A scream of pain wakes me up. I sit up and feel Rick's hand over my mouth. He shushes me and forces me to stand. My brain takes a while to catch up with what's happening. I hear voices, someone screaming and footsteps on the stairs. Rick points under the bed. I nod and drop to my stomach and slide under. Rick joins me. I look at him in fear and he places his finger over my mouth. I nod quickly. He moves out from the bed and I panic when I see legs come out of the room across from ours. Rick throws himself back under. Once the guy walks away, Rick dives back out, grabs something and comes back under. I see the water bottle in his hand and resist the urge to hit him.

The guy comes into the room. I reach out slowly and intertwine my fingers with Ricks and hold my breath. Rick squeezes my hand reassuringly. The guy wanders around the room, searches the wardrobe before walking over to the bed. The guy has fresh blood on his boot and trousers. The guy walks around the bed then jumps on it. His weight nearly crushes Rick who bites his lip to prevent himself crying out.

The guy's snoring fills the air. After a while Rick and I look at each other. He nods and I start to slide out from under the bed. Rick pulls me back as footsteps advance up the steps.

"Yo" The new guy at the door says "Comfy?"

The guy on the bed stops snoring "You waking me up to see if I'm comfortable?"

"I want to lie down." The guy at the door says

"Two other bedrooms up here to choose." The guy from the bed says

"Them's kids' beds. I want this one." The door guy says stepping into the room

"It's claimed." Bed guy says

"I didn't hear it. You gonna have to lay claim somewhere else." Door guy says.

Suddenly, bed guy gets up and both start fighting. One of the guy's fall and my whole body goes rigid. All he would have to do is turn his head and he would see us. Rick's hand is tight on mine. The men continue to fight. The guy lands on the floor facing us this time.

His eyes widen when he spots us. His 'friend' starts choking him "Len! Stop!" The guy chokes.

Rick and I watch as the guy is choked to death, his mate not even a little aware of what's under the bed. "My bed now, jackoff." The guy says and drops onto the bed with a satisfied groan.

Rick and I look at each other. I want to ask him what to do but I can't. He must have read the panic in my face for he strokes me cheek with his thumb and gives me a reassuring smile. A while later he nudges me. I nod and start shuffling my way out from under the bed, keeping in mind the guy's foot is right next to me. He was clearly never afraid of the boogy-man grabbing your foot as you slept. I move slowly to my feet and turn, keeping a close eye on the guy on the bed. I take Rick's hand and help him to his feet. We back out the room.

"Tony, Len, get your asses down here" A guy shouts, he's coming up the stairs!

Rick pushes me back into the one of the kids' rooms. Rick pushes me into the alcove with the bed in it. Under any other circumstances I would have found this cute but now I'm just grateful for the cover. I hear footsteps enter the room and I hold my breath as I press myself further into the wall. The guy has a ball in his hand. He bounces it off the wall in the alcove and I swear my heart has never pounded as hard as it is right now. He walks away.

Rick tries the windows but all are locked tightly. "Claim, claim, claim!" Someone yells from downstairs.

"Shut the hell up. I'm trying to sleep." The guy in the room yells.

"There's women shacking up in here!" Someone yells.

Rick holds his hand out and points to the ground. He wants me to stay put. I shake my head vigorously as he moves across the room.

"Say what?" The guy from the room yells

"Come on down." The guy downstairs yells

"She hot?" The guy from the bed asks, his voice louder than before.

"There's at least two man! Different sizes" My eyes widen, my hoodie! Michonne's shirt!

"Don't grab your pecker just yet. She ain't here." The guy who must have been in here earlier yells. I hear footsteps on the stairs as two of them descend

"What the hell you hollering about?" Bed guy yells

"Found her shirt. Must have washed it this morning. The other's sweatshirt. The sweatshirt smells good."

"Oh, you found a shirt and a sweatshirt? They could be miles away by now." Another guy says

"Why'd she go to all the trouble of washing a shirt when she's just gonna ditch it? This sweatshirt still feels warm. She'll be back, hopefully both will" I wince at that.

"I call first when they get here." Someone says and my stomach turns

"Who knows who else they've got with them. We need to be ready for anything. Len, take the side room. Hold on, let me get a gun. I'll watch the front den, you've got the other side room. I thought Tony got that. Where the hell is Tony? Tony! Get him the hell up." Someone yells.

Rick beckons me over. I head over to the main door of the room just to be shoved into the bathroom. I nearly scream when I turn and see the man behind me. Rick is already pouncing on him. I press myself into the door as they fight. Rick grabs something and starts choking the guy with it. The guy lunges for the scissors on the cabinet but I grab them and pull them away from his reach. They fall to the floor. Rick rolls the guy off him once he's either dead or passed out, who cares! We got a new gun. I take a deep breath and turn to the window. I open it slowly and carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible. Rick takes the guy's jacket and opens the door to the bathroom slightly.

"Go" He whispers, pointing at the window.

I slide out carefully, looking in all directions. I catch Rick's new jacket and take his gun as he climbs out himself. I hand both back one at a time. He puts the jacket on and takes the gun. I move towards the edge of the roof carefully.

"I'll go first, you follow when I tell you too" Rick whispers

I nod. He slowly lowers himself off the roof. I hear the gutter creak loudly under his weight and wince. He lets himself fall. Moments later he whispers my name. I turn and lower myself down.

"Drop" Rick says.

I let myself go. Rick catches me easily. He pushes me towards the steps of the patio. I run down them quickly and pull my gun out. I didn't want to use it inside in case we got caught. I follow Rick's every step as we move around the house. We stop when we reach the front porch and I hear the door open. The guy moves around then stops. I look at Rick who lifts himself to see over the edge. He ducks back down quickly. Footsteps approach us and spit lands feet from Rick's feet. I cringe in disgust. The guy does this a few times, making no effort to move. I see Carl and Michonne coming from the distance. I pat Rick's arm in fear. He reaches his hand up to the edge of the porch, ready to pull himself up and start shooting. A scream from inside grabs the guy's attention. The scream is followed by gunshots and the guy walks away, muttering to himself. The moment he's gone, Rick takes my hand and runs.

"Go, go!" He says to Carl and Michonne as we run towards them.

Both turn on their heels and run away. We make it to the train tracks and don't stop running until we are a good distance away.

"I'm gonna need to find a new jacket" I say

Michonne laughs "We'll get you one"

"Crazy cheese?" Carl asks and I flinch away

"Last time I ate that stuff I was sick for a week" I tell him. "To be fair that mixed with three bottles of Captain Morgan's and a bottle of Jaeger probably wasn't one of my best ideas"

Michonne and Rick both laugh. Carl looks a little confused and offers the can to Michonne who shakes her head with a grin. Rick slows. I look at him curiously then follow his sight and feel a little lighter.

'Sanctuary for all, community for all. Those who arrive survive'

"What do you think?" Michonne asks

"Let's go." Rick says

I nod "Yeah, Let's go."

We follow the tracks like it told us to on the map, terminus. That's where we're going. Why not? What have we got to lose? Knowing our lot, they'll all think the same thing and maybe, we'll find each other again.