Maggie was keeping watch in the tower. It had been months since the war had been won but they still kept routine patrols of all nearby areas and had a strict watch schedule. They'd been caught with their pants down before, the group, Thankfully it hadn't happened to her and Glen. She laughed out loud at the thought but if Maggie could help it they would never be attacked again.

Glen made his way towards his fiance. Often times he felt bad for his level of happiness in such a horrible time but he couldn't help it. He had a beautiful farmers daughter with him now and there was nothing that was ever going to take her away.

"Hey stud" Maggie greeted her man

"Hi you" Glen Smiled

"Here to relieve me?" Maggie smiled seductively.

"You know it.." Glen moved in for a deep kiss. They had 20 minutes before the next shift started and in the apocalypse you never tell a girl like this no.

Carol was in the middle of teaching the kids and Hershel had decided to sit in on class today. They both knew how important a proper education would be in this world even if Carols lesson plans differed from the other teachers.

Rick was busy inspecting the animal pens when he'd heard a car quickly approaching the gates and wondered where the warning bell was? No time to figure it out though he thought.

"Caaarl!" he yelled for his son "The gates!" he informed him

Rick had noticed the station wagon they used for runs speeding down the drive. There was noticeable damage to the vehicle with what looked like bullet holes in the glass.

Carl ran catching the keys from Rick and began opening the gate just in time for the car to speed in and come to a park bringing in a couple Walkers on the hood. Rick moved quickly to dispatch the unwanted guests with his boot knife and made his way towards the driver side door.

As he moved towards the door Tyreese exited the wagon and ran to the back doors. He motioned to Rick to help and together they pulled Karen's bloody body out of the back seat. She had sustained two gun shot wounds and was bleeding out.

"Hershel!" Rick yelled at the top of his lungs "Carl, Go get Hershel. Tell him to meet us in the infirmary!"

Carl wasted zero time and was off like a rocket. Rick and Tyreese did their best to carry Karen without furthering her blood loss but by the time they got her on the gurney they were soaked in Tyreese's girlfriends blood. Hershel joined them and began to give orders until their Dr arrived. Rick lead Tyreese towards his cell and left him in the care of Carol. "Take a shower and I will meet you back at the infirmary in 20 minutes. It's going to be ok. She is strong." Rick comforted the bigger man and hoped he was telling the truth.

Maggie and Glen joined the rest of the camp in the cafeteria. After any kind of incident there was always a group meeting. They were both ashamed they had missed the approaching car. Maggie more so than Glen and she was noticeably upset with herself for being so selfish. Keeping a reasonable distance from her partner the entire meeting.

Rick was standing on the makeshift stage that the council usually uses in times like this but this time it was the groups former leader taking up the unfamiliar role in front of the much larger group of survivors. Rick wasn't a hermit or anything but you could hardly catch him socializing lately with anything that had two legs.

"Ok, Listen up!" Rick quieted the murmurs in the crowd.

"Our runners were caught unaware by a group hold up at the Kmart. Karen was shot and while they have her stable she is in a coma. Tyreese informed me that Darryl had hit a spike strip in the parking lot and Beth and himself were taken hostage. " Rick informed the survivors. They tried to get to them but the gunfire was to heavy. From Ty's estimation the group is small but heavily armed and it seems the Kmart they had scouted earlier that month was actually a booby trapped base of operations for this group." Rick affirmed

"How did the scouting party miss that?!" one of the Woodbury settlers screamed out in disbelief. It had been months with no incidents and Rick to had started growing accustomed to their relatively peaceful existence.

"Mistakes were made" Rick said in his familiar hoarse southern tongue. "But that's how we learn! There are no blue prints for this world. All we can do is adjust our policies so that in the future we can avoid these threats." Rick looked towards Maggie and Glen. The speeding car hadn't been an attacker but it might as well of been. He would deal with them when he got back.

"I'm going to get them" Rick stated. He wasn't letting those two go without a fight. He owed them both so much."I want full guard duty while I'm gone and for everyone to be prepared for a hot entry. " Rick looked over the crowd. "I need a volunteer" He finished looking towards Michonne with a slight wink.

The Hyundai was packed with a few days rations and a small armory. A group of survivors gathered and began standing around waiting for Ricks departure. To most of the survivors the man was a mystery. He never spoke to anyone and was always farming or walking the perimeter. They understood he had been the groups unwavering leader for a long time and after getting them to this safe haven had retreated into himself after the loss of his wife. This was the most any of them had ever seen of Rick's resolve face and despite Darryl's most menacing growls had realized this is what they had been missing. The look in Ricks eyes said enough and Michonne moved towards the passenger seat, samurai sword in tow.

"Carl, Look after the farm and the children. Ok?" Rick knew his son would want to join but was pleasantly surprised when he met little resistance.

"Ok, I will" Carl replied moving to hug his father. They had grown closer working the fields together and Carl finally had begun to see all the sacrifice his Dad had made for the group. Beth had told him he was maturing.

"Get them" Carl said into his fathers ear and with that moved to join the rest of the bystanders. Rick wasn't sure if he meant Darryl and Beth or their attackers but had a feeling it would be both. Which is why he was bringing Michonne. In rescue missions stealth was key or you risked losing the hostages.

"Be ready" Rick said looking at Glen who gulped down his embarrassment long enough to nod his head in affirmation to Rick's order. Rick didn't want to think the worst but he informed Glen that if they were being tortured the prison could have been given up. So as he watched Rick enter the vehicle and head out on the mission he began arranging the ammunition in case any of the guards were being pinned down.

Hershel was sitting on his desk as usual when Carol came in holding baby Judith.

"You saved Karen." She said with a smile. The Dr had been in the gym when they had brought her in. By the time he made it to Karen's side Hershel had stopped most of the bleeding and she was stabilizing.

"I lost my Daughter" He said wearily still wearing his blood stained clothes.

"Don't talk like that!" Carol scolded him. "Darryl is with her and he wouldn't let anything happen to her if he could help it. " She said firmly "And Rick will bring them back. " She paused waiting for any response from her friend. She knew what was going on behind his head because she was feeling something painfully similar as well.

"How can you be so sure" Hershel replied not taking his eyes off of where his foot used to be.

"It's what he does." She smiled slightly at him and softly put her hand on his shoulder. To her surprise Herschel reached up and gently placed his hand on top of hers.