Hey hey!

I'd been planning on posting this chapter over the weekend but sadly I had barely any time do much of anything, let alone sleep lol thankfully, the majority of this chapter was already written from my last little five hour binge writing session, so there wasn't much to do but edit. :)

Thank you to JediGemini, SilverWolfMoon77, celia azul, mahmehalh, punxzr0xz89, DWgeek2010, EastDenise, LoverPR-SN-HP, and noemi-fin for favouriting/following the story! It warms my heart to receive support like this, so thank you very much!

In terms of reviews,

devoncarman: I'm happy to hear that you're continuing to enjoy the fic! I was v excited to finally bring Daryl into the story, and I cannot wait for Scarlett and Daryl's bond to grow as time progresses. While Daryl is rough around the edges, I feel like Scarlett will be able to see past that before anyone else...

As always, I hope you all are doing well and that 2017 is treating you okay.

Enjoy you guys~

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest."

The light had disappeared from the sky and had been replaced by darkness. The hours of daylight for Scarlett had been spent setting up her own tent with Shane, which she had expected to be full of witty comebacks and snide remarks, but was instead a silent activity. Something was off about Shane, and she didn't know what it was, but she kept to herself and continued on quietly.

Much to her delight, the others had grabbed her bag of supplies from the department store when they left. She'd thanked all of them, for she had some important things in it that had helped her survive when she had been alone. Her tent was set up amongst the trees and a good amount of space remained between her and the others. She was fine with that; she needed quiet every once in a while.

At the moment, they were all sat around a fire that was low burning. She sat beside Glenn and Rick, who had both his wife and child in his arms. Scarlett didn't want to intervene with them being reunited, so she had small conversations with Glenn instead.

"Disoriented," Rick continued as he described his feelings when he woke up from the coma. "Fear. Confusion. All those things, but disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things," The older man from before said, who Scarlett believed was called Dale. "Sometimes they fall short."

Scarlett smiled softy. He was a peculiar man and for that reason she couldn't wait to have a conversation with him. She wanted to pick at his brain, for he seemed soft-spoken and quite smart. She had yet to be properly introduced to the majority of the people at the camp.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else," Rick explained. "For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream. Something I might not ever wake up from."

"Mom said you died." Carl spoke up, gazing at his father.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta," Lori explained. "And it never happened."

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell," Rick replied. "And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive," Shane finally spoke up. "Scarlett and I barely got out of there, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane," Rick said, looking over at his best friend. "I can't begin to express it. And you, Scarlett. Thank you for getting me back to my family."

She had been startled by the sudden thank you. She had been too busy looking into the embers of the fire as she listened to the soft conversation floating around the circle. Scarlett brought her eyes up to meet his gaze, only to see the sincerity in his eyes once again. If she had learned anything about Rick Grimes over the years, it was that you could easily tell his emotions from his eyes.

"It's the least I could do," she replied, giving him a soft smile. "You're practically family, you've done so much for my sister and I."

"I don't think you realize it, but the reason all of us got out of there was because of your plan." Glenn spoke up.

"A risky plan."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

Scarlett went quiet once again. She supposed that her plan did work, if only shaky around the edges. It had been gross, tedious and a little frightening, but it nonetheless worked. Everyone was safely back, the only exception being Merle but she tried her best not to think about it.

"Where's your sister?" Andrea spoke up, bringing the conversation elsewhere.

"I don't know," she replied, poking at the flames with a stick. "We weren't together when everything went to hell."

"How old is she?"

"Roughly the same age as yours."

Scarlett couldn't help but say it with a small smile. The two sisters had been curled up by the fire together, both happily basking in each other's presence. The redhead was glad that at least other families had been reunited because of her.

"I appreciate the warm welcome as well," she stated out of the blue, feeling the need to thank everyone. "It's comforting to have others nearby during these times."

"Our pleasure," Morales spoke up, sitting by his own family. "It helps that you're a paramedic, but our pleasure."

"I'm going to ignore the jab this time, but I won't be so kind next time."

The joke threat received a few laughs and Scarlett's anxiety managed to lower slightly. She could tell this was a good group, even though she hadn't been a part of it for long.

The sound of a log being placed on the fire behind them caught Scarlett's attention, along with everyone else's. She had almost forgotten that there had been another small fire going on, but she quickly remembered why she'd repressed it. Around the second fire sat a man, a woman, and a little girl. She assumed that the two adults were married and that the young girl was there daughter, but those didn't seem like the right words to use. There was intensity in the air around them that even made Scarlett feel uneasy. The man had the aura of a complete asshole, while the woman and girl were stiff as boards on the ends of their seats, eyes cast downward in something that could only be described as fear.

