Newly Revised

As the sun rose over the quarry, the surviving members of the camp were either moving the bodies or wrapping the corpses from camp. Tea and Daryl had been helping until Daryl noticed her start to have problems standing without stumbling and sent her to her tent to rest. It had drawn the attention of half the people around him when she tried to argue and he raised his voice, making her flush in frustration before stomping off. The moon had been hanging low in the sky when he'd made her rest, but the sun was high when she exited her tent and looked around, seeing how a lot of the bodies had been dealt with. A fire was going for the walkers to be burned and they had the bodies of their dead laid out on the other side of camp which caused her to make a face. It didn't make much sense to her as to why they were treating the dead differently just because some they knew and some were already dead. Andrea was still in the same position she had been in when she had gone to lay down. Tea would almost think it was sweet how she was keeping sigil over her sister's corpse, but they all knew they were just waiting for the girl to reanimate. Several members were were sitting around a campfire watching Andrea and waiting for the inevitable before Rick began walking up to her. Tea walked behind Daryl and lightly touched his back before watching the altercation between Andrea and Rick, Andrea making it clear that she wasn't moving by warning Rick that she knew how to use her gun and was willing to.

"Y'all can't be serious," he said when Rick came back, "lettin' that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."

"And what do you suggest?" Rick said.

"Take the shot. Clean in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance," he said before being cut off by Lori.

"No. For God's sake, let her be."

"Why?" Tea asked honestly. "It's for the betta a the camp ta take the shot now. Ain' that what ya and Shane are always talkin' 'bout when ya get onta me? Betta for the camp. Takin' the shot is for the betta."

"Not for Andrea," Lori said incredulously.

"So now ya argue for one person? Yestaday ya were arguin' against goin' and gettin' Merle 'cause it was jus' one person, now ya arguin' for one person's benefit? Make up ya fuckin' mind on ya damn viewpoints, woman!" Tea yelled, her accent coming out just a little the more frustrated she got with the entitled woman's opposing views on similar situations.

"Tea," Rick said, shaking his head as she looked up at him.

She just rolled her eyes at him before turning away as Daryl looked around at everyone. They all shared looks before Daryl scoffed and walked off. They both felt as if Daryl had had to fight an uphill battle just to try to save Merle and here everyone was just letting Andrea be. Everyone knew Amy was going to reanimate and there was nothing they could do for her. Yet when it came to Merle, who was still a living, breathing man stuck on a roof in the hot Georgian sun? The others couldn't have cared less whether they went and got him or not. It hadn't been until the guns had been added to the mix before the camp even thought it was a decent idea to go. It had never been about Merle to the better part of the camp; it had consistently been about the guns. Still feeling frustrated, she marched away and over to Glenn, helping him with the body of one of the walkers and taking it to the fire they'd built to burn those corpses. She dry heaved every time she got close to it because of the smell before deciding to help with taking care of their dead camp members rather than go near the fire, even if she knew it was the most efficient way of getting things done.

"Wake up Jimbo, we got some work to do," she heard Daryl say as she and Glenn stood from putting another wrapped corpse in the line with the others and turned around.

She watched as Daryl and the Morales man grabbed one of the other members that had died and dragged it towards them when Glenn got in the way and practically cried, "Woah, woah! What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there!"

"What's the difference? They're all infected," Daryl asked.

"He's right, and 'sides that, it's more efficient ta burn the bodies and it's the historical norm," Tea said with a shrug of her shoulder, not really seeing the difference between the dead and, well, their dead.

"Our people go in that row over there! We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there," Glenn said as he tried not to break down, unable to convey why it was so important to him that they didn't burn the people they'd known.

Morales and Daryl all but dragged and threw the body in the row of those still needing to be wrapped up before the anger Daryl was feeling got the best of the redneck and he hollered, "You reap what you sow!"

"Hey, shut up man!" Morales said.

Of course, that didn't stop Daryl, as he continued what he was saying anyway, "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this comin'!" he yelled as he stomped away, moving onto the next corpse.

They continued to clean the camp in silence until they heard Jacqui yell out, "A walker got him. A walker bit Jim!"

