"Dale could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought. How he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale, he'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it at one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us—the truth, who we really are. In the end he was talking about losing our humanity, he said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken, we're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."

Hope listened to Rick's words numbly. She stared at the mound of dirt in front of her, playing the night before over and over in her head like a bad dream.

Hope jerked back. "What was that?"

"Sounded like gun fire." Daryl replied, already making his way towards the door. Hope followed after him, dread coiled in her gut.

Hope heard a scream and broke out into a dead run. Dale was screaming.

Daryl reached Dale first and tackled the walker that had been on top of him. He stabbed it in head and threw it to the side. Hope kneeled beside Dale. Her heart stopped when she saw the damage. The walker had ripped through his stomach. Bile rose in her throat as she saw his intestines spill out around him. Blood soaked through her jeans, and shirt.

"Can you help him?"

She looked at Daryl hopelessly. "There's nothing I can do." She stared into Dale's eyes. Her voice broke. "There's nothing I can do."

Dale gasped. Hope ran a hand over his forehead gently. "Don't try to speak."

Daryl stood up and waved his hands in the air. "Here! Over here!"

The others reached them and Andrea sobbed. Rick pulled Hope away from Dale and knelt beside him. "Hershel! Hershel!"

A few moments later Hershel reached them. "Help him," Rick pleaded. "We have to get him to the house."

Hershel shook his head. "He won't make it."

"Then we'll do the operation here."

"No Rick," Hershel grabbed his arm. "He won't make it."

"No!" Rick yelled.

"He's suffering," Andrea whimpered. "Do something."

Rick pulled out his gun and pointed it at Dale's forehead. His hand trembled.

Daryl grabbed Rick's hand. "I'll do it."

Rick nodded and passed the gun to him.

Hope grabbed Dale's hand. "Hey, look at me. Look at me." Dale stared at her. "It's gonna be okay. I promise, it's gonna be okay."

Daryl knelt besides Dale. Dale's eyes flashed to him.

Hope gently turned Dale's head toward. "Look at me. Don't worry about him. Just look at me." A solitary tear ran down her face. "Thank you Dale, for everything."

Daryl cocked the gun, "I'm sorry, brother." He fired the gun and all was silent.

Daryl dipped the cloth into the bowl of water and slowly wiped the blood off of Hope's hands. She stared blankly ahead of her seeing nothing. She'd been like this since they'd returned to the RV.

Hope had retreated into a place far inside of herself. Daryl hoped she hadn't gone too far that she might not come back. He knew how important Dale had been to her and his loss was a powerful blow.

"You need to change so Carol can wash these," he said pointing to her bloodied clothes. "Hope?" Daryl lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. "Hope? Do you understand?"

Slowly she nodded and her eyes began to focus once more. Daryl stood and turned around in an effort to give her some privacy. After a few moments he heard her make a soft noise of frustration. He peeked back at her and saw her fumbling with the buttons on her flannel.

"Here, let me help." Daryl grabbed her trembling hands and brought them to rest at her sides. He unbuttoned her shirt careful not to touch her skin. The last thing he wanted was her to think he was trying to feel her up while she was vulnerable. When he unbuttoned the last button he stepped away. "Think you can handle it from here?"

Hope nodded and Daryl turned around. After a few minutes Daryl felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Hope in a yellow sundress. The color clashed with the somber mood that hung over everyone. "Are you hungry?"

Hope shook her head.

"Well you're gonna eat something. You can't afford to lose weight; you're too skinny as is." Daryl took her hand and guided her out of the RV. He sat her down at the picnic table and got a plate for himself and her. He set the plate down in front of her and sat across from her. Hope stared at the plate.

"You gotta eat something, Hope."

"I'm not hungry," she answered quietly.

"Eat anyway," Daryl huffed. "There's nothing to you."

Daryl stared her down until she ate a spoonful of beans. If it had been any other day Hope would have found amusement in Daryl's mother hen routine. Right now she was too numb to feel anything. Which in a way was good, she supposed. Instead of being overcome with grief.

"Come on, get up."

"Where are we going?"

"For a walk, come on."