From a simple look at the family, Scarlett could tell it wasn't healthy. That horrific feeling felt right at home in her chest as she watched them.

"Hey, Ed. You want to rethink that log?" Shane called over to the man.

"It's cold." Even the sound of his voice made Scarlett's body shake with anger.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers," Shane continued. "So we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold," Ed stated again, not even looking in their direction. "You should mind your own business for once."

One of the things that separated Shane from Scarlett was that she actually had patience when it came to bullshit. Even when it was dumb as all hell, she could keep her composure. Most of the time, that is. Ever since the incident with Merle, she'd felt on edge. She used that as an excuse for now.

Shane got up from his chair and walked over to the other campfire, standing right in front of Ed.

"You sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane asked calmly.

Ed stared up at Shane for a long minute, an internal debate evidently going on in his mind. A sigh finally escaped his mouth before he looked over at his wife.

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out," Ed said, scratching his head while the woman stayed sitting on her chair. "Go on!"

The woman got up and quickly moved over toward the fire, lifting the burning log out of the fire and placing it on the ground. She moved back to her chair as Shane stepped on the log, attempting to get rid of the small flames that danced along it.

Scarlett could feel her eyes narrow into slits as she watched the back of Ed's head. He was the scum of the earth, that one. She'd barely seen him throughout the day but she already wanted nothing to do with him.

She would have a talk with Shane about him later.

"Hey Carol, Sophia. How are y'all this evening?" Shane asked, his attention now on the mother and daughter.

"We're just fine." The woman Carol answered almost robotically.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry about the fire." She said, a bit more feeling in her words this time.

"No, no, no. No apology needed," Shane answered. "Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you."

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane said to Ed as he made his way back over to the other fire.

Scarlett eyed Shane carefully, hoping to catch his gaze as he sat down. She managed to send him a questioning look, only for him to nod. Good, he'd tell her later.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale spoke up, catching Scarlett's attention. He must have been Merle's brother. She only hoped he wasn't as disgusting and thick headed as his brother. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him," T-Dog spoke up. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick stated.

"I kneed him in the gut and shot at him," Scarlett threw in, dropping her stick and looking at the two men. "It's not a competition."

"I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy," Glenn spoke up before glancing at Scarlett. "Or white woman."

Yet again, Glenn had a point.

"I did what I did," T-Dog stated. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie." Andrea's younger sister Amy suggested.

"Or tell the truth," Andrea said, looking around at everyone. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. If Merle got left behind, it's nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale questioned, obviously not too keen on the idea. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise, we're going to have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog spoke again.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door," he continued and everyone slowly looked over to him. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it. At any one time, it's not enough to break through that. Not that chain. Not that padlock."

"So you're saying he's still up on that roof…alive?" Scarlett questioned.

"And that's on us."

Scarlett couldn't remember a time where she had slept so long. A part of her felt bad for waking up so late in the day, but she knew that her body needed the rest. Yesterday had been a tiring day, and after the conversation around the campfire last night, she definitely needed to give her mind a break.

By the time she got up, everyone was already up and about. Lori had given her a pair of fresh clothes to sleep in the night before and when Scarlett unzipped the flap of her tent, she saw that her old clothes had been washed and returned to her in a neatly folded pile.

Slipping into her usual jeans, black tank top, and dark green button up shirt, Scarlett ventured towards camp with a yawn on her lips. She would first thank Lori for washing her clothes and then ask what she could do to help. Maybe someone in the group had a bad cut or something that needed to be looked at.

As she emerged from the tree line and into the camp with Stella by her side, Dale was the first to greet her.

"Well, hello! Was wondering if a walker had gotten you in the middle of the night. Was just about to go send someone to get you." The older man joked and Scarlett sent him a tired smile.

"Sorry. I don't know what happened. I usually don't sleep that long, if at all."

"Nothing to apologize for. Your mind needed the rest," he continued, holding his hand out towards her and she shook it. "The name's Dale, by the way. You're Scarlett, correct?"

"That would be me."

"You were a paramedic?"

"Yes I was."

"Fantastic. We don't have anyone here with a medical background." Dale sighed in content and she chuckled softly.

"I've got my first aid kit if we ever need it," Scarlett said. "I've got to go speak with Lori, but it was nice talking with you, Dale."

"Likewise!"