"Oh fuck," Tea said as she, and the remaining survivors, walked up.

"Show it to us," Daryl said before repeating himself.

Jim turned around and grabbed a shovel, holding it in a way that would allow him to knock out or injure anyone that tried to grab a hold of him. The cacophony of noise that ensued made Tea's hands twitch as she flinched, wanting to cover her ears as people shouted at Jim to put the shovel down and show them the wound as others were crying in general fear. When Tea couldn't take anymore, she took a step forward to disarm the man only for Daryl to hold a hand to the side, making her look at him in confusion. She knew damn well he knew how to handle herself and could at the very least disable the man from fighting back and yet got in her way. She hadn't been able to see T-Dog, though, who came up behind Jim from his blind spot and grabbed him around his biceps, effectively disarming him in the process. Daryl stepped forward and lifted his shirt as Jim began a mantra of 'I'm okay,' but Tea knew he wasn't. Hell, the whole camp knew he wasn't as Daryl revealed a bleeding bite mark right on the man's ribs.

Everyone backed away from him then, all with various looks of horror-filled shock, except Tea and Jacqui. Jacqui was about to cry as Daryl stepped in front of Tea once again, all but herding her away from the man. Tea's mind was in a state of hyper-thought as she tried to figure out what the best route to take was now that they knew they had a sick man in their camp. While there had was nothing they could do for Amy other than wait for her to reanimate and Andrea to end it like she should, Jim was still alive. She quickly went to her tent to get the few herbs she had to try to make a poultice that would keep infection at bay, but the best she had at the moment would only keep it clean and not draw infection out. Nonetheless, she grabbed the herbs and went over closer to the fire, using her travel sized mortar and pestle to grind the herbs together while the others started talking about what they needed to do now.

"I say put a bullet in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it," Daryl said.

"Is that what you'd want?" Shane asked as if it was a stupid idea. "If it were you?"

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while ya did it," Daryl responded.

"I hate to say it I never thought I would," Dale started, "but maybe Daryl's right."

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog," Rick said.

"I'm not suggesting-"

"He's a sick man. A sick man," Rick cut him off. "We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"The line's pretty clear," Daryl said, "Zero tolerance for walkers, or the to-be."

"What if we can get 'im help?" Tea cut in. "He hasn' turned yet, so we can' be sure if there isn' a way ta keep 'im from turnin'. I mean, if there's any place that would know what the fuck ta do, it'd be the CDC, right? Might be close ta Atlanta, but if we can get 'im help..." she trailed off, leaving Rick to nod his head and speak up.

"I heard the CDC was working on a cure," agreed Rick.

"I heard that too," Shane cut in. "Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What if the CDCs still up and running?" Rick asked.

"Man, that is a stretch right there," Shane insisted.

"Why is it a stretch?" Tea asked. "I mean, logically, the government would want ta protect the CDC buildin's everywhere ta try ta find a cure. They've got ta still be tryin' ta keep it up and runnin', right?"

"I think it's our best shot," Rick backed her up. "It's got food, shelter, protection."

"Look, we all want that too," Shane said. "Now if they exist, they're at the Army base, Fort Benning."

"A hundred miles in the opposite direction?" Tea asked incredulously. "How is that the betta choice?"

"It's the only choice," Shane said, shutting her down. "It's away from the hot zone. Listen man," he said to Rick, "That place is operational, it'll be heavily armed, we'd be safe there."

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They were over run. We've all seen that," Rick stressed. "The CDC's our best choice and Jim's only chance."

"You go lookin' for Aspirin," Daryl said. "Do what you need to do. But somebody's gotta have some balls to take care of the damn problem," he said while raising the pickax and stalking over toward Jim, ready to take the sick man out.

Before he could, though, Rick had his Python up and aimed at Rick's head. Tea moved quickly and dodged Shane to put herself closer to Darly while drawing a couple of her throwing knives. She wouldn't let the situation go down without a fight, let alone without trying to make sure she and Daryl made it out alive. Rick was a relatively stable man, definitely less hot-headed than Shane was. Tea was pretty sure the situation wouldn't get out of hand with him in the lead but she also wasn't willing to risk it. If Shane wanted to get involved more than he already was by moving to stand closer to Daryl before standing almost in front of him, they all were going to be dodging either bullets or knives. The biggest threat was definitely Shane in her mind even if it was Rick holding the gun.

