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Bold is author's note

I italics is thoughts, flashbacks, or emphasis on words

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead or any of its characters

Chapter 2:

"We're here. Come out and meet everyone," Glenn said as he began to get out of the driver side of the car. After they left the city, Glenn was having trouble explaining where to go so Jennifer suggested that he drive. The loud car alarm continued to go off, but being so far away from the city there probably wasn't any walkers around to hear. Even with that in mind, she kept her guard up just in case.

When Glenn got out of the car everyone started trying to talk to him at once. The man on top of the RV was yelling something, a man with curly hair was talking to him while pointing to the car, and a blond woman was frantically trying to get his attention. They were so caught up in what was going on that they didn't notice Jennifer still in the car. She sat there with her head upward breathing out a long sigh. She hadn't even met these people yet and they already irritated her.

"Pop the hood!" she heard someone yell. She then heard Glenn fumble around inside the car until the hood opened. When the car alarm stopped she could hear the girl outside asking about her sister and if she made it. Glenn finally answered the girl's questions telling her that everyone was fine except for Merle.

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" A man with a husky voice yelled giving Jen a headache.

"I think we're okay," A different man spoke his voice more hoarse and distant from the first.

"You call being stupid okay?" The same first man snapped back.

"The alarms has been echoing all through the hills so it'll be hard to pinpoint the source," Jennifer said when she finally got out of the car.

All eyes were on her as the others and then the man with the curly brown hair asked, "And who the hell are you?"

"I'm Jennifer Sullivan," she said snapped at him, "Who are you?"

"It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" the hoarse voice said completely ignoring Jennifer's question. Jen looked over and saw an older man with white hair and black eyebrows.

"Sorry," Glenn said, "Got a cool car."

Jennifer heard as the truck she knew to be carrying Rick and the others approach. Within seconds she saw Andrea hug the blond girl who had been questioning Glenn about her sister. She heard two children yelling Papi as they ran to hug Morales; they were followed by a woman who Jen assumed was their mother. Even though she didn't really like people, it made her feel good that she was able to reunite these two families. It reminded her of her life before the outbreak.

She watched as a brunette woman ushered a pale boy with brown hair away from the area. She was whispering to him something Jennifer couldn't hear as the boy's face filled with disappointment.

"Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello." Morales yelled as Rick began walking toward the group with his hands on his hips, "The guy's a cop like you."

When Rick was near enough to see the faces of the group members his face lit up in recognition. Jennifer eyed the group and noticed the man with the curly brown hair had the same look. Jennifer figured that they knew each other, probably worked together because as Morales said they were both cops.

The boy that had been talking to the woman with brown hair slowly turned to Rick. As he did happiness covered his features and he began running towards Rick yelling, "Dad! Dad!" The two embraced and fell to the ground. The woman who had been talking to the boy was running behind him until the father and son hugged, she then stood a few feet away disbelief on her face. Rick closed the distance between the two and soon the family was reunited.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" the curly haired man asked as the family continued hugging.

"New Girl, she got us out." Glenn said pointing to Jennifer who was leaning against the hood of the car with her arms folded, a smile found its way one her face.

The brunette woman heard this and released her family. She walked up to Jennifer and brought her into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered hugging the stranger. Not knowing what to do, Jen just put her arms around the woman and hugged her back.

Jennifer and Rick were introduced to the remaining members of the group and soon they surrounded the small fire. Rick was going on about how he felt so disoriented when everything began. He explained how he had been in a coma and Jennifer could only be surprised he made it this far.

She looked around at all the faces surrounding the camp fire. Lori was staring at her husband, Carl was staring off into space about to fall asleep in his father's lap, and Shane kept picking his eyes up to look at Rick. T-Dog and Glenn were staring down into the fire as if mesmerized by the dancing flames as Rick continued speaking.

As Jennifer stared into the flames she thought about her old life when she didn't have to worry about getting eaten alive. She thought of her family and wished they could be here, alive. She wondered when this thing would end, if it ended.

The crackle of the flame brought her back to reality and she saw end sit back in his chair after putting a log on the fire. The fire grew in size and Jennifer worried someone, or rather something, might spot them.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asked just as Jennifer thought it. Everyone turned to look at him. Him and his family were sharing a fire of their own a distance off. So far Jennifer did not like Ed that much. He was a fat, lazy pig who tried to act in control.

