went after her."

Hopes response was cut off when they finally arrived at the RV. The group was standing around unsure of what to do next. Lori and Carol were standing at the side of the road. Lori was holding Carol.

"Do you think he'll find her?" Hope looked up at Daryl.

Daryl looked at her. "Yeah, he'll find her."

Hope nodded. She just hoped that Sophia would be all right when he did.