"We don't kill the living," Rick said slowly.

Daryl turned to look at Rick while lowering the ax, "That's funny. Coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things," Shane said regarding him and Rick, "but not on this. You put it down. Go on."

Daryl all but threw the ax down and huffed in irritation as Rick put his gun away before storming off. Tea glared at both the men as they watched her putting her knife away and getting out of the fighting stance she had been in. If Rick thought putting a gun to her partner's head was going to make her think more highly about him, he was sorely mistaken. She kept glaring at them before she followed after Daryl in an attempt to help him calm down after the situation. It wasn't a pleasant experience to see Rick pointing his gun at him for a second time in just as many days and she could only guess how Daryl felt about it himself. He was only a few yards into the woods when she found him, leaning against a tree with a scowl on his face and a cigarette between his lips as he was lighting it. She watched him take a decent hit before walking up to him, taking the smoke from him and taking a hit herself to calm her own nerves.

"Smoke cigs now too?" he smirked.

"On occasion. Usually when I drink. Right now jus' 'cause shite's jus' gone all ta hell. I should a been 'ere, I should a been in the city. Shite jus' went all wrong," she told him, dropping her façade around him, knowing he wouldn't judge her for it.

"Come 'ere," he said, reaching out and dragging him into his chest as her body shook against him. "You're gonna work yourself sick if you don't calm down."

"Easia said than done," she muttered against him.

"Should take it easy, let me handle all the work for a while. Get some more sleep."

"It ain' right for me ta do that when there's so much that still needs ta be done. We got more membas ta get ready ta be buried, more walkas ta burn. Still got ta make sure that our dead don' fuckin' turn. Got ta take inventory again 'cause of what was eitha destroyed or contaminated. I can' put that on everyone else while I jus' rest."

"You're different from 'em," he said seriously. "I can feel your body shakin', Ania. You gotta calm down and deal with whatever it is that's goin' on in that head of yours."

Tea didn't have much fight in her left as exhaustion combined with her nerves began to take hold of her. She nodded against his chest even though she didn't want to be a burden to anyone and felt like she was. It was hard enough when they got back to camp and he made her sit on the hood of his truck as he took the pickaxe around to the bodies of their dead, ensuring they stayed down. Tea couldn't help but fall into her mind as it kept replaying the circumstances of the last four days. She had agreed to go hunting with Daryl purely out of the selfish desire to be alone with him again rather than going to the city with the group. Then, she choked Merle out and left him in camp while Daryl followed her out without so much as saying anything to the man. She knew that if she had gone to the city there would have been no way that Merle would have been left behind. For one, she could easily dislocate his thumb and slip his hand out before relocating the digit. For two, she could have just knocked him out and helped T-Dog carry the man out rather than leaving him on the roof. For three, she would have had the perfect opportunity to clear the air and try to make amends with the older man while explaining how she and Daryl were together. And on top of that, if she had gone, they wouldn't have had to risk going back into the city for no reason other than guns, which meant more people would have been in camp during the walker attack. If there had been more people in the first place, maybe less people would have died. It was all her fault that she had been selfish to begin with and that selfishness had caused everyone else pain.

"I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies," he said walking up to the two cops. "That's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all? Ain't that the idea?"

"At first," Rick said.

"Bodies were burned in pyres long 'fore they were eva buried. Burial was more for royalty and nobles with personal crypts made a stone, not layin' bodies in the dirt ta contaminate farmin' land," Tea chimed in flatly, her eyes remaining focused on nothing in particular on the ground in front of her.

"China-man gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do and we just follow him along?" Daryl said. "These people gotta know who's in charge here. What the rules are."

"There are no rules," Rick said.

"That's the problem-," Tea started before Lori cut her off.

"We haven't had one minute to hang onto anything of our old selves," Lori said. "We need time to mourn, and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do."