"It's cold."

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane asked him. Jen noticed Ed's wife, Carol, and his daughter, Sophia, were huddled together sharing a blanket, "Keep our fires low just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once."

Shane got up and walked over to Ed, "Hey, Ed, are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane asked in a low voice.

As Shane stood there Ed just stared at him until he finally broke and said, "Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" Carol rose from her place and began pulling out the log. What an asshole, Jennifer thought to herself turning away from the scene.

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, How are y'all this evening?" Jennifer heard Shane as he began talking in a low voice to the mother and daughter.

"Fine. We're just fine," she said in a soft voice. She seemed to be trying to convince herself of that fact more than Shane.

"Okay," Shane said.

"Sorry about the fire," Carol began.

"No, No, No," Shane quickly said, "No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you," Carol practically whispered to the man.

"I appreciate the cooperation," Shane said as he made his way back to the group.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asked as Shane took the empty space between T-Dog and Jennifer, "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him," Shane said in a worn out voice.

"I dropped the key. It's on me," T-Dog spoke up.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine," Rick continued his arm placed around his wife's shoulders.

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn said ending their feud over who should tell Daryl.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie," Amy said. She was sitting next to her sister with her head on Andrea's shoulder.

"Or tell the truth," Jennifer spoke. She had been informed, along with the others, of what happened before she arrived to save the group, "According to what you have said, Merle was out of control and something had to be done or all of you would have been killed. Rick did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it's his own fault."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale questioned looking to the group. Jennifer didn't know Daryl, but she was confident she could hold her ground against any man, even if that man is someone like Merle Dixon, "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog said standing his ground.

"We were all scared. We all ran what's your point?" Andrea asked. At least you didn't have to walk through geek infested streets with a hand dangling from your neck, Jennifer thought to herself rolling her eyes.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that- not that chain not that padlock. My point- Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us," after that T-Dog walked away from the fire off into the camp somewhere.

The group began to disperse and Jennifer was left questioning where she was going to sleep for the night. The only remaining person outside was Shane. Jennifer decided to go talk to him about where to crash.

"Hey, Shane," Jennifer called out as she walked closer to the RV. Shane was on top sitting in the chair watching the woods. When he heard her he looked down, "Do you know where I can sleep?"

"I guess you're gonna have to sleep in my tent. All the other tents are full," He said back to her as the thunder rumbled in the background.

When Jennifer entered the tent she found a clean little space that looked relatively comfortable. The only problem was that there was only one cot to sleep on. Jennifer didn't want to take Shane's bed, but then she thought he might just keep watch all night so he wouldn't need his cot.

The girl began removing her attire. She started with her pistol, its holster, her knife, and her boots. She then continued with her green shirt and jeans so she was left standing in her black tank top and black underwear. She quickly got under the warm covers and within minutes she was asleep.

It was a little after midnight when Shane crept into his tent. T-Dog had come out to relieve him of his watch duty so he was free to go to bed. He was disappointed when he entered his tent because his bed was occupied by the new girl. He had forgotten that he told her she could sleep in his tent.

Soon, he got over it and got comfortable on the ground. He had trouble going to sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about his best friend finding them and how he survived. Shane was sure he would be dead. He also thought about what Rick's return would do to the relationship between him and Lori.

The sun was shining through the tent's thin veil when Jennifer woke up that morning. Last night was the first full night of sleep she had had in a while. She enjoyed the feeling that she didn't have to worry about walkers sneaking up on her.

She could hear the kids playing outside as she rubbed her eyes, and began to get up. She noticed that the clothes she wore there were replaced with a pair of jeans and a gray shirt. The jeans were a little too big but that's what belts are for. She put on her combat boots, then her pistol holster, and finally she strapped her knife onto her belt.

When Jennifer exited the tent she saw Rick making his way to the center of camp. She decided to follow responding with "Morning" when people told her good morning. Jennifer made her way to Carol who had Jen's clothes from yesterday spread out across an ironing board along with Rick's uniform.

"They're still a little damp. The sun'll have 'em dry in no time," Carol said when Jennifer and Rick got close enough to hear.

