Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight or Walking Dead. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Robert Kirkman. I do own the original characters created for the storyline. Please support the official release.

Writer's Notes: Thank you everyone for the reviews! Hope everyone had a good Monday! It's been a long day and I wanted to be sure to get this posted before I hit the hay! I appreciate all of you guys! Don't forget to follow, favorite and review!

[Two Weeks Later]

Aya was getting stronger each day. Rick, Daryl and Glenn found the supplies that they needed to help Aya survive. She was more alert and seemed to be gaining weight. Jasper had to put a tube up her nose and thread it down into her stomach so they could feed her with the tube because she was too small to figure out the bottle. Bella was able to pump breast milk using a hand pump that Rick found at the hospital to keep Aya fed. Carl's stub was healing good and there was no sign of infection trying to set up and it was safe to say that he wouldn't turn, which was the big concern, but he was okay. A trauma like this seemed to make Carl grow up faster. But he was surviving, like the rest of them. The RV was their home for right now. They had limited gas and resources, so they had to take it slow. They were edging towards Virginia now. Hoping that they could find some stability somewhere. The roads weren't always clear, but they learned from past mistakes and made the kids stay in the RV if they had to clear any road blockages.

It was a tiring journey so far, but they fought to survive. All of them.

[Three Months Later]

"Is that a prison?" Daryl asked as he stood next to Bella in the brush. It was Bella's first time away from Aya, but she had to rotate out. Everyone else was so tired and it was surprising that Daryl had gas in his personal tank to keep him going.

Bella took the binoculars from Daryl and looked. "Looks like it. A decommissioned prison." She murmured. "We're in Virginia… closer towards Quantico." She said mostly to herself. "This is Lorton Prison." She said and looked at Daryl. "It was decommissioned in the nineties. It's supposed to be an art museum or something now." She explained. "I remember when I was a kid being stationed in DC… I've been here before." She said. "Which means there's a bunker under that prison." She said and looked back at Daryl.

"What?"

"Yeah, some guy bought the prison after it was decommissioned in 1999 and was an end of the world nut. Said that he was using the prison as bunker. He died in… 2002 I believe." Bella said and ran her hand over her braided hair. "But it was turned into an art museum… or performing arts thing after that, but I think it is a museum now." She explained.

"That is random as fuck." Daryl said, shaking his head and looking through the binoculars. "Anything else in that knowledge bank of yours?"

Bella smiled. "It's because I was stationed in DC. We're not that far away. I imagine DC is really congested. We should avoid it."

"Do you know the way in? Can we drive the RV in?" Daryl asked.

Bella shook her head. "There's a parking area, but there's a decline, stairs were put in when I visited it when it was an arts place. There's a wall around the entire compound." She said and motioned. "The trees have really grown up to block the view, but that's they way they wanted it. Natural art." She explained. "There are I think three watchtowers. The way it's set up is that each building is a separate cellblock. Or arts building. But I believe it was turned into a museum, so there's no telling what we'll see. There is solar power. I do remember seeing the panels."

"Do you think it'll work?" Daryl asked.

Bella thought about it and nodded. "It's possible. It's better than what we have now. We can establish a base here. Have a stable place for the children. Hope, Lucy and Chance are walking around and they don't have a lot of room to move on the RV. Plus with solar power, if we can get it working, then we can begin to build back what we loss on the farm. Let's get back to the others and see about scouting to make sure it is doable." She said and Daryl nodded.

Bella held Aya, cradling her as she swayed, she fed her and got to see Aya's sweet smiles and that made Bella want to press to see if Lorton Prison was going to be habitable. Rick walked back into the room on the RV and smiled at Bella. "Hey." Bella said and smiled back at him.

"So, tell me the plan again. I want to be sure you're ready."

"Rick."

"Bella, I'm serious." Rick said, his smile faltering. He looked at their daughter. "It's cold out there. Aya needs you more than she needs me. What if something happens?" Aya was able to nurse pretty well now and was growing fast and strong. She was able to hold her head up by herself and she had the brightest blue eyes ever and she seemed to be always happy. Her hair was dark like Bella's and Rick's with a smile that seemed to make you melt.

Bella kissed Aya's forehead making Aya coo before she handed her to Rick. "I'm okay. Things aren't going to go wrong. Daryl, Jake and Jasper will be with me. You need to be here to help prep the children for the terrain. You're good at that stuff. I'm good at recon. We'll be back before nightfall and then we'll go down together if it's all clear. Okay?"

Rick sighed and bounced Aya a little. "Okay. I love you. Please be careful." He murmured and leaned in and kissed her softly.

It was hard, being a mother in this world. Bella never thought it would happen for her, but here she was… a mother. Aya was perfect and when Bella was away from Aya, it did hurt her heart. But she couldn't stop being herself… she couldn't stop doing the things she was trained to do. She left Rick and Aya on the RV and grabbed her gear and readied herself to go on the trek down to Lorton Prison.

