Author's Note: Whew! This chapter is whopper! This chapter is a lot longer than any of the others and I hope you really like it. There's some Taylor and Carl fluff (as someone had suggested in the past) and it's pretty cute at times.(; ENJOY!
Thanks to anyone who has added this story to their favorites/subscribes.
Special thanks to those that reviewed chapter fourteen: bigtimerushlover101 and spritecokefanta. You guys rock my socks off. *_*

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
IT'S YOU AND ME.

Taylor and Carl came out of the nearby thick fields to find the area completely deserted. They both stood in complete awe of the scene before them, absolutely no cars, no people, nothing. The road was devoid of all life forms- dead or alive. It all seemed too impossible. They were only gone for minutes, maybe. Or was it longer? Carl had said he wanted to pick some flowers for Sophia to make her feel better. They went out into the field that was right next to the cars. They had been walking for a long time, and by the time the CDC exploded they had to walk quite a while to get back to the cars, or lack there of now. None of it made a difference because what they were seeing with their hardened eyes was real, everybody was gone.

"What..." Carl looked up at Taylor with wide eyes, his hands suddenly scraping at them in an animalistic way to keep from crying. Were his eyes deceiving him or did they really leave them? "Where is everybody!" His shrill cry made Taylor cringe and she slowly shook her head in response.

"I... I don't know." The next words that came out of her mouth were not from her conscious mind frame, no, they were just an automatic splaying of the obvious, "I guess they left us."

"LEFT US?!" His eyes swelled with tears and they finally spilled, falling over his cheeks in wave after wave of terror and outright neglectful pain. Taylor quickly knelt in front of him and embraced him in a hug, rubbing his back and whispering 'it'll be okay' over and over like a broken record.

"Carl, you can't scream," she surveyed the rubble and dying flames and knew that the explosion was going to draw walkers, she didn't need to be a scientist like Jenner to know that. She gently let him go while he continued to sob and slid her knapsack off. She dug until the very bottom and swiftly pulled the hand gun out that she had stolen when they were back at the camp.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something that would turn out to be a blessing from the heavens above. She patted him softly on the shoulder and ran over to retrieve it, almost tripping over her own two in such a hurry to get back to the whimpering child. She snatched it off the dirty road and hustled back over to him. As she rifled through it she let out a deep breath that she momentarily forgot she was holding. It was like they had struck gold.

The large burlap bag must have fallen out of Shane's open hooded Jeep- either that or someone suspected that they would find it and need it. The bag contained quite a few weapons, a little food and water, and a map. There was a long deep red line drawn through some of the roads all leading to a highway. Was the group going to Fort Benning? Taylor couldn't be sure but knew that this bag and this map were their only hope of finding them again. Hell it was there only hope of surviving. She smiled for a short moment until the sobbing pulled her back to reality.

"But... but..." his hyperventilating breathes began to worry her, this had always happened to her, she never had to deal with someone else going through it. She smoothed his hair back and held his face in her hands, just like she imagined Rick would do to her, or Lori would do to him.

"Shhh... we're going to make it through this, we're going to find your parents, the group-"

"How?" His cries had slightly subsided from her calming touch.

"Because we have this," she unfolded the map and laid it out on the ground in front of them. "We follow this, we find everybody."

"But what about food? Water-"

"Check, check," she rummaged through the bag, opening it enough for him to peek inside with ease.

"Walkers?" Her heart sank at the devastating look on his face. It was clear that even at his age he knew that it would be next to impossible for them to survive if they encountered even three walkers at a time, let alone a group.

Taylor quickly peered over her shoulder when she heard grunts in the distance. The smell became overwhelming like it had the first day they had arrived there. She spotted a mass of walkers over the horizon, exiting the city and coming right towards the blast zone, directly towards them.

"Here," she handed him the gun that she had taken out of her own bag, in comparison to the ones in the bag it was the smallest; it could still kill a walker if necessary.

"Dad said I can't," he started, staring down at it like an unlimited shopping trip in a toy store was just presented to him.

"Well I'm not your dad and you're going to need it." She took Shane's shotgun, or at least she thought it was his, out of the bag and checked to make sure it was loaded. She took the larger bag and adjusted it over her shoulder, gripping it tightly to keep it from sliding it off.

"You think we can do this?" His sparkling eyes looked up at hers filled with nothing but absolute trust and hope. Taylor's heart melted and she smiled brightly at him.

"I can't think of anyone who'd be a better partner than you. It's just me and you for now shortman," she ruffled his chocolate-brown locks and handed him her small knapsack. He put it on like a backpack, it made him think of school and the old days, but just for a moment before the thought evaporated. "We've gotta go now."