"You washed our clothes?" Rick asked the short haired woman. Jennifer looked down at them and noticed that all the blood marks on her clothes were now gone.

"Well, best we could. Scrubbing on a washboard ain't half as good as my old Maytag back home," She said glancing up at Rick and Jennifer and looking back down at what she was doing.

"That's very kind. Thank you," Rick said trying to look the woman in the eye.

"Thanks," Jennifer whispered looking down at her clothes. She appreciated the gesture, but she didn't really mind the blood stains, they showed people not to mess with her.

Everyone was moving along through the camp doing their own thing so Jennifer decided to go talk to Glenn. He was standing watching as Morales, Jim, and Dale scavenged what they could from the Challenger.

"Look at 'em, vultures," Glenn said to Jennifer crossing his arms, "Yeah, go on, strip it clean." This time he was speaking directly to the three men working on the car.

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get got no power without it. Sorry Glenn" Dale said as he waddled over to Glenn and Jennifer, the gas can he held was making him lean to one side. He stopped to pat Glenn on the shoulder but was soon waddling off again.

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days," Glenn said with disappointment.

"Maybe we can steal another one someday," Jennifer said smirking at Glenn. Before she could walk off Shane came speeding up in his black Jeep.

"Water's here, y'all," he said when the Jeep stopped, "Just a reminder to boil before use."

Did he really have to drive off somewhere to get water? There's perfectly good water down in the quarry, Jennifer thought to herself as Shane exited the Jeep nodding at Rick and his wife. Jennifer helped Andrea as she began unloading the water.

"If he's such a big man going out to get water why do we have to unload it?" Jennifer asked Andrea.

Before the blond could answer a blood chilling scream came from the woods. "Mom!" Jennifer heard Carl yell over the scream.

"Carl?" Lori yelled back. Jennifer put the water on the ground and made a break for the forest. She pulled her pistol out of the holster and followed the group through the woods to the source of the scream. They found Carl, Sophia, and a small blond girl running back towards the camp.

"You're okay! I've got him. I've got him," Lori said frantically as she pulled the boy towards her, "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?"

"No, I'm okay."

The mothers held onto to their children while a group ran into a thicker portion of the woods. In a small clearing they found a walker munching on a defenseless deer. Jennifer was walking beside Amy and Andrea when they came into the clearing. Amy gasped and grabbed her sister, ducking her head so she couldn't see. Jennifer wasn't afraid of it so she moved in closer with her pistol ready to fire.

The walker began to notice the group but Rick hit it in the head before it could do anything. The group of men continued beating the walker with their blunt objects until Dale finally hacked the creature's head off with his ax. The men backed away breathing heavily.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain," Dale said wiping his brow.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim responded to the elderly man. Shane wiped his nose as he looked at Jennifer. She still had her pistol in hand only it was lowered. He eyed her but looked away when the girl caught his eye.

A branch snapped and footsteps could be heard coming from behind a bush, before any of the men could react Jennifer already had her gun poised and ready to shoot. Then, unexpectedly, a man with dark brown hair and a crossbow walked out of the woods. Jennifer assumed that this was Merle's brother, Daryl, who everyone had been talking about.

"Oh, Jesus," Shane muttered under his breath.

"Son of a bitch," Daryl said loudly as he went to inspect the animal, "That's my deer!"

"Look at it. All gnawed on by this… Filthy," Daryl kicked the dead walker's body, "disease-bearing," another kick to the walker's ribs, "motherless," another kick, "poxy," another kick, "bastard," and one final kick.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping," Dale said.

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl said getting in Dale's face. If he was getting in Jennifer's face like that she would have just punched him right there, "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on golden pond'?"

"I've been tracking this deer for miles," he continued while walking over to the deer and pulling out the arrows in its body, "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that," Shane answered.

"That's a damn shame," Daryl said sighing, "I got some squirrel about a dozen or so that'll have to do."

Just then the walker's head opened its eyes and began snapping around.

"Oh god," Amy said and Andrea led her away. Jennifer thought it was a little ridiculous that a simple walker head grossed her out so much. Well, it's a good thing she wasn't in the city that day.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl said firing an arrow into the geek's eye. He put his foot on its forehead and pulled the arrow from its eye socket, "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?"