Bella lead them down the stairs that seemed to be still intact towards Lorton Prison. There were some walkers that roamed closeby that they took out on their descent. They were quiet, using hand signals to communicate. Jasper understood military hand signals and after surviving so long together, Daryl and Jake understood the signals too.

When they got to the bottom where the prison sat they saw the massive openness of the courtyard that was situated between all the buildings. The fence was gone, so that posed a problem and there were walkers everywhere. It was hard to see clearly with the binoculars.

Bella felt disappointed. There was no way to defend against so many walkers and they would never be able to set up a permanent base there. She signaled for the others to fall back and they nodded their understanding and they backed away from the area before turning and taking to the stairs to climb back to the top.

When they returned, Bella's face was neutral as she thought about what the next steps were. Her stomach was hungry and she knew that the others were hungry too, especially the children.

"Bella." Carl was the one to break Bella's thoughts.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"You were zoning out. Another… flashback of the war?" Carl asked tentatively.

Bella smiled. "No. I was just thinking about food. Why aren't you on the RV?"

"I came out to check on you. Dad is still sorting through the vehicles with T-Dogg, Maggie and Glenn. I made Beth and the other girls stay on the RV with Hershel and Carol." Carl said. His hand was resting on the firearm he carried. Rick had given it to him a while back. It would be easier for Carl to shoot to defend himself rather than swing a machete in close quarters with a walker.

Bella nodded. "Good." She said and looked up at Jasper and Daryl when they approached. "What's up?"

"We can angle towards DC." Jasper said. "I know it's dangerous, but Bells, we have to get some sort of food and we're in the woods here. We're not that far from the city. We go in a group, rummage what we can. But we can't keep driving the RV. Gas is getting harder to find and this thing sucks it down faster than if we tried to get a couple vehicles running." He explained.

Bella sighed. She knew that Jasper was right. "Right now the RV provides shelter for the children. We can't keep going like this. With Lorton being a bust…"

"It's going to be storm season soon. Spring is here." Daryl said. "The wildlife is scarce in this area probably because of the herd down at Lorton. Animals aren't going to want to be so close to predators like that."

Bella didn't like the idea of going into DC. It would be worse than Atlanta but it was looking like they didn't have a lot of choices. "Okay. Let's go." She said and looked at Carl. "Go back on the RV. Tell your dad that we're headed to DC. Take care of your sister okay?"

Carl frowned. "You're going to leave before dad gets back?"

"We have to get there before dark. We don't want to chance wasting more time. We need food." Bella said. "I will be fine." She promised and Carl hesitated a moment before he hugged Bella and went back inside the RV.

"You don't have to go Bella. We can manage on our own."

"We have two motorcycles working that we can get in and out easier. I'll ride with Daryl, Jake can ride with you." Bella said and shifted her crossbow.

Jasper sighed. "Alright." He said and glanced towards the several vehicles that the others would be rummaging through right now. "Let's get going then." He said and they walked away from the big pile up and unstrapped the motorcycles that had mounted on the back of the RV.

[Washington, DC]

They arrived in DC in about thirty minutes. Some of the outer streets were more clear as they ventured into the neighborhoods first. Going into the larger downtown would be a deathtrap, so they skirted the area. The worked in a full group, not wanting to separate. The first house they came to, they opened the front gate to the front yard and closed it silently behind them and they moved up the sidewalk. Bella moved in a military fashion up the stairs, her crossbow ready to fire. She reached and grabbed the doorknob and it was unlocked. She opened it and cleared the room, her back to a wall as she shifted through the house. Jake was behind her as she came to a stop and waited until she felt his touch and she moved again. It was how they moved in a unit back in Afghanistan and Kuwait. When they needed to be quiet and fast, they would come to a stop and make sure that everyone was with them by tapping the person in front of you until the leader got the tap.

The house was one floor, which made it easy to clear. Once the house was clear, they relaxed a little.

"Alright, Jasper, Jake work on the kitchen, find any food that is non-perishable. I'll look through the kids room. See if there are clothes that will fit any of the kids. Daryl, check the backyard. It's fenced but I saw a toolshed. " She said and they moved to finish their task.

It didn't take them long to finish their task, the house didn't have a lot. Jasper and Jake found crackers and tuna, but there was no fresh water. Daryl returned with an axe and bolt cutters.

"Okay. The sun will be setting soon, so we need to move through the next couple houses fast. We're staying the night out here tonight." Bella said and looked at her watch. She knew that Rick would be so angry when she got back, but sometimes she needed to breathe. They all readied themselves and then went back outside and started to the next house.

[The Next Morning]

Rick was upset that Bella took off with Jasper, Daryl and Jake without waiting to talk to him first. He thought they were past her senseless journeys. He didn't yell when Carl told him that Bella had left, he just nodded and went to take care of Aya. Last night was the first time Aya was without her mother and that upset him more than anything.