Carl followed the exact thing- things rather- that her eyes were fixed on. He gulped and tried his best to keep a straight face as they crept along slowly in their direction.

"We've been walking for miles and days," Carl whined as they neared a fork in the road. Taylor took the map out of his little bag and eyed it for a few minutes, it was tough to read with it being so small. She really wished she had paid attention back at their fifth grade camping trip when they learned how to read maps. It seemed like such a stupid, unrealistic thing. When would they be stranded and need to know how to properly read maps? Those words surely did come back to bite her in the ass.

"I'm sorry shortman," she ruffled his hair and he giggled at the nickname. Taylor had always loved the show Hey Arnold! when she was younger, and the name shortman just seemed to fit him. It had stuck since the first time she said it.

"How much longer til we get to the highway?"

"We've got a little while to go-"

"Cause then we can get a car," he cut her off mid-sentence to continue on with his thoughts that she had stopped him in the middle of. He looked around and heard a rustle in the bushes, they both turned the second it registered in their ears, being on their own for just a few days had already fine tuned their senses. When nothing other than a bird flew from the trees they both lowered their weapons and exchanged wry smiles.

"I guess we're a little jumpy," she mentioned as she tucked her gun back into the front of her jeans. There had been a holster left in the 'surprise bag' that they found back by the CDC but she decided to give it to Carl. He barely knew how to use a gun and it just wouldn't make sense for him to not have a proper way to holster it. The last thing either of them needed was to die by their own mistakes.

"It's cause we're tired..." Carl yawned as added proof and put the gun back in the holster neatly. "When can we sleep again?"

"When we find another house to sleep in," she stopped her scrutinizing of the map and tuckered it back away safely into his small bag.

"But we've only found two, and one was a fucking shack!" He threw his arms up dramatically, it was something that he had clearly picked up from her.

"Hey! Don't say fucking," Taylor chided him not liking that he began to pick up all of her bad traits.

"Sorry," his eyes drifted towards the horizon where the sun was slowly but surely creeping towards its bedtime. "Back before the uh, apockalipse," he squinted as he tried his hardest to pronounce the word that he had heard the adults say time after time, "we had a swear jar at home. If mom or dad said a swear word and I caught them they had to put a dollar in it. Then at the end of the month I got to keep whatever was in it."

Taylor smiled warmly at his memory, although it wasn't hers it made her happy that he still remembered some good times. It was so hard for her to do it anymore. He nodded his head contently to show that he was done with the story.

"What happened if you said a bad word?" She asked with a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Nothing, I never said a bad word," his confidence made her chuckle as he looked up at her with a confused expression. He knitted his eyebrows together as if to silently ask, why?

"Then don't start now!" She finally quelled her laughter after they had walked for a bit more and it began to hurt her abdomen. Taylor glanced down and saw the worry in his eyes and she knew exactly why it was there. Her own eyes watched as the sun moved even further down than before. "It's going to be dark again soon, shit."

"You owe me a dollar, Tay Tay," he held out his hand mockingly waiting for a dollar to be placed in it.

"If I had a dollar, I would certainly give it to you." She smirked and shrugged her shoulders lightly because of his silly, yet sincere request.

"Look!" Carl began to run ahead of her and she hoofed it to catch up to the quick boy. Once they were a bit closer to where he was initially headed she let out an excited cheer. Carl whooped in a warrior yell and doubled back to hug Taylor with happiness vibrating his every pore.

"Good eye Carl," she smiled and stepped in front of him, putting her hand back to halt him from moving any further. "Stay here while I check it." She tentatively continued forward, taking each step one at a time and stepping as lightly as humanly possible. Her shoes never once skitted against the ground and she made sure her breathing was quiet too, she would not risk them coming this far just to be walker dinner.

"Okay," she used one finger to motion him over, the car was completely empty. She opened the driver side and gagged at the sight of blood, guts, brain matter, everything that would make a normal persons stomach churn, splattered across the seat. Someone had been here, someone had killed the walker, or person, that had been in here, but where was the body? Taylor dropped to her knees and checked under the car, making Carl give her a questioning look. He shrugged it off and went over to the passenger side, opening the door and situating himself with no qualms about the bloody driver seat.

"Gross," Taylor peeled the camo seat cover off and threw it onto the ground unceremoniously. Once she was actually in the seat she felt her heart sink all the way to her stomach. The keys weren't there.

"What's wrong?" Carl leaned over and looked at the gas gauge with a thrilled grin. "The tank is half full."