The redneck started making his way back to the camp yelling, "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

"Daryl, just slow up a bit I need to talk to you," Shane said making the man stop in his tracks.

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a… there was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl looked from Shane to the others in the group as if he didn't believe what Shane was telling him.

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl yelled obviously Shane struck a nerve with his vague explanation.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick stepped up.

"Who are you?" Daryl spat eyeing rick.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes," Daryl mocked Rick, "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, and hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on. Let me process this," the redneck said turning to Rick, "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

"Yeah."

Jennifer watched as anger consumed Daryl's features. He threw the squirrels he had been holding onto at Rick and was making a move towards him when Shane pushed Daryl onto the ground. The man quickly got up pulling out a mean looking hunting knife.

"Watch the knife!" someone yelled to Rick.

Daryl swung at Rick with the knife but he was able to evade it. After a couple of swings Rick was able to grab Daryl's arm making him drop the blade. Shane came up behind Daryl and wrapped his arms around his neck putting him into a headlock.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl yelled struggling to get out of Shane's grip.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't," Shane responded.

"Choke hold's illegal."

"You can file a complaint," Shane said bringing Daryl to the ground, "Come on man, we can keep this up all day."

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked getting down to Daryl's level, "Do you think we can manage that?"

Daryl was breathing hard when he muttered a low, "Yeah," After he responded Shane released his grip on him and threw him to the ground. Rick and Shane stood back up while Daryl caught his breathe on the ground.

"What I did was not on a whim," Rick got back down so him and Daryl were face to face, "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key," Jennifer turned realizing T-Dog had walked up, "I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl said to T-Dog as if the man were an idiot.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

Jennifer watched as the man got on his hands blocking his face from the others. Quickly, Daryl picked himself up off the ground telling them, "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him with, a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something," Rick told Daryl.

There was a moment of silence as Daryl wiped his eyes. "Hell with all y'all!" Daryl yelled his voice cracking, "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori jumped into the conversation. Jen thought it would be better to stay out of the conversation. She wasn't there when it went down she felt it wasn't her place to get involved. But apparently everyone else in the camp didn't feel this way.

"I'm going back," Rick said more to the group than his wife.

After that discussion the group began to disperse. Daryl headed to his tent getting his things together for the trip to the city.

"Are my clothes dry?" Jennifer asked Carol.

"Yeah," she said smiling at Jennifer as she handed her the neatly folded pile of clothes. Jennifer nodded at Carol and headed back to Shane's tent. She quickly changed and went outside to await the trip into the city.

"You saved me earlier," Jennifer had been sitting around the camp when a small voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Standing in front of her was a small blond girl she didn't see her first night there. The girl didn't look that old only about 6 and her clear green eyes stared up at. Her blond hair was nearly as pale as her white skin. Staring at this little girl reminded Jennifer of someone she once knew, someone she wanted to forget.

"I made this for you," the little girl said sticking a picture into Jennifer's face. Jennifer thought it looked like a flower, but with all the colorful scribbles on the page she couldn't really tell.

"Oh… Um thanks," Jen said taking the paper from the little girl.

"And you better not throw it away," the little girl said pointing at Jennifer with a serious face on.

"I won't," Jennifer said folding the picture and sticking it in her pocket.

"Promise!" the girl said raising her voice.

"Look, I already told you I wouldn't throw it away," Jennifer said raising her voice just as much.

"No! You gotta promise!" the little girl said getting in Jennifer face.

"Fine! Geez kid I promise," Jennifer said throwing her hands up in frustration.

With that the little girl trotted away to go play with the other kids. Quickly replacing her though was Carol.

"Looks like you met Sam," Carol said sitting next to Jennifer.

"That's her name?" Jennifer asked looking at Carol.

"Yeah, she's Paul's daughter," Carol said as she watched the kids playing, "He lost his wife when all this started. Hasn't really been the same since."

"Yeah, I know how he feels," Jennifer said. Before Carol could question what Jennifer had said, Shane and Rick came strolling into the area talking.

"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked.

"Ey, Choose your words more carefully," Daryl told Shane.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant," Shane told Daryl making Jennifer smirk, "Merle Dixon. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me," Rick told Shane matter-of-factly, "I Can't let a man die of thirst, me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori said as if the idea were preposterous. Rick breathed out and turned his attention to Glenn.