With a final wave, Scarlett made her way through the camp. She received a few more greetings from Andrea and Amy. Spotting Glenn and Rick standing in front of the red car they had drove yesterday, Scarlett watched as Morales and T-Dog were stripping the car of it's parts.

"Look at them. Vultures," Glenn mumbled, glaring at the others. "Yeah, go on. Strip it clean."

"They taking your baby apart?" Scarlett questioned, wandering up beside Glenn.

"Thought I'd get to drive it a few more days." Glenn sighed.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one some day," Rick said, patting him on the back as he looked over at Scarlett. "You just wake up?"

"I pretty much died last night. You?"

"About the same."

"You know where your wife is?"

"Yeah, over here. Come on."

"Sorry, Glenn." Scarlett gave him a pat on the head before following Rick towards another section of camp.

Lori was busy hanging up clothes on a makeshift clothesline that was impressively made. Scarlett wondered who'd built it. The older woman had smiled before she even looked up at Rick.

"Morning, officer," Lori said, smiling at her husband before noticing Scarlett. "Morning, sweetheart."

"Good morning," she replied. "I just wanted to thank you for washing my clothes. That was very kind of you."

"Of course, they looked like they needed a wash."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Scarlett questioned, peering at the woman.

"At the moment, I don't think so."

"She can help us with folding for now." Andrea called from behind them, giving Scarlett a smile.

"Sounds good to me," Scarlett nodded. "Talk to you two later."

As she approached the two sisters, Scarlett couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. While Rick and Lori had their differences, she knew that the cheesy lines would start flying if she didn't leave the conversation soon. They had every right to, they hadn't seen each other in forever and thought the worst about each other's fates. However, Scarlett was still pleased to not be apart of that conversation.

"Thank you," Scarlett whispered to them. "You just saved me from the worst second-hand embarrassment I would have experienced to date."

Both sisters let loose a few laughs but before Scarlett could actually help them with the clothing, the sound of a car approaching the camp caught their attention. Driving a black jeep, Shane sat behind the wheel of the vehicle and came to a halt at the edge of camp.

"Water's here, y'all," Shane said as he got out of the jeep. Scarlett couldn't help but feel her hands itch. "Just remember to boil before use."

Something in the back of Scarlett's mind was bothering her. Something had happened with Shane and Lori, that she knew, but she wasn't exactly sure what that something was. They were doing well at keeping the tension at bay, but now it was the only thing she could see between them.

Loud screaming broke through the air from beyond the trees, startling everyone in the camp. Scarlett cursed under her breath and ran into the tree line with the others, eyes searching for the source of the screams. One of the screams sounded as if it belonged to Carl, and when they came across the young boy, Sophia, and Jacqui, they knew a walker was behind it all.

Scarlett looked over at Glenn in worry, but her friend just shook his head and they continued in the direction Jacqui had pointed them in. Rick, Lori, Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, and Scarlett were the ones to reach the clearing and find the walker, eating away at a poor deer. What she found odd as she gripped her bat tight in her hands, was the two arrows poking out of the animal's hip.

Hearing the rest of the group approach slowly from behind them, Scarlett could only worry about what this meant.

As the walker turned around, Rick was the first one to get a swing. Not a second longer and everyone had joined in on the beating. It was a bit barbaric, watching as all of them were swinging away at it. Scarlett didn't even bother to take a swing of her own.

"Do you all need to be hitting it? Don't waste your energy and just attack it's head," Scarlett spoke up, only for Dale to come from out of nowhere and chop the walker's head off. "That works too, I guess."

"It's the first one we've had up here," Dale stated, looking down at the walker with unease. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"They're running out of food in the city, that's what." A man who was named Jim said, Scarlett hearing his voice for the first time. She was told that he was a mechanic.

The rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs from behind a bush had everyone ready for the worst. If it was a bad day to have one walker roaming about on the mountains, it was about to get a lot worse with two.

Instead, a man in a worn tank top and a crossbow appeared, slightly startled to see everyone standing with the weapons ready. His eyes quickly fell on the form of the dead deer, to which his expression turned sour.

"Uh, Jesus." Shane muttered, lowering his rifle.

"Son of a bitch," the man cursed, a heavy drawl affecting his words as he came forward into the clearing. "That's my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

With each word, the man kicked at the headless walker body. Scarlett couldn't help but sigh. This must be Daryl Dixon.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale spoke up.

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl yelled, getting up in the older man's face. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on golden pond'?"

Slowly stepping away from Dale, the man turned his attention back to the deer with narrowed eyes.