Hope stood up with a sigh. She didn't feel like going on a walk, to be honest she didn't really feel like doing much of anything. For a moment Hope considered resisting but Daryl shot her a stern look and she decided against it.

They walked away from camp with no particular destination. The night air was cool and crisp; Hope tipped her head up and breathed it in. She stared up at the night sky and the stars twinkling in the distance and for a moment it was easy to forget all that had happened. Only for a moment though. One blissful second when nothing was wrong with the world before it came rushing back.

"Why'd you do it?" Hope asked softly.

"Do what?"

Hope opened her mouth but found she couldn't say the words, didn't know how to, didn't want to.

Daryl took her silence as an answer. He shrugged, "Rick shouldn't have to do it all."

"I don't feel anything."

"Maybe that's good for now." Daryl said echoing her previous thought.

Hope nearly ran into Daryl as he stopped abruptly. He put a fist in the air, motioning her to stop. Hope didn't dare breathe. She stared out into the inky blackness willing her eyes to see any shapes moving in the dark. Was this how Dale felt before the end? The tight grip of panic stopping his breath before a walker attacked him.

Daryl lowered his fist, "It's nothing, thought I heard something."

Hope looked around warily. "Maybe we should head back."

Daryl peered out into the forest and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The walk back was significantly quicker. Daryl ushered her along with a hand at the small of her back. It wasn't until they were back in the safety of the camp that he dropped his hand. He turned toward his truck when Hope grabbed his hand.

Daryl turned back. "What?"

Hope swallowed, "There's room in the camper for one more."

"You sure about that?"

"I-I don't want to be alone right now."

Daryl nodded and followed her into the RV.

"Hey." Daryl said softly.

Hope looked up. Everyone had left the grave.

"Come on, let's get you inside." He reached out a hand to her. Hope took his hand and followed, trusting him to keep her safe.

The day passed in a blur. Hope forced herself to get up and face the world. The time to cry was over she had to keep moving. It was that or crumble and she wouldn't do that. Hershel had decided that the group would move into the house. For the rest of the day Hope helped everyone settle into the house. Having so few belongings of her own, she could afford to lend a helping hand.

When the work was done and the group decided to settle down for the evening, Hope quietly slipped into Hershel's study. She found it calming to be among all those books. Whenever she had a minute, she would wander in here, sit and read about anything and everything.

Hope curled up in the chair and opened the book she'd started reading a few days ago. It was a mystery novel about the death of a rich man and all the people who came to his funeral looking to cash in. One of them was his murderer and a private investigator the man hired in will was trying to figure out who killed him. It was a nice change of pace from the world around her.

A few minutes later she heard a door slam. Startled she dropped her book and stood up. She heard voices in the parlor and went to investigate. The group was huddled around the couch, concern etched into their faces.

"Where's Hope?" Hershel asked.

"What happened?"

A dozen eyes stared up at her startled. Hershel cleared his throat, "Hope, it's good you're here. It's not safe outside. I was just going to go look for you."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Randall escaped; he caught Shane off guard and took his gun. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn went with Shane to go find him."

Hope furrowed her brow and nodded. The idea of Daryl running around in the woods at night while a potentially dangerous man was on the loose, made her stomach clench. If Daryl was hurt…Hope shook her head. She didn't want to think about that, couldn't think about it.

"It would be difficult for Randall to move around, with his leg so torn up. He shouldn't be that difficult to find. I'm surprised he got the drop on Shane." Hope thought out loud.

"He's armed." Andrea said. "And he caught him off guard."

Hope bit her lip. "I suppose so."

Andrea turned to face the window.

Hope slipped quietly out of the room and went back to the study. She crawled back into the comfy chair and tried to focus on the book in front of her.

A while later, long after the sun dipped below the horizon and the crickets were chirping in full force, Hope once again heard the door slam. With a breath of relief she heard Daryl's voice in the parlor. She stood up and walked quickly towards him, wanting visual confirmation that he was in one piece.

His eyes found hers immediately as she walked into the room. Though he spoke to the group his gaze remained firmly fixed on her.

"We heard a shot."

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggested to Daryl.

