AN: Here we go, another little chapter!

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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The night had waged into early morning before they got all the Walkers in the area down and movement stopped. Carol found herself and Sophia pushed into the RV along with Lori and Carl. Jacqui had spent some time with them, but then she'd stepped out to offer her services to everyone still outside.

When the fight had broken out, Carol was surprised that Daryl had pushed her behind him, putting her and Sophia both in a position where the Walkers coming toward them would have to come through him and his knife, his crossbow hanging down because it was essentially useless in the close contact, to get to them.

And he'd been the one to get them to the RV and shove them toward the door, yelling at Carol to get Sophia inside.

Now Sophia was asleep, thankfully, in the bed that Carol normally slept in and Carl was asleep in the upper bed that Sophia typically occupied. Carol sat on the couch beside Lori and wondered what they were supposed to do.

"We should help," Carol offered. "We should see if they need help. I can at least make some breakfast for those that are hungry. Get water for them."

"Rick said to stay in here," Lori said. "Keep the kids safe, that's our job."

Carol shrugged to herself.

"What's going on out there is what's going to keep them safe," Carol offered. "If everything out there falls then we're not going to last long in here. We don't even have water or food to offer them."

Carol got up from the couch and walked into the room where Sophia was sleeping. She assured herself that the girl was fine and then came back through the main room of the small space.

"Keep an eye on Sophia for me?" Carol asked quietly.

Lori looked at her like she might argue but then she finally just nodded at her. Carol thanked her and stepped out the door of the RV.

Outside the light was beginning to show in the sky and it illuminated everyone that was moving about half dazed. Everyone was filthy and moving around Walkers to fires that they had burning nearby.

Carol watched a moment as Glenn was directing those dragging Walker bodies toward the two fires.

On the ground, not far from the door of the RV, it appeared that Andrea was keeping watch over their only obvious casualty. Amy lie on the ground just by her sister. Carol felt her heart clench.

She hurt for Andrea's loss, but she also hurt to realize how easy it could have been any of them. Amy had only gone to the bathroom, a trip that was common enough for any of them, and it had simply been an unlucky enough time for her that she'd been bitten in the process.

Carol walked over and gently put her hand on Andrea's shoulder, not wanting to startle the woman. Andrea turned slightly toward her but then she looked back at the lifeless body of her sister.

"I'm sorry, Andrea," Carol offered. "I'm so sorry."

And she didn't get a response, but she didn't expect one either.

Carol found Jacqui easily enough and offered to help her get together water and food for the people that were working. They worked almost in silence, the same silence that the rest of the camp seemed to be guarding, whether out of respect for Amy or out of the shock of the entire situation.

"They're afraid she's coming back soon," Jacqui whispered to Carol. "They've been circling the both like vultures. Everyone wants to make sure there's somewhere to shoot her when she does come back."

Carol frowned at the thought. She knew it was necessary, but it didn't mean that it made it a pleasant thing to think about when it was someone that they knew…and sweet, young girl at that.

"Andrea shouldn't have to do it," Carol said. "It's not fair to ask anyone to be the one to put down their loved ones."

"That's why Dale's been offering to do it all morning," Jacqui said. "The oldest of the redneck men too."

"Merle," Carol offered. She really had nothing else to say in response.

When the chaos began, it was over before too many people were aware of what was even happening. Carol heard the crack of the gun before she realized there was anything different about the sobs that occasionally broke out of Andrea and then it was over just as quickly as it began.

Carol was surprised to see it was Merle who walked over to offer a hand to Andrea…not to take her sister away, but rather to offer his assistance in getting the girl to the grave dug for her.

"That could have been any of us," Carol said to Jacqui while they got together a meal, both of them looking up when Merle and Dale came by, acting as some kind of pall bearers for the sheet wrapped body. "It could have been anyone…we're not safe here at all. You can't even go to the bathroom."

"I don't think there's anywhere safe anymore," Jacqui responded.

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Daryl had done at least three laps around the Walkers that were left and assured himself that all of them were down and they weren't getting up again. There would be no cleaning their camp, though, that was sure. The bodies could be gone, but the ground was blood stained and now it was tainted. It would never again even seem like a safe haven after what had happened the night before.

Even Daryl didn't feel like he was going to feel good about going to take a piss now. It wasn't that it was ever safe, but it was that they'd all let themselves believe it was safe, even if just for a while. Now it was clear that they were all wrong, some of them for longer than others.

"We should head to the CDC," Daryl overheard Rick say to Shane. "They're working on a cure. It's our only chance. They might be rebuilding by now. They might be putting…civilization…back together."

"You think, Rick, if they had some cure? You think if they were rebuilding? We wouldn't know it out here?" Shane responded. "There's nothing left, Rick. The only hope we have now is what we build."

Daryl hovered a moment longer closer to the two men and listened to their exchange. Finally, he offered his thoughts on the situation.