"Oh, come on," he said obviously not enjoying this plan.

"You know the way. You've been there before, in and out, no problem. You said so yourself," Glenn removed his hat running his hand through his dark hair thinking the situation over, "It's not fair of me to ask- I know that- but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too."

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane questioned.

"Four," T-Dog said.

Daryl scoffed telling the group, "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracka ass?"

"Why you?" Daryl said focusing on cleaning his arrows.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four," Dale spoke.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick," Shane said waiting a moment for it to sink in, "Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns."

"Right, the guns," Glenn said.

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?"

"700 rounds, assorted."

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori asked. Jennifer thought they were all blowing this way out of proportion. It was a simple trip to the city.

"Dad, I don't want you to go," Carl said looking at his father with sad eyes.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand."

"Look that's enough, I'm going back into the city regardless if any of you come or not," Jennifer took stand tired of hearing all that bullshit.

"What makes you think you're coming Barbie?" Daryl asked her coldly.

"You need guns, I know where to get some. Plus, all of my stuff is stashed away out there," she snapped at him, "I can handle my own."

"Oh yeah?" Daryl asked standing up and getting in her face. He quickly grabbed her arm spinning her around. She was positioned so that if she were to move Daryl could easily snap her wrist, "Prove it."

"Okay, just remember you asked for it," she smirked. She quickly elbowed him in the stomach making him lose his grip. She then flipped him over her back and he fell to the ground back first. She sat on his stomach pinning down his arms with her knees. Daryl felt the cool touch of a blade against his neck before he realized what was happening.

"It seems you don't know me too well Daryl," the way she said his name sounded as if she had something sour in her mouth, "I'm Captain Jennifer Sullivan. Captain, as in I was in the military for ten years, so you might not want to mess with me."

She got up off of him and noticed everyone was staring at her wide-eyed. They couldn't believe what they just saw.

"Here's your knife Dixon," she said dropping the knife next to the redneck. She began walking away but back tracked, "Oh, and one more thing, Barbie is a blond, I'm obviously a brunette."

"We walk from here," Glenn said parking the white truck on some old railroad tracks. Daryl opened the truck's slide up door and jumped out. T-Dog and Jennifer followed while Rick and Glenn got out of the cab. The five ran down the railroad tracks to along a high chain-link fence. Once they were a good distance from the truck Glenn opened up a hole in the fence. The group filed through the hole one-by-one.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked just as T-Dog made it through the fence.

"Merle," Daryl said walking forward, "We ain't even havin' this conversation."

"We are," Rick said putting emphasis on the statement, "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closet. The guns would mean doubling back," Glenn said as he jogged to catch up with Rick's fast pace, "Merle first."

"Okay, while we go get Merle, why don't you go get your belongings?" Rick asked Jennifer.

"No," Jennifer said sternly earning her an odd look from Rick, "I'm staying with you just in case something like last time happens."

Rick nodded in agreement not wanting to go through what happened last time again.

They found their way to the store and crept through the dim store. Hey heard the shuffling of feet and the low growling meaning it could only be one thing. A walker. Rick signaled that the walker was there to the members of the group. He then backed away as Daryl closed in with his crossbow ready.

"Damn. You are one ugly skank," he whispered before pulling the trigger of his crossbow sending an arrow straight through the walker's head. There was the sounds of bones cracking and a heavy thud when she hit the ground. Daryl ripped the arrow out of the walker's head and shook it off a bit. Little chunks of brain flew to the ground as he did so.

The group made their way to the staircase slowly scoping out the area for walkers, but when they made it to the stairs then began hauling ass to the roof. T-Dog cut the padlock with Dale's bolt cutters and began pulling away the chain. The chain hit the floor and Daryl kicked the door open and ran out.

At first, Jennifer couldn't see the man that had been sitting there but when she got closer she realized what had happened.

"No! No!" Daryl yelled his voice breaking and his eyes watering a little. He looked up at T-Dog with hatred in his eyes.

The worse thing about it was that Daryl couldn't know if his brother was dead or alive because all that sat there was a bloody saw and Merle's dismembered hand.