"Yeah, but the keys are missing." She crossed her arms and let an exasperated huff escape, causing the loose hairs on her forehead splay away. Carl snickered and pointed up towards the ceiling, she followed his gaze and smacked herself in the forehead. There they were, hanging halfway out of the sun visor. She grabbed them and shot him a pretend dirty look.

"Shut up," they both laughed together as she revved the engine.

"This sucker purrs like a kitten!" Carl smiled wide then noticed the look she was giving him.

"Where'd you hear that?" A small frown appeared on her lips like she already knew the answer.

"Daryl says it all time," he whispered, he had only talked so low due to his confusion with her sudden depressed vibe. One minute the were both laughing and smiling, the next she looked like she was near tears. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about shortman," she feigned a smile and they began their long drive to wherever the pre-destined route was going to take them.

Taylor fought to keep herself awake the entire nights drive, not wanting to stop and risk being sitting ducks to the mindless mosters- in the dark nevertheless.

The sun had just peaked up over the hills again and began to kiss the air with a golden glow when Carl suddenly startled himself awake. Taylor glanced over at him with concern thinking he may have had another nightmare. During their little adventure he'd encountered a lot of nights full of fitful sleep with constant nightmares.

"You awake?" She asked him as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he yawned and his eyes suddenly popped open. "STOP!"

Taylor screeched to a halt at his words, the cars brakes squealing dramatically as they tried with the best of their ability to stop on such short notice. The beaten down car stopped inches from a lone body standing in the middle of the road, if Carl wouldn't have screamed out they surely would have hit it. They both jumped out of the car when they noticed that it was not a walker, no, it was a living person- a toddler.

"Hey..." Taylor crept up slowly not wanting to startle him anymore than he already was, she couldn't imagine how terrified he must have been after nearly being mowed down by a car. The small child stood rooted to the spot, too scared to speak or even move.

Taylor nudged Carl forward figuring that he might be more open with another kid there. He nodded his head and beside her took small, delicate steps towards the frightened little blonde child.

She smiled and tried again, "I'm Taylor... and this is Carl. Are you okay?"

He stuck his thumb in his mouth and kept his eyes locked on the ground, his little head nodded up and down. He didn't appear to be bitten or injured in any physical way- though she would have to conclude that being out in this world by himself would cause many mental scars. She momentarily wondered how he even survived by himself, and how long he'd been out here.

"I'm Jackson," he finally mumbled through the thumb, it broke her from her reverie and she smiled warmly at him, sticking her hand out. He had been gripping a teddy bear tightly to his side and looked between it and her hand. He used his toddler-logic and popped his thumb out of his mouth, sticking the bear in that hand and taking hers with the opposite.

"Did you want to come with us Jackson?" Carl asked quietly, still afraid of scaring him away.

"Mhmm," his muffled response was the cause of the bears ear in his mouth which took over the absence of the thumb.

"Great, come on," she tried to tug him along with her hand but he still stood in his spot. "Okay, I have an idea," she gingerly picked him up and held him at her hip, the whole picture made a tear come to her eye. He seemed so much like her little nephew that she used to take care of. His blonde hair and blue eyes, exactly like hers and her nephews, made a lump grow in her throat. The goosebumps that invaded her body were just another sign that she felt an odd connection with him, just like she told Daryl at the CDC, how all of us somehow survived. Like we were all picked, destiny ya know?

Maybe it was her destiny (Carl's too?) to be left behind and find this child, he would surely have died out here by himself for a few more hours. Were they meant to find and save him?

"Pay it forward," she whispered as she buckled the child in. As per usual another flashback of the dirty attic, the gun, and Daryl saving her life popped back into her head. He saved her, now she would save this child, paying it forward.

"Fank you," Jackson finally spoke with louder confidence, not whispering or mumbling anymore. She ruffled his bright blonde locks, exactly the way she did with Carl, and winked at him.

"You're welcome buddy."

"Nooo," he giggled and shook his head with an amused smile on his face, "I'm Jackson, not Buddy!"

"I'm sorry, that's right. You are Jackson!" Carl joined in the laughter too, finding humor in the fact that he was too little to understand nicknames.

Taylor was tempted to ask him about his parents, why he was out here, or even how he survived, but she knew these questions would just push him back into a shell.

At a small gas station they were able to grab some snacks and even find another car with more gas in it. Taylor thought about trying to siphon it and add it to their own supply since she knew how to do it from the numerous times Glenn had shown her, but it was a messy and disgusting process so they just opted for another car.