"We gotta move on," he said. "We're movin' on any way. If this place? This CDC or whatever…if they gettin' this under control…they gonna find us. You can't hide from the damn government if you tryin' to."

Rick looked at him and nodded. It was possibly the first time that anything Daryl had said to most of the people around here had been validated at all.

"We need to move," Rick repeated. "As soon as we can. Pack up camp and move first thing in the morning if we can."

Daryl didn't stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. Whether the group moved or just his group moved, he didn't care really. And whether they were headed to the CDC or they were just headed away from here, he didn't care either. In the end it was all the same.

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Merle accepted the bottle of water that Carol offered him when he got back from covering up Andrea's little sister. The bottle was thrust at him and it was clear that there was some kind of serious discussion taking place, but he couldn't focus on the words in the moment for the blood pounding in his ears from heat and exertion.

"Fuck is goin' on?" He asked, directing his words toward Carol.

Whatever was going on, Daryl and Alice were both in the middle of it, but it didn't look like it had come to blows yet, though Rick was walking around, and Shane too, with their arms out like they expected Daryl to jump at them both in the mood that he was displaying.

Carol glanced toward where she had both the kids sitting and doing lessons, really something more to distract them than anything else since Merle figured it didn't matter anymore if you could read or write.

"Jim's been bit," she hissed. "The fever's started."

Merle glanced back at the group, his hearing getting better with the slowing of his heart now that he was standing still. He turned and glanced back toward where they'd buried the girl to assure himself that Dale and Andrea were still fine. Then he looked back at the group.

"Fuck they yellin' about?" He asked.

Carol stepped closer to him.

"They want to move tomorrow," Carol said. "All of us going to the CDC. Rick thinks they'll know what this is. He thinks they'll be a cure."

Merle was pretty sure that either the heat had addled his brain or he simply wasn't understanding a single damn thing. He couldn't figure out one thing had to do with another. So they moved on? Whether they went to this CDC place or they went to the moon, what did it really matter? And furthermore, what the hell did it have to do with a man that was well on his way to dying?

"What the hell does one thing gotta do with the other?" Merle asked. "C damn whatever it is and that man bein' bit?"

Carol made a face he couldn't interpret, but when he heard the words that she offered next, he realized it was her quiet way of saying she doubted the following to be true.

"The CDC will have a cure for this and if we can get there in time, they can save Jim," Carol said.

Merle sucked his teeth and nodded at her. He drained the bottle of water that he'd been drinking and handed it back to her before he started toward the group that looked like they were all yelling for the sake of yelling, not a damn soul actually directing their words at any clear receiver.

"Al! Shut'cha fuckin' loud ass mouth," Merle growled. "Get the fuck over here…"

Alice and Daryl both jerked their attention in Merle's direction. Alice walked over in his direction.

"This place? It gonna have a cure for whatever the hell this shit is?" Merle asked.

Alice shrugged.

"You know I can't tell you that," she said. "I don't know any more than you do."

"What the hell you think?" He asked.

And she was reluctant to speak…never a good sign when Alice was involved. It was all the response Merle needed.

"He's gonna die an' he's gonna turn," Daryl snapped. "They're talkin' about puttin' him in the RV with Carol an' Sophia! Lockin' his ass up with 'em ta just wait until he's one a' them damn things. We oughta put a bullet in him an' be done with it."

Before Merle could say that he could clearly see where his brother was coming from…but maybe, just like he'd pointed out when he'd killed Ed, it was more humane not to discuss things like that in front of the man they were talking about killing…Rick got in Merle's face yelling at him.

"We do not kill the living!" He yelled. "We are not going to shoot one of our people because he's bit! We will go to the CDC and we will find a cure for him!"

Merle sucked his teeth and pushed the man out of his face hard enough to let him know that if he came back in the same manner then he'd likely not get the same friendly courtesy.

"Shoot him, don't shoot him," Merle said. "You get bit. You die. You turn. Good damn chance they ain't no cure."

"We have to try," Rick said, the shove having calmed him down some. "We have to try. A cure for him could mean a cure for any of us if we got bit. It could save our lives. We're going to the CDC. We're leaving in the morning."

Merle stared at him.

"Why the hell we leavin' in the mornin'?" He asked. "You wanna beat this shit load the fuck up an' leave right now. You draggin' ya damn feet's as good as shootin' him yaself."

Merle was almost amused at the look thrown between the two cops. Apparently neither of the dumbasses had thought that while they were busy fighting about saving the man, the man in question was busy dying.

Merle looked at Daryl.

"Let's load up the truck, lil' brother," he said. "Reckon you, that lil' girl, an' the woman'll fit in the cab. Al's a bitch, she might as well ride it."

And he laughed at his own joke as he headed toward their tent to start taking the thing apart to pack it up.