Hope opened her eyes slowly. Sitting up quickly, she looked around. She was in a strange bedroom. White drapes swayed gently with the morning breeze. An open door led to a hallway on her right side. Tilting her head, she heard voices coming from down the hall. Slowly she slid off the bed, shivering slightly when her bare feet touched the cold floor. Time slowed to a snail's pace. At the end of the hall there was a door slightly ajar, she peeked in. There was a couple in the kitchen, arguing.

"E-Excuse me," Hope spoke softly. The couple continued to argue unaware of her presence. The woman turned around. She looked right through Hope. Hope gasped. She was staring at herself. The man turned around as well. Hope furrowed her brow. He seemed familiar. With a jolt she realized that this man was the walker haunting her dreams as of late. Only now he was alive and whole. She moved closer to the couple. The man was wearing the same police uniform. His name tag said T. Lawson. She looked down and sure enough she saw a wedding band on his ring finger. He was her husband?

"You can't go it's too dangerous out there."

"There are people dying out there. I can't just sit here and do nothing. I took an oath. Besides you're going out."

"That's different."

"How? You took an oath to help people same as me. That's all I'm trying to do."

"It's not only you I'm worried about." The man put a hand on the woman's stomach. Hope touched her own.

A car horn blared outside. The woman put her hands on the rim of the sink and sighed. The man rubbed her shoulders. "I'll be back before you know it."

The woman nodded. The man kissed her temple. He grabbed his keys from the kitchen table and headed towards the door.

The woman looked up. "Tucker!" The man turned around. "I love you. Please be careful." He smiled and shut the door behind him. The woman watched the squad car pull away from the curb and ride off into the distance. She hung her head and rubbed her slightly rounded belly. Hope looked down at her own flat stomach.

When Hope looked up the woman was in the living room, lying down on the couch watching the news. Worry lines were etched into her forehead. She clutched a wedding ring that was linked to a chain on her neck. Hope touched her own neck. She felt the ghost of the chain on her throat. They both jumped when the phone started to ring.

The woman sighed and answered it. "Hello? Hey Nancy, how are things going?" The woman frowned clearly displeased with Nancy's response. 'I-I don't know…" She looked at the television. There were two police officers shooting at a walker. The woman's mouth formed a grim line. "I'll be right there." She grabbed her keys from the coffee table and headed out the front door.

She pulled out her cell phone and put it to her ear as she locked the door. "Hey Tucker, it's me. I'm going to the hospital to help evacuate the last of the patients. I know I promised you I wouldn't go but they need me. I can't just sit here and do nothing, I have to help. I'll be careful, I promise. I gotta go. I'll be home later. I love you."

Hope watched from the window as she pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street. Hope had a sinking feeling that the woman would never make it home.

Hope blinked awake. She stared at the ceiling for a long moment. She couldn't even begin to process what that was. She placed a hand on her stomach.

"Hey."

Hope turned on her side and looked at Daryl. "Hi."

Daryl handed her a bowl of beans. "Eat. It's still warm."

"What happened?"

"You fainted."

"Where are we?"

"Hershel's farm."

Hope furrowed her brow. "Who's Hershel?"

"Guy who owns this farm."

"How did we get here?"

"Rick, Shane and Carl were out in the woods searching. Saw a deer and stopped to stare at the wonder of life or some shit. Anyway this dude called Otis shoots the deer, only the bullet went straight through and Carl was standing on the other side."

"And the bullet hit Carl. Oh my God."

"Shane and Otis went to some emergency hospital set up at a school. Got the stuff Hershel needed to fix Carl up. He's a doctor by the way. Well an animal doctor but we can't exactly be picky right now. And Otis died on the way back." Daryl pointed at the bowl. "Eat."

Hope shook her head. "I'm not hungry." She was still digesting everything that had happened.

"Eat anyway," Daryl shook his head. "Look, the Doc says you've got heat exhaustion. You need to eat and drink."

Hope nodded and reluctantly began to nibble on the beans. After a short, tense silence she spoke. "How long have I been out?" It was dark outside.