"I've been tracking this deer for miles," he muttered, pulling the arrows out of the deer's leg and hip. "Gonna drag it back to camp. Cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane said, staring at Daryl unpleasantly.

"That's a damn shame," he replied. "I got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

It wasn't until he mentioned them that Scarlett noticed the line of squirrels hanging over his shoulder. She had to admit, it was impressive. Squirrels were small and fast, but he had somehow managed to catch a dozen of them.

The grotesque sound could be heard from the ground and everyone looked down to see that the walker that Dale had previously beheaded was still alive. Well, the head was.

"Come on people. What the hell?" Daryl said, point his crossbow down at the head and shooting the arrow through its eye. Placing his foot on the walker's forehead, he retracted the arrow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?"

Without another word, Daryl stalked off towards the camp. Scarlett sent the other's a worried look before they all followed after the younger Dixon brother.

"Merle!" Scarlett heard Daryl yell once they finally reached camp. "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

"Daryl, just slow up a bit," Shane said, placing his gun inside the jeep and following after him. "I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About Merle."

The immediate pause in conversation told Scarlett that the next few minutes were going to be anything but pleasant. Rick took a step forward and Lori grabbed at his shirt, but her husband continued forward.

"There was a…there was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said, finally getting the words out.

"He dead?" Daryl asked hesitantly.

"We're not sure." Shane replied honestly.

"He either is or he ain't!"

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick spoke up, approaching the pair of men.

"Who are you?" Daryl questioned.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?"

There was a pause as Rick looked from Shane, to Daryl, to Lori, and finally to Scarlett. It was almost like a warning, a signal to get ready for him to lash out.

"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick began. "So, I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on, let me process this," Daryl said, his back turned to Rick. The man was definitely furious. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

"Yeah."

Daryl didn't hesitate on making a move on Rick but was thankfully stopped by Shane, who pretty much body checked him to the ground. Scarlett watched as Daryl pulled out a large hunting knife and her blood ran cold.

"Watch the knife." Scarlett heard T-Dog call out to both Rick and Shane as Daryl got up from the ground.

Daryl swung at Rick first, which the former sheriff quickly dodged and grabbed a hold of his wrist. Shane came from behind and caught Daryl in a headlock, leaving Rick to disarm him.

"Okay. Okay." Shane huffed quietly.

"You best let me go!" Daryl snarled.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

"Choke hold's illegal."

"Well, you can file a complaint," Shane shot back. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick questioned, only to receive no answer as he peered into the younger Dixon's face. "Do you think we can manage that?"

"Yeah." Daryl managed to say and Shane let him go.

Then three men were all huffing and puffing, trying to regain the composure.

"What I did was not on a whim," Rick explained. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog spoke up. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl barked back.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

This was all news to Scarlett. She had wondered why Merle hadn't come back with them, and now her question was answered. Even if it was someone as disgusting as Merle Dixon, nobody deserved to left alone, chained up to a roof with walkers bursting through the front door at any minute.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl replied, throwing a rock down at the dirt.

"Well, maybe this will," T-Dog continued. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock."

"That's gotta count for something." Rick threw in.

Daryl was clearly upset, just barely keeping his composure. It was easy to see that he was holding back tears at the thought of his brother all alone, chained to a roof with the dead walking around.

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is, so I can go get him." Daryl yelled at the men.

"He'll show you," Lori spoke up from under the shade from the RV, her tone not sounding too kind. "Isn't that right?"

Scarlett blinked in confusion. What was Lori talking about? When had Rick decided to go back to the city? This morning? It made no sense.

"I'm going back." Rick finally stated, looking around at everyone.

Lori disappeared into the RV, her displeasure following after her.

Everyone in the group was either shocked, pissed, or worried about Rick's plan to go back to Atlanta to save Merle with Daryl. After the former sheriff walked off towards his tent, Shane seemed to disappear from sight as well. The last thing the group needed to deal with was tension building between some of its people, but here they were.

Scarlett stared long and hard at Daryl Dixon's profile, watching as he cleaned his arrows and prepared for Atlanta. She didn't know what to make of Rick's decision on travelling back to the city to save someone like Merle. A part of her couldn't help but have malicious thoughts towards the rude man who had put them all in danger. However, leaving him chained to a roof with the dead walking around wasn't the most humane thing in the world. Going back there felt like a suicide mission, but if they did it properly, they might actually manage.

"What're you looking at?"