"Most people actually cremate, not bury," Tea said rather unhelpfully, though honestly.

"That's enough outta you," Shane told her. "It don't matter what you think, buryin' 'em is the right thing to do."

"I don' see why it is. I mean, we burn the walkas. Weren' they people, too? I mean, they're dead people now, but they weren' once upon a time. What's the difference between the two? The fact that we got stuck tagetha and the otha people died 'fore ya met 'em? Explain ta me what the difference is 'cause I simply can' see it."

"We didn't just know these people," Lori told her. "We survived all this time with them. We learned how to keep ourselves going with the help of these people. The walkers killed them, Tea. They killed the people we have known for months and-"

"Y'all knew 'em. They kept away from me most times 'cause Shane couldn' keep 'is dirty paws off me and ya couldn' stop pickin' fights ova what I should be doin'. Hardly anyone knew the people who died. They jus' put up with 'em 'cause we all got stuck tagetha," Tea said, annoyed that the woman would dare to act like everyone in the camp had pulled equal weight.

Lori couldn't respond as many of the others walked up the hill to the burial site the five of them were standing at. Tea rolled her eyes as they went around and tried to say something about each member until they realized that they really didn't have much to say, aside from Jacqui and T-Dog when it came to the church members they had brought with them. As she had predicted, no one really knew much about anyone other than surface knowledge unless they'd known them before the turn. The only ones she actually felt sorry for were Carol, Sophia, and Andrea, who lost the people closest to them. However, she only felt a little sorry for Carol and Sophia as she had learned from Sophia about what a monster Ed had been. It was after she'd noticed a bruise on the girl's shoulder when she'd lifted her arm to practice a knife throw that she'd pulled Sophia aside and bold-faced asked her to tell her the truth about what happened. It was only because the little girl had begged her not to do anything that she'd held back from beating the man senseless. Even if she had been in camp when Shane went ape-shit on him for hitting Carol right in front of all the other women and then starting a fight with them, something she heard happened from Glenn, she wouldn't have offered shit to the man to help him recover. Monsters didn't get into her good graces and would never deserve nor get her help.

It seemed to take forever to get the burial process done and over with once it finally began. Even though she'd shed a few tears when her papa died, it wasn't as bad as the horrible sobbing that was happening as they began putting the people in the ground. She was seriously thinking about just walking into camp and going to her log but ultimately stayed because she didn't want to deal with the repercussions of leaving. On top of that, if she smoked she couldn't guarantee she would be alert enough if walkers hit the camp again and she just couldn't bring herself risk it. She'd already caused so many bad things to happen all because of her selfish choices. Tea was convinced that it was her selfishness at wanting something she was never supposed to have that was causing so many problems in camp. She knew was in love with Daryl and could tell he felt the same, but it was a fact that had she not made the initial decision to stay back and go hunting, let alone not choke Merle out, all of this pain and loss would never had happened. The thought had her beginning to pull away from Daryl as her mind repeated words from her past. She knew that she was having doubts and that he noticed it too. He was standing as close to her as he could without actually touching her to the point that she shifted her weight away from him to put space between them.

Daryl could tell something was off just by the void look on Tea's face. Every time he tried to get close to grab her hand to show her support, she shied away by shifting her weight or crossing her arms. He didn't understand why she was starting to pull away now after everything they had been through, everything they had done together. He knew that she was feeling guilty about what happened with Merle because he felt guilty, too, but they were both to blame for the situation he'd gotten himself in. Him cutting off his hand was just Merle being Merle and looking out for himself in the only way he knew how. It didn't matter what she was thinking by the time the funeral procession wrapped up because he was pissed at the way she kept dodging his touch. He practically dragged her to the truck and pushed her in through the driver door before climbing in and starting it up, gunning it back to camp so that they'd have a few minutes alone.

"What's goin' on with you?" he asked her as soon as he put it into park. When she didn't answer or even look at her, he forced her to turn to him, trying to control his anger, "You gotta tell me what's goin' on. Why are you actin' like this?"

"Like what?" she asked, feigning ignorance even though she couldn't even look him in the eyes.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," he told her angrily. "What the hell was that back there? Kept dodgin' me every time I tried to touch ya."

