"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes."

― L.M. Montgomery

Naturally Glenn and I were the first ones to reach the camp. All of the people there approached us as soon as Glenn stopped the car. Dale shouted at us to turn the alarm off but we had no idea how. Jim was the one who finally disconnected the battery and thank God the sound stopped, I was starting to get a really bad headache.

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" Shame exclaimed, looking at the two of us like we were two small kids that did something really bad.

"I think we're okay," Dale told him.
"You call being stupid okay?"

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing, I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" "Sorry." Glenn and I muttered.

"Cici!" I heard a soft, feminine voice. I turned around and saw my little sister running towards me. I smiled at her, I extended my arms and hugged her tightly. "I was so worried!"

"I'm good," I told her with a smile. "I promised I was coming back, didn't I?"

"Yeah," she said with a big smile.

When I let go of her I looked at the crowd and spotted my mother, she looked relieved and happy to see I was back. She approached me as well and gave me a quick but tight hug, which I returned. The both of them were happy I had come back but I wasn't so sure about my father, who was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

"I'm glad you are okay," she said to me, I only nodded at her with a smile.

"Got a cool car," Glenn said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work but then the van Rick got in Atlanta came into view. The rest of our group that went to Atlanta got out as soon as Rick parked it.

Amy ran to hug Andrea as soon as she saw her, pretty much what my sister did when she saw me. Morales was greeted by his wife and two kids, while Jacqui and T-Dog got out as well, with big smiles on their faces.

"I thought we had lost you folks for sure."
"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?"

"New guy he got us out somehow," I replied with a shrug.
"New guy?"

"Yeah, crazy vato just got into town," Morales said. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello!"
Then I saw Rick slowly getting out of the vehicle, he must be nervous about meeting the rest of us or he was just tired. I looked down at my sister and smiled at her as I saw her brown eyes looking back at me, filled with happy tears.

"Dad! Dad!"

I turned around to see Carl, a brown-haired boy, running towards Rick. Rick knelt and took the boy in his arms, Lori, Carl's mother, ran to them and the three embraced. I felt my heart warming up at the sight of them and seeing them reunite.

I had met Carl, Lori and Shane, a family friend, on the road as we were going to Atlanta. My sister and Carl were the same age and got along pretty well since the first time they met.

"Come here," I said to my sister and took her hand, walking towards the van. I looked inside for my backpack. "I got something for you."

"What?" she said excitedly as she saw me pulling out something from my backpack but I didn't let her see it yet.

"I thought you would like these," I said, grabbing her hand and putting what I got my sister on her opened palm.

She looked down at her hand and saw a pair of small dolphin earrings and a necklace with a silver dolphin hanging from it. She loved all kind of animals.

"I love it!" she squealed, making me chuckle at her.

She handed it to me again and asked me to help her put them on, so that's what I did. I put on the earrings first and then the necklace. She grinned at me and hugged me tightly around the waist.

"Thank you, Cici."

"You're welcome!" I said with a big grin on my slightly chapped lips. "I'm going for a nap, alright?"

"Okay."

I smiled at the few people that were still around as I made my way to the tent. I was more than exhausted, I almost died today and I think I hadn't been tired before because of all the adrenaline running through my veins but now it was all gone, leaving me very drained.

I took off my shoes right before walking into the tent. I lied on my blue sleeping bag that was on the left side of the tent. I closed my eyes and instantly remembered what Merle said to me on that rooftop about this tent.

"Jealous, sweetheart?I don't usually go for little girls this young, but hey, it's the end of the world! I ain't complaining."

"Go to hell."

"Right, I forgot."

"What?"

"You prefer my little brother, I gotta say you hurt my feelings, sweetheart."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on! You share the tent with him, what else would you two do in there?"

I opened my eyes quickly as I tried to remember what happened only minutes ago. Glenn and I came back, Andrea got out, T-Dog, Jaqcui, Morales, Rick... Merle? I didn't see him. Shit, where is he? Didn't he even come with us?