Coming out of her thoughts and blinking a few times, Scarlett realized that Daryl had caught her staring. She hadn't meant to; she was too busy analyzing the situation at hand. His words were a bit rude, but she had a feeling that she was making him uncomfortable as well. Daryl's eyes narrowed as he watched her carefully.

"I'm not sure." She replied honestly, still in a bit of a haze as she walked off towards her own tent.

Coming across her tent and unzipping the flap, Scarlett slipped inside and immediately began searching for supplies. Rick wasn't stupid and she never believed him to be. Of course, some of his actions were questionable, but he never made decisions like this unless he fundamentally believed in them. If they wanted to get Merle back and escape Atlanta in one piece, they were going to need her medical expertise to make it happen.

She emptied out the things from her bag that she wouldn't need on the trip before exiting her tent once again. Not having a clue when they planned on going, Scarlett was prepared to leave at a moments notice.

"Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

Scarlett spotted both Shane and Rick as soon as she reached the camp, both obviously having a discussion about Rick's plan.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl stated, giving Shane a pointed look.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant," Shane replied, returning his look before turning back to his best friend. "Merle Dixon. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me," Rick said calmly. "I can't let a man die of thirst. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

Rick's words mirrored Scarlett's thoughts exactly. She didn't give a damn about Merle Dixon, but the way that they left him was horrific. In her opinion, she would have rather been killed than to be left like that.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked, sitting by the makeshift clothesline like she had been earlier that morning.

Scarlett knew before Rick even turned to him that the sheriff would take Glenn with them.

"Oh, come on." Glenn sighed, face falling in dread.

"You know the way," Rick said, trying to convince the Asian. "You've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too."

"That's just great," Shane spoke up, looking pissed. "Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?"

"Four." T-Dog threw in.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl muttered to himself.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your bother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four." Dale spoke up, looking around at the group.

"Might as well make it five."

Everyone looked over at Scarlett in surprise, almost as if they hadn't noticed her approach from the tree line.

"I don't think so, Holloway." Shane said, turning his angry gaze to her.

"It's not your decision," she replied, crossing her arms. "My guess is, Merle isn't gonna be in the best shape up on that roof. If you want to get him back here alright, they're going to need me."

"You sure about this, Scarlett?" Rick asked, eyeing her carefully.

"I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea, but I understand your morals. I could give two shits about Merle Dixon…sorry," Scarlett said, sending Daryl a quick side-glance. "But I agree, we shouldn't have left him like that."

"You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick," Shane growled at Rick. "Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got."

"Even more of a reason to go." Scarlett mumbled, eyes suddenly widening in realization. How had she not thought of it until now?

"The hell are you-!"

"What we need here is more guns." Rick interrupted his best friend.

"Right, the guns." Glenn said, remembering the bag that Rick had dropped in the streets of Atlanta.

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns," Rick explained. "Scarlett and I cleaned out the cage back at the station before we left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when we got swarmed."

"It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Scarlett threw in.

"Ammo?" Shane questioned hesitantly.

"700 rounds, assorted."

Scarlett could practically see Shane's view of the situation waver.

"You went through hell to find us," Lori spoke up, standing from her spot on the ground to face her husband. "You just got here and you're going to turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl muttered, watching Rick with worried eyes.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right," Lori continued, her voice rising in volume. "Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with the guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand."

From the few years Scarlett had known Lori, she didn't like when the woman got angry. It wasn't just because she was scary when it happened, but she occasionally became unreasonable to talk to, drawing conclusions from words that otherwise meant no harm. It worried Scarlett to see her getting angry.

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy," Rick explained calmly as he approached his wife. "Lori, if they hadn't taken Scarlett and I in, I would have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow us to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if we don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori questioned, her voice much softer.

"The walkie-talkie," Scarlett spoke up. "The one in the bag that Rick dropped. He's got the other one. The plan was to connect when they got closer. That man did a lot for both Rick and I. You know I don't praise others so easily, so please take Rick's word for it."

There was a pause as Lori looked between both Rick and Scarlett. She didn't look as angry as before, more so frustrated with the situation in front of them.

"Those our walkies?" Shane asked Rick.

"Yeah."

"So use the CB, what's wrong with that?" Andrea questioned, looking at the two men.

"The CB's fine, it's the walkies that suck to crap," Shane explained. "Date back to the '70's, don't match any other bandwidth. Not even the scanners in our cars."

"I need that bag." Rick concluded, watching Lori's face morph through a few different emotions.

Scarlett didn't exactly want to stick around to see the tension grow between the married couple, making her way over to Glenn and patting him on the back.