As her and Carl were coming back to the car she noticed Jackson was getting antsy and looked a little more than worried. They didn't have much choice when they went inside, she needed back up to go in and Carl had gotten pretty good with his gun. They didn't want to leave him in the car but taking him inside could have been potentially more dangerous. They approached cautiously and Carl held up a hand full of food to show Jackson the treasures he'd plundered. Carl threw it on the seat beside the toddler who screamed with delight at the sight.

"You good?" Taylor peeked inside the car where a content Jackson was eating a lollipop that Carl had specifically picked out for him.

"Yupp," he grabbed his teddy bear and started to feed it some of his lollipop, Carl and Taylor exchanged a wry look and laughed together at his adorable innocence. The thought quickly flashed before her eyes that his innocence and playfulness would soon be ripped away from him, he would have to grow up way before his time and never really have a childhood. It wouldn't always be as easy as it had been for the past few days.

"Taylor!" She was ripped from her stupor when Carl shouted and a bullet grazed her arm.

"Shit!" She quickly grasped onto the wounded spot and swung around to see a dead walker just a few feet behind her. Carl had shot it right through the eye, he was definitely proving himself to be a good shot and very helpful. "Thanks..."

"Sorry," he winced as she removed her hand and blood began to trickle down.

"It's okay," she took a heavy breath trying to ignore the pain, she may have not been shot through any body part but even this hurt like hell. "Thanks for the save," she sighed and they collected themselves before clamoring into the car. As she reached up to adjust the rear view mirror in the new car, a burning pain shot through her arm. "Fuck!"

"Umm," Carl gave her a deadpan look, "you don't have to put any money in the swear jar."

"Thanks," she chuckled and tried her hardest to not make any more sounds pertaining to the injury, she didn't like swearing in front of either child and didn't want them to worry about her being hurt. "Open the map," she requested quietly, still focusing on anything but the pain.

"Hold on," Carl climbed halfway over the middle console of the car and retrieved the map out of the bag before coming back up to the front. He twisted around and spread the map out on his lap. They examined it together until Taylor gasped in surprise. Carl had thought he hit her wound and quickly jumped in surprise. "What?!"

"I can't believe I didn't notice this earlier," she cautiously took the map from him and spread it equally between them now, panning quickly over a particular area. She used her finger to trace a path from where they were, or where she thought they were anyway, to a small road that was led off of the main highway. To Carl it looked to be farmland.

"Notice what? What is it?" He looked harder, squinting his eyes to try and catch on to what she was suddenly so excited about. Jackson had shuffled the candy and other various treats out of the way to shove himself in between them.

"Is Disney World on dat fing?" His honest and confused question made her smile a little wider.

"Nah, Mickey Mouse lives in Florida, we're in Georgia." His sad little pout made a ping of guilt hit her right in the heart. "Sorry Jack." He nodded and went back to his lollipop and bear friend. "This farm-house," she jabbed the spot she was examining before and turned her attention back to Carl, "my uncle lives here. I can't believe I didn't put two and two together before... I mean I haven't been here in years but still..." she trailed off while Carl titled his head to the side in confusion.

"You think he's still there?" He knitted his eyebrows together and decided to reword the question. "You think he'll let us stay?"

"If he's there yes, his daughter was like my sister. I used to spend the entire summer there, every summer, until I was eighteen. He's like a second dad to me," she mused, forgetting that she was rambling on.

"Okay, but what about my mom and Shane? Dad? The group?" He didn't want to shoot down her plans, since really she was the one in charge, but he also didn't want her to forget about them.

"We'll keep looking for them, I just want to make a pit stop there. If he's still there then we can bum some supplies from him, regroup there for a few days to get our energy back up, then we'll be able to get back on the highway and head towards Fort Benning."

"Alright," he nodded his head, content with her explanation. He would kill for an actual bed to sleep in for a few nights anyway, and some real food. They had stayed either in the car or in abandoned houses the whole trip and food was scarce, and the beds were lumpy and uncomfortable. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

"Here we are," she drove the old rust bucket down the long dirt path, puttering along as it slowly died. She knew the car wouldn't last long but was thankful that it had at least gotten them to the farm. She smiled when she saw people out on the porch. Real people, no walkers. She cut the engine and watched as the three porch occupants shot up and held their guns tightly in their hands.

"Daddy, put it down! There's kids in there!" Maggie shouted at her father as he slowly let the shotgun fall to his side. He would admit he was being a little defensive, but he didn't know who he could trust anymore. "Is that..." Maggie jumped off the porch excitedly and ran over to Taylor as she exited the car.

"Come on Jackson, don't be scared..." Suddenly she was tackled from behind, the girl had jumped onto her back and clung there like a child expecting a piggy back ride.