I slept more than what I wanted, when I woke up it was already dark outside. I saw the group sat by a fire, Rick was with his wife and son. Andrea, Amy, Dale, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog and Jacqui were all in a circle.

Next to me, I saw three people next to another fire, my family. I frowned as I made my way to them, not knowing if I should join everyone else or my family.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane said to my father, just as I was halfway there.

"It's cold, man," He complaint.
"The cold doesn't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers – so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once," He spat.
"Hey, Ed," Shane said calmly as he walked towards him and stopped right in front of him. "Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?"

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" he ordered my mother, who obviously did as she was told.

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asked as he knelt next to my sister.

"Fine. We're just fine," my mother replied, by now Rick, Carl and Lori had already spotted me as I watched the scene in front of me.
"Okay."

"I'm sorry about the fire..." my mother said weakly.
"No no no," Shane said, interrupting her. "No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you," my mum whispered.
"I appreciate the cooperation, Ed," Shane said sarcastically to my father who just glared at Shane, and that's when I decided to join Shane and the others, I sat next to Amy, who looked sadly at me, just like Glenn and I felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind," Dale said suddenly, making my suspicions correct. They left Merle on that rooftop.

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

"You dropped the key?" I asked, wondering why he just couldn't pick it up.
"Yeah, on a drain," he whispered.

"Oh."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine," Rick said.
"Guys, 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 said.
"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him," T-Dog exclaimed.
"We could lie," Amy proposed.
"Or tell the truth," Andrea told her. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary and if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."
"Would you really tell that to Daryl?" I asked her in disbelief. "That can't end in a good way."

"Cici's right. I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Dale said, Andrea just rested her head against her hands. "Word to the wise, we're going to have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

That's why he lets me use his tent. He's almost always away, he barely uses it and nobody else has extra room for me and I refuse to stay in the same tent with my family. I think he feels pity for me, because for sure it's not because he cares, he only cares about himself and Merle.
"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog continued.
"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked him.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. 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. My point Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

We all just stared at him as he talked, when he finished he got up and left us all to our thoughts. Merle could still be alive on that rooftop.

Even when I wanted to say something, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one, I didn't say another word and no one else did. The silence that followed was pretty awkward and I wished I could find a way to break it.

Andrea and Amy sighed next to me, Amy hugged me before the two sisters stood up and walked to their tent.

"It's time for you to go to bed," Lori said to Carl, who was almost asleep. Rick said good-night before picking him up and taking him to their tent, Lori followed him.

One by one, they left to go to sleep, leaving just Glenn and me. I stared at the fire, wanting to stay a bit longer to warm myself a bit.

"You okay?" he asked me.

"I'm good," I told him with a small smile. "We almost died today but we're both fine. It was a tough and complicated day with a good outcome"

"Yeah, we had quite a scare. I really thought we were all going to die."

"For a moment I thought so too," I admitted. "When you went on that tunnel, I was with Rick and Andrea and the geeks broke the glass, I thought it was only a matter of time."

"What about when it started raining and the smell was washing away?" Glenn said with a chuckle, now having a laugh of what happened earlier.

"Damn, that was the most stupid, dangerous and worst thing I have ever done, so disgusting! Don't ever tell anyone I did that!"

"I did it too, so it doesn't matter." He shrugged.

Another small, but this time not awkward silence followed. I got closer to the fire, I was shivering a bit.

"You could stay with me tonight, you know?" Glenn said out of nowhere, making me look up at him in surprise.

"Thanks, but I'm good," I said smiling at him. "Daryl won't be back by tonight, I'm sure."

"Teresa and Oliver won't be back by tonight either," Glenn said to me, ignoring what I just said.

