Emma laid her head on Regina's chest, listening to her steady heartbeat. She could feel the brunette's hand weaving through her hair. "I've missed you." Emma whispered, "I'm so sorry." There was no response from Regina, just the steady up and down movement of her chest and the steady beat of her heart.

Emma felt safe, finally safe in the arms of her love. It had been too long since she had felt the warmth of another human lying beside her. "I love you, Regina." The blonde lifted her head to look into Regina's eyes. What she saw instead was death.

Regina's face was rotting away. There was a chunk of her cheek missing. Her eyes were glossed over and nearly all white. Her skin was pale, almost green. A groan escaped the undead Regina's throat as she grabbed a fistful of Emma's blonde hair. Emma screamed and jumped back into reality.

Simon barked at her as she yelled, which awoke Fox, who jumped up with her gun already in hand. The shepherd let out a soft whine, looking from Fox to Emma. He took a few steps forward and sat next to the blonde, staring down at her as she lay on a sleeping bag on the hard forest floor.

Fox released a heavy sigh and collapsed back onto the moose skin she had folded into a somewhat soft bed. Once her breath had returned to its normal adrenaline-less pace, she turn to face Emma, "You okay?"

"Fine." Emma growled. She rolled onto her side so that her back was to Simon and Fox.

"Next time you're fine, please don't wake up screaming. I was having quite a lovely dream involving Katee Sackhoff." Fox said, "You want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay." Fox rolled over and fell back into her dream as Emma stared into the dark forest unable to find sleep. Simon curled up between them, watching Emma carefully.

The sun was just beginning to rise as Fox woke up. They cooked a quick breakfast of meat and eggs from a bird's nest they had found the night before. Fox made tea for them out of a flower and some herbs she had collected before they had left Storybrooke. They didn't speak as they packed up their things and got the horses and mule ready for the day's ride.

The two women had left Storybrooke three days earlier and were hoping to get to the city of Gardiner by the end of the day. After that, Portland was a day and a half ride away. Fox could tell that Emma was become more and more anxious.

"You're a wolf." Fox said as they rode.

"A wolf?"

"Yeah, you've gotten separated from your pack and now you're looking to find them again."

Emma tilted her head slightly, thinking the idea through, "Okay, if I'm a wolf, then what are you?"

"A fox, of course. Kind of obvious."

They both laughed, "So, I'm a wolf and you're a fox. Aren't wolves violent?"

"So are fox."

"But wolves are much higher on the food chain than foxes are."

Fox thought this through, "Perhaps, but you are still a wolf."

Emma smiled, "Alright, Fox. I guess I'm a wolf."

Regina sat on the hood of the Honda. Eight-o-clock had passed. No one had responded. She found herself watching the growing number of zombies stumbling around the fences of old scrap yard. A few had noticed her and had started reaching through the fencing with grabby hands. She was several yards away, though and not even remotely close enough for them to get a hold of her. It still made her uneasy.

She watched them, human shells that had become nothing more than hungry animals with no intelligence. She couldn't even think of them as animals. Animals would have given up their focus on her after a few minutes and turned to easier prey or they would have figured out a way to get to her. Not the undead. They just stood there, groaning and reaching for that which they could not get to.

A hand touched her shoulder and she nearly fell off the hood of the old car. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Gail said, "Anything?" She nodded at the radio.

Regina shook her head. "No."

"We're having a group meeting."

Regina didn't move, she sat there staring.

"Regina," Gail lightly touched on the brunette's hand with the tips of her fingers. She looked up at the redhead and nodded.

They walked back to a large garage. The two women weaved around beds and sleeping bags and small tents that had been set up in the main room before they walked into a kitchen with a large table in the middle. Everyone, besides the camp's five children and the two adults who were currently taking care of them, were seated or standing around the table.

Regina and Gail squeezed in and Regina found a chair waiting for her at the head of the table next to the family she had married into, Mary Margret and David, Emma's adoptive parents. They were arguing with Mr. Gold, who had owned the town's antique shop along with half the property on Main Street. He had run against Regina for Mayor twice and had lost both times. Regina took her seat and Gail leaned with her hands on the top of the chair, nearly hovering over Regina.

Within an instant of seating herself at the table, the frail, heartbroken woman that had been staring at the zombies not minutes earlier became shielded by the cold hearted steel woman who had run the small coastal town of Storybrooke. It was a change that always mesmerized Gail.

"We are no longer safe here." Gold started, "Every day more and more of the undead are piling up along the fences. It is only a matter of time before they break them down."

"That is why we have teams of people to go out and kill them." Regina said in a low growl. "Those fences have held for the ten months we've been here, why shouldn't they continue to?"

"I've seen what those things can do, particularly in great numbers. We've all seen it. Those zombies could tear through that gate like it was nothing." He paused, "And if they break in, we have no means of escape. We'd be over run and killed."

Regina stared at him as the people around the table began to bicker amongst themselves about what to do.

"We should build an underground bunker," one shouted.

"We could fortify the fenced?" a hesitant woman called out.

While another shouted, "We should just leave."

"Food is becoming scarce." Gold continued, "We have to scavenge farther and farther from camp to find enough for everyone."

"Why do you think my men have started going out to hunt?" Gail said, referring to the dozen or so of police officers that had fought their way out of Canada with her.

"Then why don't your men bring back more food?" Gold teased.

"Why don't you go out there and hunt then?" Gail challenged, "I have never seen you beyond those fences helping to find any food, not in the five months I've been here."

At that, he slunk back into his chair and glared at the redhead. Then, he looked over at Regina, "We all know that the only reason we are still here is because these three," he pointed at Regain, Mary Margret, and David, "are waiting for Emma Swan." The room fell silent. "Do any of you really think she could possibly still be out there? It's been a year. Just accept it. She's dead." He pushed his way to the door and paused before opening it, "I'm leaving tomorrow at dawn. If anyone wants to join me, meet me at the gates." At that, he left.

Everyone else looked around the room at each other for a minute before exiting the room, leaving Mary Margret, David, Regina, and Gail at the table.

"He has a point, though." Mary Margret said, glancing over at David.

"What?" Regina growled.

"It's been a year. She's been gone a year. Don't you think…if she was," David grabbed Mary Margret's hand as she continued, "…alive…wouldn't she had found us by now?"

Regina stared at them for a long moment before they stood and made their way to the door.

David paused and looked back at the two women, "Think of what's best for Henry."

The door shut and Regina's shield fell as she broke down into sobs. Gail wrapped her arms around the brunette and rested her head against the other woman's. She held her for several minutes as Regina cried into her shoulder. "If you decided to stay, I will too." Gail whispered into her ear.

Regina put her arms around the redhead's waist and continued to cry. She didn't know what else to do.