"TAYLOR MARIE!" She screamed, unable to keep her giddiness from bubbling up.

"Maggie!" She whipped around, making Maggie slid off her back from the gravity and embraced her cousin in a hug. "I've missed you guys!" She held her back by the shoulders and looked her up and down. "I can't believe you guys are alive!"

"Same to you!" She looked over as Carl tentatively exited the car and stood by idly, not knowing what to do with himself. She glanced down at Jackson who had finally left the car and instantly glued himself to Taylor's leg. "I know it's been a few years... but did you have kids?" She whispered the last word as to not inform them that they were now the subject of their discussion.

"No," she sighed and patted the toddlers hair. "This is Jackson... we found him on our way here." Maggie's eyes cast down to him and filled with sadness, he was so small, and apparently all alone. "And that's Carl," she pointed over to him and he began to take small steps towards them. "He's the son of someone in our group."

"Your group?" She asked, very perplexed, and it was showing on her face. As far as she could tell it was just the three of them.

"Yeah, I have a hell of a lot to catch you up on-"

"I'm thirsty..." Carl quietly interrupted, not wanting to, but felt like his throat was as dry as a desert.

"Yeah sure hon," Maggie smiled back at him and nodded towards Taylor. "I'll take him in to get a drink, you get your stuff unpacked and I'll tell daddy, okay?" She took Carl gently by one shoulder and lead him into the house where Hershel, and the guy that Taylor didn't recognize all trailed in behind her.

Taylor tried walking but had a difficult time with little Jack clinging to her like a baby koala. She laughed and knelt down to get on his level.

"We might be staying here for awhile Jackson," she looked into his eyes and melted just as Maggie had, he truly had the saddest eyes she'd ever seen. "Is that okay?"

"I guess," he shrugged his shoulders and clutched his bear to himself again. "Can you carries me Tawor? I dun feel so good."

"Of course Jack," she picked him up and held him at her hip, it was the way she always carried him and it made him feel secure, so he never once complained. He actually enjoyed it and was happy every time that she was willing to do it. It made him feel like he had somebody, his mommy and daddy were gone, but he had Taylor and Carl.

"I know Carl really wants to find the others, and I know you would love them all," she began to talk to him, really talking out loud to herself just so it wasn't trapped in her head. "But I don't think we'll be able to find them. I don't want to tell him, I don't even want to admit it, but day by day I just know they're getting further away from us."

He nodded his head and pretended like he knew what she was talking about, though he really just wanted some more food. She popped the trunk open and flung the bag over her free shoulder with a grunt.

"I miss them, a lot-" she felt hot tears burning at her eyes and soon they were free-falling.

"I'm sowwy. Dun be sad..."

Just as the words came out a muffled, yet also distinct at the same time, sound came from further down the dirt path. Taylor didn't think anyone else was staying at the farm so there should be no reason to hear a vehicle.

"MOTORCYCLE!" He called out excitedly, squirming in her arms as happiness tore through the small child.

"What? Motorcycle?" She turned around and placed him on the ground gently and slammed the trunk shut. She spun back around as the sound seemed to magnify tenfold, she started to believe the four year olds assessment was correct. She followed the small child's gaze and held her hand up over her eyes to shield it from the blinding sun that was skewing her vision.

The shiny black motorcycle peeled up the dirt road and shifted specks of dust, gravel, and rock into the air. Its rider kicked the kickstand into its proper place and swung his leg off the right side, hopping off quickly after. The scowl on his face turned to disbelief then morphed into a bright grin when he realized that not only were there other survivors here, it was her. He couldn't tell if he was suffering from dehydration and hallucinating, seeing a ghost, or what, but he didn't give a damn at that moment. The dust began to settle as he walked towards them.

"How...?" It was Taylor's turn to be second guessing herself of being crazy. She felt her eyes roll into the back of her head, the world going dark within seconds. He jumped forward grabbing her before she hit the floor. He lost his footing and fell to the ground with Taylor haphazardly in his lap. He simply smirked and shook his head at her over-the-top reaction.

"HEY MISTER!" Jackson looked on sternly, placing his hands on his hips, the teddy bear dangling at his side. "You broked Taylor!"

"Sorry champ," he shrugged sympathetically, wondering in the back of his mind where this kid came from and when he became acquainted with her. "She ain't broken, she'll be fine."

While he conferred with Jackson, Taylor's eyes began to flutter back to life. She squinted and blinked roughly a few times to get the images before her not blurry. Once he knew she was back within the land of the conscious he chuckled.

"Glad to see you too, Blondie."