"We found him."

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asked.

"He's a walker." Daryl answered.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn told him.

"His neck was broke." Daryl added.

Hope furrowed her brow.

"So he fought back?" Patricia questioned.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. Shane ain't no tracker so he didn't come up behind him. They were together."

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?"

"You got it."

"Thank you."

Daryl walked outside and immediately came back. "Y'all better come see this."

The group piled out of the house and watched in horror as a herd much larger than the one they had encountered on the high way shambled towards the house.

"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel whispered.

"I'll get the guns." Andrea said.

"Maybe they're just passing like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn said nervously.

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about, a herd that size would rip the house down."

"Carl's gone." Lori said frantically. "I went upstairs and he's gone. I-I can't find him."

"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn suggested.

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy."

"We're not. We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him."

Andrea came back a moment later with the guns. Maggie stooped down and picked up a shotgun. She began loading it with bullets.

"Maggie?" Glenn asked.

"You grow up country; you pick up a thing or two."

"You can go if you want," Hershel told Daryl, cocking his gun.

"You gonna take em' all on?" Daryl asked him.

"We have guns, we have cars."

"Kill as many as we can. " Andrea finished. "And we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm. "

"Are you serious?" Daryl asked

"This is my farm. I'll die here." Hershel walked off the porch towards the herd.

"All right, it's as good a night as any." Daryl said hopping off the porch.

Hope bit her lip. She hoped Daryl hadn't meant that literally. She had a bad feeling about this. They should leave now. Take the cars, find Rick, Carl and Shane and get the hell out. Shaking her head she began to gather some supplies just in case. She grabbed her medical bag and the first aid kit. Then she went into the pantry and started loading up a bag with canned food.

Upstairs she could hear Lori and Carol frantically search for Carl. Outside the sound of gunfire and engines roaring could be heard. Hope's heart pounded in her chest. Her pulse beat in her throat like a trapped bird. When the bag was almost full Hope closed it. She ran to the parlor and set the bags down. She went to her corner and started to pack her things. She packed some of Daryl's clothes as well.

"What are you doing?" Beth asked.

Hope shook her head. "There's no way they're going to be able to drive off a herd that big. We don't done have the firepower or the manpower. Our best bet is to leave. I would suggest you gather your things."

Lori and Carol ran into the parlor moments after. "I can't find him anywhere!" Lori yelled.

"Maybe he went outside to find Rick or went after Randall himself."

"Maybe he set the fire." Patricia offered.

"We need to leave." Hope said.

"I can't leave without Carl."

"He's probably with Rick or Shane. Carl's a smart boy he would know to go to the highway if he got separated and that's where we need to go. You can't go out and look for him now, you'll get yourself killed."

"I-I can't just leave."

"Lori, look at me." Hope griped her shoulders. "You can't stay and you can't look for him. What other choice do you have?"

"He's my son," Lori whispered brokenly.

"He's going to be okay. He's a smart kid."

Lori nodded weakly.

Hope turned to Beth. "Take this," she gave her one of the bags. "Stay close, okay."

Beth nodded.

Hope walked out of the house, the other four close behind. Lori called out to Hershel but he refused to listen. They ran around back where the cars were. A walker grabbed Patricia and bit her. Beth was holding her hand and Lori pulled her away. A dozen or so walkers immediately descended on Patricia her screams piercing the night. Lori and BEth scrambled in a different direction. Hope tried to follow but walkers got in the way. Hope fought her way to one of the cars.

Hope opened the door to a car and immediately piled in. She saw Andrea and T-Dog drive up. Andrea got out and went to help Carol who was cornered by two walkers. Andrea shot them easily but didn't see the walker behind her. Hope saw the walker tackle her to the ground. Hope tried to find Carol but found her view blocked by some walkers that began to crowd around her car. Hope searched frantically for the keys in the glove box. Finding them she started the engine and put the car in drive. She maneuvered the car onto the road and drove away.