"About a day."

"And Carl is he okay?"

"Doc says he'll pull through."

Hope nodded. Daryl took a glass of juice off of the nightstand and gave it to her. She sipped lightly from it. The silence stretched between them a mile wide. "Is something wrong?" Hope asked meekly.

Daryl let out a deep breath. "No."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to slow you guys down." Hope stared at the beans. "Or make you worry."

"Who says I was worried?" he snapped. Daryl dropped his head into his hands. When he looked back up at her he shook his head. "Get some sleep." He said as got up and closed the door behind him.

The next time Hope woke it was not Daryl who sat beside her but Glenn. He was plucking at an old guitar. Hope cleared her throat, "Hey."

Glenn looked up, "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Good, thirsty."

Glenn grabbed a glass of juice from the nightstand. "Here, drink this."

Hope peered over the rim of the glass at Glenn. Something seemed to be on his mind. "Did something happen?"

"What? Why?"

"You seem a little occupied."

Glenn looked down at the guitar. "It's nothing."

Hope nodded and took another sip. It didn't take long for Glenn to start talking.

"It's this girl Maggie. I slept with her and it was great—or I thought it was—and now she won't give me the time of day. She keeps giving me mixed signals," Glenn rubbed his eyes."I'm confused."

"Maggie?"

"Yeah, she's Hershel's daughter."

"Hershel—as in the Hershel who owns this farm and is letting us stay on it—Hershel?

"Uh, yeah."

Hope's eyebrows were in her hairline. "Umm, wow." Hope scratched her head. "I don't know what to say."

Glenn sighed heavily, "I can't believe it, the worlds ended and I still can't get a girlfriend."

Hope smothered a laugh. Glenn looked up at her and smiled. They both burst into laughter.

The door opened and a young woman around Glenn's age poked her head through. She had brown hair and almond shaped green eyes. She was pretty.

Glenn nearly toppled the chair over in his haste to get up."Maggie!"

She looked at Glenn, "Carol says lunch is ready."

Glenn swallowed, "Okay."

Her eyes lingered on Glenn a moment longer before Maggie glanced at Hope, "I see your feeling better."

Hope smiled. "Much, thank you for your hospitality."

She shrugged, "It's no trouble. See ya."

"See ya," Hope echoed before Maggie shut the door. "So, that's Maggie."

"Yeah," Glenn sighed as he plopped back into his chair. "That's Maggie."

"She seems nice."

"She is. Smart, beautiful, brave," Glenn dropped his head into his hands. "She's so out of my league it's laughable."

Hope reached out and gently patted Glenn on the back. "She likes you; she's probably a little scared."

Glenn looked at her.

"I'm sure being in a relationship was difficult before but now? It's probably ten times as hard, give her time. She'll come around. Just back off, let her come to you."

Glenn looked at the floor.

"Hey, it'll be okay."

Glenn smiled, "Thanks Hope."

"Have you seen Daryl?"

"Not sure haven't seen him. I can go check outside if you want?"

"No, it's okay. I was just wondering where he is."

"He seemed pretty pissed. Then again, he always seems pretty pissed."

Hope laughed. "He can be a bit…prickly sometimes but he's not so bad."

"Yeah, with you but I'm pretty sure he's three seconds away from shooting the rest us half the time."

Hope shrugged.

"So, are you two…"

"What?"

"You know," Glenn waggled his eyebrows.

Hope blushed."No, it-it's not like that."

Glenn stared at her.

"Really, nothing's going on. He just," Hope paused searching for the right words. "He saved my life."

Glenn nodded in understanding. He wasn't sure what happened to Hope before she arrived but whatever it was it must've been awful. He remembered she looked like hell when he first saw her. Glenn was curious to know but he figured she'd tell him when she was ready.

"Hey," Glenn changed the subject. "There was a walker in the well today."

"What?"

"Okay so Dale and T-Dog were getting water…"

"Keep drinking lots of fluids and you should be fine. Make sure you keep something solid in your stomach."

