It had been a year and two months since Carlos and Sarah had left Jackson and Alyssa's home. With the two being dead, Carlos knew that leaving that place had been the best decision. He wouldn't have been able to take the guilt if he had stayed there, because he knew that their deaths were his fault. Nikki and Trevor had voted to stay behind at the small house, deciding that they would be safer at the house, than coming out on the road. Carlos respected her choice, and the two families made their separate ways. He and Sarah left the very next day, just like he said they would, and of course, Sarah was highly confused. Carlos merely told her that they would be safer, knowing that it was a lie. So, he took his car, and they drove until it was out of gas.

Sarah was almost fourteen years old, and her birthday was coming up soon. No doubt the girl was getting smarter with each passing day. It wouldn't be long before she really figured out what was going on with the world. But until that day came, Carlos would try to keep her as sheltered as possible. He knew that doing so would be a difficult task though. Eventually, she would figure out the truth, or she would somehow pull the truth out of Carlos.

When they first left, she had kept asking where they were going, and he didn't have a specific answer for her. Carlos could tell that that worried his daughter quite a bit. And when their car ran out of gas, and they had to walk, that opened up a whole other book of questions that she could ask. After that, now here they were, stranded with little supplies, sleeping outside and in the middle of nowhere. Carlos had no idea where they were, and he had no idea where they were going. Hope was rare, and they had encountered so many of those walker things, Carlos didn't want to see another one again ever in his life. And it was hard to keep them hidden from Sarah, especially when she was always so curious.

Currently, they were in the middle of some forest, surrounded by giant trees, and Carlos was attempting to make a fire. It had began getting chilly at nighttime. Sarah sat close to her dad, shivering in a dirty blanket that they had found. Carlos sighed as he attempted to light up the fire with the old matches he found. Despite all the time that had passed, he would never get used to living like this; in the wilderness, fighting for survival, always searching for food. Carlos' mind had always been stuck on before mode. Before all this apocalypse bullshit ever even happened. He liked to imagine that he was back at his home in the suburbs, with Robin cooking all his favorite meals, and Sarah playing and reading books like she always used to. These days, he rarely ever saw he smile, and he hated himself for it, even though it wasn't all his fault.

Finally, the wood caught and the fire blazed to life. "Come sit by the fire sweetie." Carlos said, and Sarah obliged because she was so cold. He wrapped one arm around her, and had the other one ready to grab his gun just in case something were to pop up. It was sad that they had to live like this now.

"Why can't we just go home dad?" This was a question that Sarah asked often, and Carlos would give her the exact same answer every time.

"It's not safe there anymore." He answered her.

"But it's not safe here either." She retorted, and Carlos sighed. She was right. Being out here in the middle of nowhere wasn't exactly an ideal place to sleep.

"I'm going to find us somewhere safe to stay." Carlos told her. "So don't worry about it." A yawn then escaped her full lips, and her eyelids where beginning to grow heavy. Carlos knew she was getting tired, and would be asleep in the next twenty minutes or so. Luckily, they found some sleeping bags a while back, so they didn't have to sleep on the cold ground. Carlos sometimes didn't sleep at all, because he had to stay awake and keep watch, making sure nothing would come at them at night. There was nothing but chaos left in this world, and he refused to think otherwise.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." Sarah said as she started to roll her sleeping bag out next to the fire.

"Okay sweetie." Carlos nodded.

"Can you tuck me in?" She asked sweetly.

Carlos chuckled, "Of course." She got into her sleeping bag, and Carlos covered her up gently, then kissed her forehead. "Goodnight Sarah." He told her as he patted her head. In his mind, he still couldn't get over how important Sarah was to him, and he had a feeling that those feelings would never ever change.

"Night daddy." She smiled and turned over, ready to fall asleep.

Carlos stayed up, staring into the fire. What was he going to do? He had no plan with Sarah, he didn't know where to take her, they were running out of supplies everyday, so what else was he to do? Everything was going to shit, and he didn't know how to stop it. If Robin were here right now... If his unborn son were here right now, things wouldn't be looking so dark. But they were gone now, and he needed to get himself together so that he and Sarah would be safer.

Hours passed, and he sat, staring into the small fire, until suddenly a shadowy figure approached in the darkness. Carlos' brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to make out who the person was. It wasn't a walker, that was for sure, because they were armed with a gun. Carlos picked up his gun as well, and aimed it at the person. "Who are you?" He called out, which woke up Sarah.

"Dad?" She questioned. "Is someone there?"

"Show yourself!" Carlos ordered, while Sarah's breaths picked up. He waited a few moments until finally an african american woman emerged from the shadows. "Who are you?" Carlos questioned, keeping his gun aimed.

"Hey, don't shoot!" The female nearly yelled as she was standing literally two feet in front of Carlos and Sarah, who was still wrapped up in her sleeping bag. "I'm here to help you, and your daughter." The woman continued as she put her gun down. "Really, I mean no harm."

"Do you know how many people have said that to us?" Carlos nearly spat.

"Dad, I'm scared." Sarah whimpered.

"Everything's fine sweetie." He tried to soothe, but it was obvious it didn't work. "Who are you?" He repeated to the woman again.

"My name is Tavia." The woman said. "And I work for a safe camp."