Hope drove for miles before she stopped. She pulled to the side of the road and stopped. The night was quiet and the air was still. Hope took a deep breath and let out a sob. Thick, fat tear drops leaked from her eyes as sob after sob racked her chest. She cried for Dale; poor, sweet Dale who tried to see the good in everyone. She cried for the farm and the moment of peace she'd enjoyed there. But most of all she cried for the unknown. The uncertainty of what lay ahead. She was alone again; unsure of what happened to the others. Unsure of what happened to Daryl. Hope let out a shaky sigh. She decided she would wait at the highway, where they left supplies for Sophia. She would wait for someone, anyone to show up and if they didn't…Hope shook her head. She would think about that later. Shifting the car into drive Hope continued on down the road towards the highway.

When she arrived, it was still dark. Hope pulled out a sweater from her bag and put it on. She curled up in the seat and leaned her head back. She wouldn't get any sleep but she could at least rest for a bit. She would need it. After a few minutes her eye lids began to flutter and within moments she was fast asleep.

A knock on the window startled Hope awake. She whipped her head to the driver's side window and blinked. It was light outside. For a moment she couldn't comprehend the sight before her. Rick, Hershel and Carl were in front of her. Hope opened the door and scrambled out.

"You made it." Hope whispered.

Rick nodded. "What about the others? Lori?"

"I-I'm not sure we were leaving but got separated last I saw she and Beth were in the truck with T-Dog I think."

"And Maggie?" Hershel asked.

"I don't know, I didn't see her."

"What do we do Rick?" Hope asked.

"We wait. We wait for them to come."

"And if they don't?"

"They will." Rick told her.

Hope nodded. "Okay."

Time passed at an agonizing pace. Every few minutes or so Hope would crane her neck to see down the road. It was a useless gesture, she would be able to hear Daryl's bike long before she could see him. What made the wait worse were the occasional walkers that ambled by. Rick had decided that they wouldn't kill the walkers in case there was a herd near by. Not to mention they were all exhausted beyond their limit.

"You have to get out of here, it's not safe." Hershel told Rick.

"No, we have to wait. I'm not leaving without Lori."

"Think about your boy, he's your responsibility now. You can't stay here." Hershel insisted.

Rick looked torn. "What if the others come?"

"I'll stay here and wait."

"By yourself?"

"If it's my time, it's my time."

Rick wiped a hand over his face and sighed looking out at the dozens of empty cars around them. Nodding, he knelt before Carl.

"Dad we can't leave. It's Mom we're talking about." Carl pleaded.

"Carl, it's not safe here and-" Rick was cut off by the sounds of vehicles approaching.

Hope released a breath she didn't know she was holding when she heard the familiar rumble of Daryl's bike. The cars pulled to a stop and those who had survived piled out. Hope searched the faces of those who remained and found Andrea missing, Jimmy and Shane as well. Hope already knew Patricia hadn't survived.

Daryl pulled his bike to a stop and caught her eye. He nudged the kickstand with his foot and got off of the bike. Hope's feet moved of their own accord as they carried her towards him. When she was in arms reach she stopped. Daryl grabbed her shoulder and jerked her into his arms. Hope closed her eyes and tucked her head under his chin. She breathed in his scent; smoke and gun oil and something spicy that tickled her nose.

Daryl pressed his lips into her hair. "I couldn't find you. I thought…" He squeezed his arms tighter around her.

"I know." Hope held on a little tighter. His warmth seeped into her tired bones and his heart thumped steadily against her cheek. He was alive, she was alive. They made it and they were together and that's what mattered.

"How did you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl.

"Well those guys tail lights zigzagging all over the road, figured it had to be an Asian driving like that."

Glenn chuckled. "Good one."

"Where are the rest of us?" Daryl asked releasing Hope from his death grip. He kept his arm slung over her shoulder, so that her side was tucked tightly against his.

"We're the only ones who made it so far."

Hope listened as the others pieced together who had survived and who hadn't. A shiver went up her spine when she realized how close they had been to death. As if sensing her unease Daryl squeezed her shoulder gently.

"We need to get out of here," Rick declared. "This place has been crawling with walkers."

"I say we head east." T-Dog said.