"Come on, let's go grab the truck."

It didn't take long for everyone to get ready to go. Rick and T-Dog went to go get bolt cutters from Dale, since they would need them for the chains on the rooftop door. Daryl was pacing back and forth in the back of truck like a wild animal, anxious to get on the road. Scarlett and Glenn got the truck ready to go and were currently sitting in the front seat partaking in idle chitchat.

"I can't believe you actually volunteered to come." Glenn mumbled, eyebrows furrowed in concern and trepidation.

"I'm only here to make things go faster," Scarlett explained, tapping her fingers on the end of her metal bat. "Plus, I need to keep an eye on you two."

"Gee, thanks."

"Adding T-Dog and the wild animal back there, I couldn't not come along."

"I heard that." Daryl grunted from behind them.

"There are worse things to be called."

"What? Redneck? Douche bag?"

"Those titles are reserved for your brother," Scarlett said, looking over at Daryl, who was staring right back at her. "You don't seem nearly as bad as him."

"You sure about that?" Glenn mumbled nervously.

"Unless he picks a fight with T-Dog for being black or calls me ginger bitch, then yeah I'm pretty sure." Scarlett stated, looking over at her friend as he let out a scoff.

"Why are you even coming along?" Daryl muttered from the back.

"I've got a medical background."

Daryl didn't even bother replying after that. The only thing Scarlett heard from him was a quiet sigh leaving his mouth.

"Come on, let's go!" He yelled out the back of the truck.

They waited a few more minutes in silence, the only sound coming form the pacing Daryl had continued doing as they waited. Scarlett heard the faint voices of Rick and Shane, most likely having one final conversation before they took off for the city. She was surprised that Shane hadn't made more of a fuss regarding the plan, though she suspected the guns played a part in that.

Scarlett almost jumped when Rick threw open the passenger side door. The two of them made eye contact for a moment before she let out a sigh.

"I'll move to the back." Scarlett muttered, getting a sympathetic pat from Glenn as she crawled between the seats to join both T-Dog and Daryl.

Closing up the back and starting the truck, there was barely any hesitation as they pulled away from the camp. The silence that had fallen amongst the five of them as soon as they left didn't help ease Scarlett's nerves. She sat a little away from where Daryl and T-Dog were sitting, which was right by the back of the truck. Keeping herself busy by sorting through her bag, she couldn't believe that they were actually on their way back to Atlanta. Even the name of the city made her skin crawl, flashbacks of walking through dozens of walkers covered in guts that would haunt her until the day she died. Maybe even after that.

"He better be okay," Daryl spoke up after a while, staring at T-Dog. "That's my only word on the matter."

"I told you. The geeks can't get at him," he replied. "The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

"I get that you're worried," Scarlett spoke up, turning her attention to both men. "But threatening him isn't going to get you anywhere."

"Why the hell should I listen to you?" Daryl questioned, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Cause I know that worry," she replied, returning his harsh look. "My sixteen year-old sister is out there on her own, maybe dead for all I know. At least you know where you brother is and he's a grown man. I'm not trying to belittle your pain, but you don't see me spitting threats at the person next to me. So please, just take it easy, okay?"

It was more of a plea than a demand, her voice softening towards the end of her speech at the realization of her sister's fate. She hadn't thought about it until she'd said the words, her stomach dropping in dread. Victoria wasn't weak, but she was still a kid. The chances of her surviving on her own were slim, and the possibility of them reuniting was even slimmer.

Scarlett fought back her tears as she felt the truck come to a stop. This wasn't the time or place to be emotional, this was the time to buckle down and survive.

"We walk from here." She heard Glenn say from the front seat.

The back of the truck was opened as Rick and Glenn exited at the front. Throwing her pack over her shoulder and grasping Stella tightly, Scarlett made her way to the back of the truck, where T-Dog and Daryl had already jumped down. Thankfully, T-Dog helped her down from the back and she quietly thanked him as she took in their surroundings. They were on some train tracks, just outside the city from the look of it. It was smart on Glenn's behalf, parking away from the mayhem that could be found in Atlanta.

Without another word, the five of them jogged away from the truck and towards the city.

Boom, Daryl Dixon's in the mix now.

The first interactions between Daryl and Scarlett didn't exactly turn out as I planned them to go, but in a way they turned out more realistic. A bond is made over time, not just conjured out of thin air. I look forward to the chapter where they begin to understand one another. Hopefully, that'll be sooner than later.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Feedback is always welcome, my friends.

See you in the next update,

- GuiltyCalamity