"I will thank you, Mr. Greene."

"Please call me Hershel."

"Thank you, Hershel."

Hope eased herself out of bed. Her body was still a little stiff from her trek through the woods the other day. But she couldn't complain, she felt better than she had in weeks. Well rested and fed. Maybe all this was a blessing in disguise.

Not quite ready to go back out into the Georgia heat, Hope wandered around the house for a bit. She spotted what looked like a library or office of some kind. Peering inside she saw a wall to wall bookshelf full of books. There were so many books that some were stacked on the floor. Hope ran her fingers across the spines until she came to one. She pulled it off the shelf and skimmed through it. Some of the information was familiar as if she had seen it before.

"Are you interested in medicine?"

Hope startled and scrambled up from her seat. "I'm sorry, the door was open and I just wanted to take a look. And I guess I lost track of time."

"It's all right," Hershel said. "I haven't used this office much as of late. Not as many patients around anymore." He sat on the desk. "I remember that book; it was a great help in medical school."

"You're a vet right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"But this is about human medicine not animal."

"When I was younger I had dreams about being medical doctor and moving to the city. But when I realized I would inherit this farm I figured being a vet would be more suitable."

"Makes sense."

"Are you interested in medicine?"Hershel asked again.

"I—yes, yes I am."

"Well, I could teach a few things, might be useful for your group."

"I would like that, thank you." Hope placed the book on the desk.

"Why don't you hold onto that for now, get you started on the basics?"

Hope nodded. "Okay." Hope left Hershel in his office and went outside to find Daryl.

"It's nice to see you up and about." Carol smiled at Hope. She continued to hang clothes on the washing line.

"It's good to be up and about," Hope replied. She glanced around, "Have you seen Daryl?"

"He went out to look for Sophia, I think." Carol swallowed and looked down.

Hope wrung her hands nervously. "I'm supposed to say something comforting now, aren't I?"

Carol smiled wryly."I think I've heard enough comforting words to last me a lifetime. And, they don't do much good anyway. I could use some help with the washing though."

Hope smiled, "I can help with that."

A few hours later Hope was sitting at her usual perch in back of the RV. Glenn sat at the table near the door. She'd finished helping Carol with some of the chores around camp and had decided to read some of the medical book Hershel had given her.

She could hear Glenn fidgeting.

"Still thinking about her?"

Glenn stilled, "Is it that obvious?"

Hope peered over the top of the book at him.

Glenn sighed. "Great."

"Don't beat yourself up. You like her there's no shame in that."

"Yeah, because transparency is so sexy," Glenn dropped his head into his hands.

"Sometimes I wish people would be more transparent. It makes things a lot easier. Hey," Hope leaned towards him. "You're honest, last time I checked that was a good quality to have."

Glenn smiled crookedly.

"What's with the Annie Oakley routine?!" She heard Dale call from outside.

"I don't want to do the dishes anymore Dale, I want to help keep the camp safe. Is that all right with you?" Andrea called back from the roof of the RV. She'd been up there as soon as she got back from searching for Sophia. In fact, now that Hope thought about it. Everyone had returned from their search… everyone except Daryl. It was going to be dark soon and with each passing minute Hope found it harder to pretend like she wasn't worried about him.

Dale walked into the RV and started when he saw Glenn. "Jesus!"

"Nope just me, though I can see how you'd get the two confused." Glenn waved the book around. "I was just returning your book."

"Oh no, I'm sorry." Dale replied. "If I'd known the world was ending I would have brought better books."

Hope laughed quietly.

"Uh, Dale is Andrea on her period?"

Hope blinked.

"I'm only asking because all the women are acting really weird. And I read somewhere that when women spend a lot of time together their cycles line up and they all get super crazy hormonal at the same time."

Dale's eyes widened more than Hope thought possible. "I'm gonna advise you, to keep that theory to yourself."

Glenn chuckled and nodded.

"Who else is acting weird?"

Glenn sighed and sat. "Maggie." He pointed in the direction of the main house.