"Stay off the main roads," Daryl said. He let go of Hope and walked to his bike. He picked up his crossbow. "The bigger the road, the more walkers, the more assholes like this one, I got him." Daryl fired his crossbow and the arrow flew straight into the walker's eye socket. It was the same walker they had narrowly avoided earlier, Hope noted.

"We'll take two cars and Daryl will take his bike."

The group split up into each car. Hope stared at the motorcycle.

"Come on," Daryl said patting the seat.

Hope swallowed nervously. "I don't know."

Carol got out of Glenn and Maggie's car, "Hope why don't you take my seat and I'll ride with Daryl."

Hope breathed a sigh of relief. She shot Daryl an apologetic look.

Daryl grumbled something under his and rolled his eyes. Hope gave him a small hug before she climbed inside of the car.

They drove for a few hours before Rick honked his horn. Glenn pulled to the side of the road. Hope opened the door and got out.

"You out?" Daryl called back to Rick.

"Been running on fumes for the past hour."

"We can't stay here," Maggie told him.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn said.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick told them.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked.

"I'm freezing." Carl complained.

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori said. Rick walked over and handed Carl his jacket.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl warned. "I've only got so many arrows. How are you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough."

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie said.

"Watch your mouth," Hershel scolded. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"All right, we'll set up a perimeter. We'll find some gas and supplies in the morning. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try to scrounge up some gas." Maggie offered.

"No we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick we're stranded now."

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse but at least we've found each other." Hope looked at Daryl. "I wasn't sure but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere there's got to be a place."

"Rick look around, okay? There's walkers everywhere, they're migrating or something." Glenn said waving his arms around.

"There's got to be a place, not just where we hole up. Where we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together. Build a life for each other. I know it's out there we just have to find it."

"Even if we do find a place, and we think it's safe. We can never be sure, for how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that it was safe." Carol said.

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel responded.

"We'll make camp tonight, over there." Rick pointed at what looked like the foundations of an old building. "Get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked Daryl.

"What if walkers come through?" Beth asked Rick. "Or another group like Randall's?"

"You know I found Randall right?" Daryl told Rick. "He had turned but he wasn't bit."

"How is that possible?"

"What the hell happened?"

"Shane killed Randall." Daryl said. "Just like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked.

Rick clenched his jaw. "We're all infected."

"What?" Daryl asked.

Hope bit her lip.

"At the C.D.C Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

"And you never said anything?" Carol asked.

"Would it have made a difference?"

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn said.

"You saw how crazy that mo-"

"That isn't your call. Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good of everyone."

"Well I thought it best that people didn't know." Rick walked down the road.

The group stood for a few moments absorbing the information they had just been given.

Hope cleared her throat. "I packed a few things before I left, some food and medical supplies. It should be enough for the night. For now I think we should start a fire and make camp where Rick said. We're losing daylight and we shouldn't be wandering the woods at night."

Hershel nodded. "I agree, let's get to work."

"This isn't a democracy anymore."

Hope watched Rick walk off. The group stood in a stunned silence. Once again Hope broke the tension. "We should get some sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Slowly the group broke apart and settled down for the night. Hope made her make shift bed in the corner with a wall at her back. T-Dog and Rick would take the first watch then Glenn and Hershel. Daryl would take the last watch with Rick.

Daryl laid down about a foot away from Hope. "You asleep?"

"No."

"Can't sleep?"

"Yes."

"You cold?"

"No."

There was a beat of silence before Hope spoke again. "It makes sense."

"What?"

"That we're all infected, it makes sense."

"How do you figure?"

"Think about how fast we were overrun mass infection on a global scale in a matter of months. That couldn't have happened if the only way to be infected was through a bite. It would have been containable. The only way we could lose control that fast was if the rate of infection exceeded our ability to quarantine it. If we're all infected then that means every time someone dies they would turn no matter the cause of death."

"Suppose you're right."

"We're outnumbered Daryl, there's no cure, there's no way out."

"Hey," Daryl turned towards her and cupped her cheek. "We're gonna be fine. We've got each other and I ain't gonna let anything happen to you."

Hope held his hand. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. Now shuddup and get some sleep."

Hope smiled and rolled onto her back. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. After all, this was only the beginning.