Teresa and Oliver have been my friends for around two years now. I met Teresa at school and a few weeks later she started dating Oliver, the three of us became really close and the three of us shared an apartment. They are currently staying with Glenn in his tent, leaving no space for me, so I had to either sleep with my family or sleep in the open, I chose the open, Daryl noticed and offered his tent for me to sleep in. It had only been a few times we had actually been in the tent together. The two of them were away on a run, they should be back tomorrow by noon.

"Don't you trust Daryl?"

"No, I don't," he admitted. "And it's not even because of that that I don't want you in that tent, what if something happens and you are alone?"

"I can take care of myself," I said in a duh tone.

"How come I didn't know you could shoot?" Glenn asked me.

"Keep your voice down!" I exclaimed as I lowered my own voice. "No one can know I have a gun and that I can use it."

"I do now and Rick as well and probably Morales, Andrea T-Do..."

"It doesn't matter, I don't want the rest to know," I said sternly. "And please don't tell. When the time comes and I hope it doesn't happen soon, I won't hesitate to use it and people will know but for now, I want to keep it a secret."

"Alright," Glenn said. "Will you tell me why?"

"Not tonight but I will, eventually."

"Fair enough."

"So," I said after a short silence. "Why don't you trust Daryl?"

"The question here is, why do you trust him?"

"He hasn't done anything to make me doubt him," I said simply as I shrugged my shoulders. "What about you?"

"He's antisocial and..."

"That's not a good excuse," I interrupted him.

"He could silently put an arrow on my head," he continued. "He's unpredictable and he's a man, Cici!"

"So? You are a man as well!"

"I mean, you are sharing the tent with him, what if he tries something?"

"So, that's what this is about?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't believe him. "He just thinks I'm a silly, defenceless girl and..."

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, raising his voice a bit.

"I'm fine, Glenn! Like I said, I can take care of myself."

I met Glenn when this camp was made, I don't even remember how we first talked but we had an instant connection and became friends right away, I could even call him my best friend now, apart from Oliver and Teresa.

We usually go on runs together, since we are the fastest and I don't like being in camp all day. I need to go out and at least run around to relieve stress. We depend on each other out there and we have to trust the other, every time we go on a run, our friendship becomes stronger and we are close to age, so we can relate, kind of.

Another person that has gotten close to me is Amy, she's only about four years older than me and she seems to understand me. She's also really nice and we have lots of things in common that we can talk about.

There are a few persons though, that I barely know. Merle and Daryl are two of those people. I don't know much about Jim or T-Dog or Morales or Shane either but at least they are nice to people unlike the Dixon brothers.

"I had lied on the ground next to the burnt wood on the fourth night," I told Glenn who seemed to be a bit upset at me. "I couldn't sleep because I kept hearing noises and thought there were geeks out there. I don't know how much time passed but Daryl came from hunting and he saw me there, I think he was a bit concerned about my well being and my sanity." I chuckled.

"We are all worried about your sanity," Glenn said, letting a smile creep on his lips.

"Oh shut up!" I said hitting him on his arm. "Anyway, he asked me what the hell was wrong with me, I didn't give him any detail but he seemed to understand, you know?" I told Glenn, looking at him for a second before looking back at the fire. "He said I could use his tent since he barely used it, I couldn't see anything wrong or bad about it so I followed him inside his tent, carrying my sleeping bag. That was one of the few nights we had been in there together and believe me when I tell you that he won't try anything. He's usually so tired he just gets into his sleeping bag and falls asleep right away."

"I still worry," Glenn told me.

"Well, don't. I'll be fine," I assured him. "Let's go, it's getting late and quite cold and the fire is dying."

Glenn stood up quickly and helped me up. Before I went in the direction of Daryl's tent he tried to convince me to spend the night with him but once again I refused. What if Teresa and Oliver come back and they both need their "beds"? And if they do, they will for sure think something happened between Glenn and I and I don't need that kind of drama in my life right now.

"Good-night, Glenn."

"Good-night, Cici."

Please tell me what you guys think! :)