Okay. You asked for it- ^^

(******************************************************************************************************)

It took some doing and some seriously mad driving skills to maneuver the truck and trailers it was pulling behind it up the old dirt road that she usually took in and out of town just to avoid anymore contact with the 'thingys'. But in the end it paid off as she finally pulled into the driveway to the old farm she had lived in most of her life and slowed the truck to a crawl for several seconds at the end of the drive just to survey things from a distance.

Things had changed while she had been gone. That much she could tell due to the number of people moving around her front yard, armed with guns and other weapons along with an old looking beat up RV.

Taking several moments to consider several different scenarios of what she might find once she was at the house and factoring in her current knowledge of the fact that the 'thingys' were no longer the only threats out there, she finally decided to go ahead to the house and see what was what.

If the people there were threats- if they had hurt even one of her friends- she'd kill each of them. And she'd do it with a smile.

But if there were simply people looking for help, for shelter and aid to survive...then she would do everything she could to help them stay alive for as long as she could.

First thing was first though, she needed to check on Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Patricia, and Otis and make sure that they were alive and well. Then she'd go from there.

Slowly moving the truck alone the driveway to the house, she absently noted that no one had really noticed her vehicle so far. Which may work to her advantage if the strangers there were unfriendly.

(******************************************************************************************************************)

Dale sat atop his RV enjoying a little bit of sun when he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a large black truck with several large animal trailers being pulled behind it coming up the driveway and suddenly panicked and called out, "Incoming vehicle!"

Every head in the make shift camp turned to see the vehicle making it's way towards the house. Each person's expression holding anything from a bit of determination, to worry, anger and fear.

They didn't know who was in the vehicle and frankly they didn't really care. All they could do is see what they wanted and perhaps send them on their way. After all, theirs was a precarious position. And there was no guarantee that Hershel would let them stay if he suddenly found himself with more mouths to feed.

That was difficult enough as it was already. What with the walkers in the area eating any wild life they could get their hands on and polluting the soil of the ground where gardens could be planted. Not to mention the water of every well, creek and river they wandered into.

Their putrid, rotting flesh and blood mixing with the waters and making them toxic to use as drinking sources.

Dale and everyone kept a close eye on the vehicle, noting that it came to a stop for a moment over by Otis's grave before resuming it's seemingly agonizingly slow trek up to the house where it finally came to a stop again and parked as Rick, Shane, Glenn and several others stood with their hands on their weapons- feeling nervous and just a tad bit- well, antsy.

"What do we do?" Shane asked his long time best friend, curious to see what his thoughts on their visitor might be.

"We see what they want and go from there." It wasn't exactly the most detailed plan in the world, but the more information they had then the better they could utilize it and adjust to the situation as needed.

The truck door opened as Hershel and Beth stepped out of the house to see what was going on, and a young girl who looked between sixteen or seventeen years old, climbed out with an old wooden crate held in her hands and started to walk up to them when Rick pulled his gun and said, "Hold it!" In his most authoritative tone before demanding, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Ghost!" Beth shouted as she ran down the porch steps towards the strange girl, causing Rick and the others to freeze up and watch as Beth latched onto the other girl and hug her. Causing the strange girl to yelp and spin on her heel, taking Beth with her as she held the crate above her head. "I knew you'd come home! I just knew it!" Beth babbled for several seconds as Hershel walked down the steps and stopped beside Rick and put a hand on his shoulder, causing the man to turn his head to look at him as he motioned for Rick to put his gun away.

Looking back at the stranger and Beth, then back at the elder- Rick chewed his lower lip for a second before sighing and putting his gun away and then motioning for the others to stand down.

It was obvious from the way that Beth and Hershel were acting, that they knew the girl. What had Beth called her again... Ghost?

What a strange name for a person to have. Rick thought as he looked over the girl's features and noted that she certainly looked like a ghost. Heart shaped face, pale skin that looked as if it had never seen more than a minute or so of sunlight in all her years of life, she had pale green eyes and waist length solid white-ish blond hair that was tied back in a thick braid that stood out in stark contrast against her solid black clothing and leather jacket. But I suppose it fits her- Rick thought as the girl walked up to them and stopped to stand just in front of Hershel before holding the crate out to him.

The elder looked down as he lifted his hands to automatically take the crate from her and noticed four newborn kittens. All of them but one were a smoky grey and cream color. The last one however was pitch black and Hershel already had an idea of what Ghost planned to do with the lot once they were bigger.

"They're beautiful Ghost. Do you have the mother too?" Hershel asked, knowing that it would be easier to keep the kittens alive and healthy if the mother was around to take care of them.

"Yeah," The girl replied as she glanced back towards the truck she had drove up in. "She had a bit of a traumatic experience when her owners changed and attacked her and her litter and ate several of the kittens before I could get to them. So she tends to hang back until I give her the green light. A couple of cans of wet food can coax her out into the open so that would probably be the best way to deal with her for the time being. At least until she's used to being around so many people... Speaking of- Where did the beat up RV and everyone in the yard come from?"

"I'll explain things over dinner since there's quite a bit to talk about." Hershel said as the girl nodded and asked,

"Like who's buried down the field?"

"Yeah, like that."

"Alright, I can afford to be patient a little bit longer. How long until dinner?"

"It'll be a while yet since Maggie's cooking. So maybe an hour or two."

"Fantastic. I need to grab a shower, and maybe a short nap."

"I'll wake you when everything is done." Hershel said as the girl gave him a nod and without a word or so much as a glance in their direction to acknowledge them, she went up the porch steps and into the house.

Leaving Rick and the others feeling more than a little insulted.