"Ah Maggie," Dale smirked.

"She started off being mean to me, then she wanted to have sex with me and now she's being mean to me again." Glenn shook his head. "I don't even want to know what's going on with Lori."

"What's going on with Lori?"

"Nothing, I don't know."

Dale smiled. "All right, let's take this back a step. How do you know that Maggie wanted to have sex with you?"

Smug didn't quite describe the smile on Glenn's face.

"Oh son, you didn't." Dale asked horrified.

Glenn smile stretched even further.

"Did it ever occur to you how her father might feel about this?"

Glenn shrugged. "She's twenty-two."

"And he is our host."

Glenn looked down and nodded. "He doesn't know."

"And see that it stays that way. Jesus, Glenn what were you thinking?"

Glenn was quiet for a moment. "I was thinking that I might be dead tomorrow." Glenn stood up. "Thanks for the book. You're right, it sucks."

Dale sighed as Glenn walked out of the RV.

Hope cleared her throat. Dale started as he looked at her. "Hope! You scared me. I didn't see you there." Dale chuckled nervously. "How much of that did you hear?"

Hope smiled at him.

"Let's keep that conversation to ourselves, shall we?"

Hope zipped her lips. "What conversation?"

"Good." Dale sighed, "Kids these days."

"Hey Dale, do you have a pen and pad I could borrow? I'd like to take some notes."

"I think so, let me look." Dale rummaged around in the cupboards for a bit before emerging with a small notebook and a pen. The notebook was a bright blue. The binding was worn though the pages were blank.

"I was going to use it as a diary but I never got around to it."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Dale looked at the book. "What are you working on?"

Hope ran her fingers across the page she'd been reading. "Just a medical book Hershel gave me."

"Are you interested in medicine?"

"I think so," Hope sighed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you do before all of this?"

Hope opened her mouth to answer when Andrea yelled from the roof. "Walker!"

Hope and Dale walked outside. Hope scanned the horizon. In the distance she saw a figure stumbling towards the camp.

Rick came running towards the RV, "Just the one?"

Andrea looked through the binoculars. "I bet I can nail it from here."

"No, no Andrea put the gun down." Rick ordered.

Shane emerged from his tent wielding and axe. "You'd best let us handle this."

"Shane wait up, Hershel wants to handle the walkers." Rick cautioned.

"What for? We got this." Shane continued on.

Rick cursed and got a weapon from the RV. Rick, Shane, T-dog and Glenn started to run towards the walker.

Hope heard a gun click and looked back to see Andrea aiming her rifle. Hope looked back at the walker. Something wasn't right.

"Andrea don't."

"Back off Dale."

"Andrea I think you should listen to him. Let Rick and the others and take care of it." Hope told her.

"I've got this."

Hope squinted, "Wait, just wait they're stopping. Dale pass me those binoculars."

Dale handed them to her.

Hope adjusted the focus. She could see the walker but not very well. She adjusted the focus once more. Her heart leapt. Daryl. It was Daryl. "Wait it's-" There was a loud bang and Hope watched Daryl fall to the ground. "No!" Hope screamed at Andrea. "It was Daryl! You shot Daryl! I told you to wait!"

Hope dropped the binoculars and ran. Her heart was in her throat as she ran towards Daryl. Andrea and Dale were just seconds behind her.

"Oh my God, oh my God is he dead?" Andrea shouted.

"Unconscious, you just grazed him." Rick said as she and Shane carried him towards the house.

Hope stared at Daryl as they made their way back to the house. He was bloody and dirty. And around his neck was a necklace of ears.

"But look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears." Glenn shrieked.

Rick tore the necklace off of Daryl's neck and stuffed it down his shirt. "Let's keep that to ourselves."

"Guys," T-Dog called out. "Isn't this Sophia's?"

The group stopped and looked back. In T-Dog's hand was a small doll. Sophia carried it with her everywhere.

"We need to get him back to the house." Everyone stared at Hope. She'd never raised her voice before. "Now!" The group sprung back into action carrying Daryl into the safety of the house.