A/N So you guys get a really early update this week. And I promise Sam isn't always such a cry baby, she's just going through some stuff now. Thanks for sticking with me so far. Hope you guys like it!

Sam turns to Merle "Um, thanks. That one really caught me off guard."

"Who woulda thought you could have so much fun at the end of the world." Merle kicks the dead hand that one of his slashes dismembered.

Daryl rolls his eyes at his brother's callous remarks, then remembers that Merle probably hasn't been in his right mind since they got back, dipping into his stash pretty frequently.

Sam stares at the corpses of the kids, still shaken. "I know everyone that gets bit changes, but for some reason, I didn't think about kids. I mean, I couldn't imagine it," she shakes her head and stuffs the feelings down "I'm going to bed, and I'm sleeping in the truck again."

Daryl and Merle sit across from each other, staring at the dieing fire.

"Might not be so bad, having her around an all. She's decent backup." Merle says, kicking the remainder of a log into the fire, causing a burst of embers.

Daryl's mood improves slightly when he goes on watch knowing that now Merle won't try to get rid of Sam, not actively at least.

Sam wakes with a start and holds in a scream when there is a tapping on the truck window, but after squinting into the darkness for a second, she realizes it's just Daryl, waking her for her turn at watch.

Sam takes her spot at the base of the tree closest to the embers of the fire. She picks up a decent size stick and starts stripping off the bark with her hatchet and sharpening the end to a point. Without anything to truly occupy her mind, the full force of everything hits her. She is overwhelmed with grief for all those she's lost, even those she can't be sure about.. She finally lets herself grieve.

Mom and Cally

Andy

Kyle and Chris

Who knows that happened to all her other friends back home. She feels a sharp pang of loneliness and realizes that, for all she knows, Daryl and Merle are the only living people she knows in the world. She stares into the embers and lets the tears flow, trying to keep quiet so she can hear the woods, but after a while, it's hard to quiet her sniffling. The heat from the embers has dried the tear tracks on her face into tight streaks. The snap of a branch makes her jump and she whips around.

Daryl approaches her, unsure what to make of the tear streaked face and puffy eyes. He sits down a few feet from her.

"I'm sorry" she roughly wiper her face "I didn't mean to wake you up. I was trying to be quiet."

"S'alright. Wasn't really sleepin anyway." he stares at the fire, trying awkwardly to avoid looking at her tear stained face..

Sam wait's a long time to see if he is going to say more, ask what is upsetting her. But he doesn't, his mouth opens every now and then, but he stays quiet.

"I've been trying not to think about how all the people I used to know are probably dead. But now I don't have anything to distract me. I couldn't help it." she cries into her arm, hiding her face.

"I don't really got anyone left either." Daryl tries to sympathize "But I never had anyone anyway. Sides Merle. So I guess this ain't all that different."

Sam moves over so she can hide her face in his shoulder, and mumbles into the soft leather of his vest "This is all so awful. Do you think there are still other people alive out there?"

"There's gotta be." he says.

Sam takes a deep breath to hold back the rising hysteria. The musky smell of leather and sweat helps calm her down. Soon her breathing evens out and she drifts into sleep.

Daryl sits rigid against the tree, Sam's head on his shoulder, completely clueless about what to do. This is all so new to him. Nobody has turned to him for comfort since he was little, before his mom died. He slowly, so he doesn't wake her up, moves his arm around her shoulders. She seems so small now, far from the fighter he saw a few hours ago. He sits, searching the woods, listening to her calm breathing and the quiet night.

Sam begins to wake up, and her muscles instantly protest, she can feel the hard ground and the rough tree bark at her back. Daryl's arm is still around her shoulders, but he moves it when he realizes she is awake.

"You fell asleep. Didn't want you fallin on your face." Daryl looks away quickly, his cheeks reddening slightly under the layer of grime on his face. He runs his fingers through his hair.

"You shouldn't have let me fall asleep. I was supposed to be on watch." Sam looks at the patches of lightening sky "You must be exhausted."

Daryl just shrugs as he gets to his feet "You can just take first watch tonight."

Sam sits and starts throwing wood on the embers and gathering food up to make breakfast.

Merle comes out of the tent as Sam is finishing the food "Now this is that I should see every morning. A woman by the fire with my food ready."

Sam throws a handful of dirt in his general direction "You know, you're a pig. Who said any of this is for you anyway?"

Daryl smiles a little while Sam gives Merle a hard time, knowing it pisses him off to no end.

"I think we should move." Sam says, out of nowhere, after breakfast is cleaned up. "Last night freaked me out. What if there are more nest time? What if a whole town decides to move on, instead of just one family?"

"Oh come on, last night was nothing." Merle brags "I coulda taken em all on my own."

"I don't know that I would want that many around me. Especially with no one to watch my back," Sam argues "that can get bad fast."

Daryl nods in agreement "Back when we were leaving the house the first time, member how fast they swarmed? There's only gonna be more now. "

"We need to get more supplies soon anyway. It will be easier to scavenge if we're already moving. We can't live off rabbits and squirrels forever." Sam persists, seeing Merle start to crack.

"Where do you suggest we go?" he finally gives in.

"South?" Sam suggests "They were telling people to evacuate to Atlanta, which I know was a bad idea, but maybe there are other people we can share supplies with. I mean, they couldn't let everyone in the city, right?"

Daryl waits to see how fast Merle will shoot down the idea of joining with another group and is completely shocked when he agrees. That is until he realizes what he is actually thinking.

"Maybe a group is the way to go. More people, more supplies, gas. She may be on to something." Merle throws a wink in his brothers direction, reminding him of their earlier plan to take whatever they can from any group they find that is stupid enough to trust them. Clearly Sam is not supposed to know this, the whole plan relies on trust after all. Getting in for a while and robbing them blind.

Merle straddles his bike "Come on, we're burning daylight here."

Sam kicks enough dirt on the fire to make sure it goes out, gets in the truck next to Daryl, and they follow Merle out of the woods