They managed to get a van started with T-Dogg's help. Glenn and Maggie were fast at gathering supplies, both of them made an excellent team. They found some water that they desperately needed. They thought it was probably April now that the trees were blooming and the flowers were blooming as well. So that meant it was Spring. It wasn't hot outside, but the morning could be a little colder than what he was used to in Georgia. They were farther north, so it made sense that the weather was a little different.

He heard the hum of motorcycles and Rick jogged down the steps of the RV after handing Aya to Beth. Daryl and Jasper came to a stop, turning the bikes off.

Bella swung off the back of the motorcycle and shrugged off her backpack. "Found food." She said, happy with their find. They found a load of tuna in one house and several things of ravioli in a can and spaghetti O's to feed the toddlers. She paused to tip up and kiss Rick.

Rick kissed Bella, but he crossed his arms and looked at her, his face upset. "You left without talking."

"I didn't want to fight about it." Bella said.

"What happened with Lorton?" Rick sighed.

"Not going to work." Bella said. "We needed food before we keep moving. The kids needed food Rick." Bella explained.

Rick nodded and looked at Jasper. "Anything else?"

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, found some tools, but we didn't want to spend too much time away. It was already later when we got to DC. We skirted the outskirts and stayed out of the downtown areas. It's not suitable for a permanent solution because it's too close to danger, but we did see signs for a housing development. Alexandria?"

"Alexandria, Virginia." Bella said with a nod. "New home developments. It might be worth a look, it's far enough from DC and construction sites always have leftover materials and probably some construction equipment."

Rick liked that idea. "Okay. How far off is it?"

"Like twenty minutes." Bella said. "If we veer off onto 95, we can ride that in. It wasn't so bad on the way to DC, but we can't fit the RV through a lot of spaces and we shouldn't take the whole crew. We need to scout it." It was the smarter thing to do.

Daryl shook his head and pointed up. "That is a big storm moving in. It's similar to what we saw right before the tornado spun down at the Quarry. We need to stay together. It's a risk sitting still on the highway like this. Those winds coming in like that, it'll knock the RV over. We won't have the hill like at the Quarry to protect the RV from tipping."

Bella knew that Daryl was right too. "Okay. Do we have a vehicle?"

Rick nodded. "We got a van started. Let's load the kids first." He said and they all started moving to pack the van the best they could. Bella would ride with Daryl on the motorcycle, Jasper and Jake would ride on the other. It was going to be a tight fit inside the van, but they didn't have luck with many of the other vehicles.

Storms were unpredictable. There was no way of knowing how hard the rain would fall, how fast the wind would blow or if the clouds would unleash hail. There were no weathermen anymore to tell you to seek shelter because a tornado was touched down.

The sky there in Virginia got dark so fast, the rumbling of thunder crashed in the clouds and lightning flashed in the sky angrily, as everyone drove. Bella didn't like being out in the open like they were, but they needed to find shelter fast. This was going to be a really bad storm, possibly worse than the one they saw at the Quarry outside Atlanta. They were on 95 and after weaving in and out of cars as fast as they good, the van stalled, which forced everyone out in the open.

"We don't have any more options." Bella said, and kicked the tire angrily after she couldn't get the van to start over. The sky was still dark, brewing, but it had yet to rain. The lightning seemed to taper off and the thunder sounded like it was farther away so the hope was that the storm would be kind, and skirt around them.

Rick put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Baby, look at me. It's going to be okay."

"It's not Rick." Bella shook her head. "We need immediate shelter. The van won't make it to the housing project, and-"

"There's a barn!" Daryl came running back out of the woods.

Bella looked over at Daryl, moving away from Rick. "Is it sturdy?"

"There's a lot of trees to block some winds, but it's better than sitting like a duck on the road." Daryl said and noticed he had to shout more because the loud winds started kicking up and they saw the funnel starting to spin down.

Bella pushed Rick towards the Van. "GET THE KIDS! WE HAVE TO RUN!" She yelled as she helped get everyone out of the car. She grabbed Aya from Carl and Rick helped Carl out of the car and everyone started running, following Daryl towards the barn he found. The winds were so strong, so running against them was hard on their muscles, but they fought like hell to make it to the barn. Bella shielded Aya with her body as hail started falling around them. It was small, dime sized hail at the moment, but it was only a matter of time before it would get bigger and deadlier.

They saw the barn as they moved through the woods, the trees breaking the wind so they could run easier until they made it to the barn. Rick and Daryl pushed the barn doors shut, right as the rain fell like a heavy blanket along with the hail. Bella handed Aya to Beth and she went to help hold the doors and soon everyone was holding the doors except Carl, who was sitting with the little ones and holding his sister. The barn creaked as the tornado descended, spinning down almost on top of them.

Bella closed her eyes and prayed for the first time in a very long time that the tornado wouldn't kill them all.