"Don' matta," she said, her voice starting to get that accent again. "I can' do nothin' right anyway, so what's it matta if I do anotha thing wrong?"

"The hell you gettin' at?"

"If I had jus' gone on that stupid fuckin' run, none a this would a happened. But I decided not ta go and then left camp without so much as tellin' Merle why I did it. Don' matta if he would a tried somethin' on the run, I could a handled it. But I chose ta be fuckin' selfish and storm out a camp and made ya choose between us when I said I wouldn'! I'm a selfish bitch and I can' do nothin' right, and it's cost everyone in camp somethin' and I ain' lost shite. I ain' lost a single gods damned thing since this all started and I sure as hell don' deserve ta gain anythin' eitha!" she stated, getting louder as she talked and more accented. "I ain' nothin' and I don' deserve shite, least a all ya. I'm the reason ya lost ya brotha and we both know damn well that's a fuckin' fact."

"I left camp because Merle's a simple-minded prick," Daryl told her. "It's not like you asked me to go with you and Merle deserved what 'e got. Someone was gonna knock 'im on his ass soon enough. 'Sides, he ain't dead. Like I said, nobody can kill Merle but Merle. The walkers hittin' camp, that had nothin' to do with you. Maybe we could've saved some people, but we woulda still lost some. No way we could've saved everyone. It ain't your fault shit happens. You did what you could. Ain't nothin' more you coulda done."

"I could a, though. I could a helped in both places. And 'sides that, if I'd a gone ta Atlanta, Merle wouldn' a gotten locked on that roof. He wouldn' a been left behind. I could a stopped that and that would a made all a us be in camp, workin' on killin' the walkas fasta than we did 'cause we went ta get 'im and the guns. I don' think any a us would a gone back jus' for the fuckin' guns. I was a selfish bitch and made selfish choices and it got people killed."

"You weren' the only one. If ya gotta blame that all on you, hell, I asked you to go huntin' with me," Daryl told her, letting go of her arms before getting out of the truck as the rest of the people came back into camp. "Ain't just you to blame. "Don't matter none anyway. What happened happened and there ain't no changin' it. Might as well just move on and forget it."

"Easia said than done."

Daryl didn't answer her and instead helped her out of the truck before nodding his head to tell her to follow him. He lead her over to his tent before he pulled her inside and closed the tent back up. Not bothering to tell her what he was doing, he just went over to his sleeping back and unlaced his boots. Tea must have gotten the hint as she slowly came over herself. He took his boots off before he unlaced hers and pulled her down next to him. She took her boots off herself before he pulled her down to lay next to him. They both just laid there, Daryl staring at the top of the tent while she stared at the side. He started rubbing up and down her arm which honestly helped her start to relax, her shaking calming down as she thought about what he'd said. It was still her fault for not going to the city because she could have said no to Daryl, but he didn't need to know that she was thinking that way. She was just enjoying the comfort Daryl was giving to her and pushed the feelings down as much as she could. While she couldn't stop the intrusive thoughts from coming in, the exhaustion of the last couple days caught up to her as she listened to Daryl's heartbeat. It wasn't until Rick called for them that they woke up. Daryl had fallen asleep shortly after Tea had, the feeling of her next to him combined with the sound of her breathing had lulled him as he laid there. When they had their boots back on and exited the tent, Rick motioned for them to follow him to where all the others were congregated. It didn't miss Tea's notice how Shane, Carol, and Lori had varying degrees of disgust or disapproval on their faces. She didn't really care too much about that and stared the women down before they turned away only for Shane to start talking rather than acknowledging her.

"I've, uh, I've been thinking about Rick's plan," Shane started. "Now look, there are no, uh, no guarantees. Either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay."

Shane was more pissed than he had ever been, but was managing to keep it in check, the look in his eyes clear as day to Tea as she looked at him. Looking at Rick, he had a guilty look on his face while he kept looking back and forth between his old partner and his wife. If he knew what was happening, he was trying to pretend it hadn't happened at all. The problem she had was that Dale was looking between Shane and Rick with a pensive face and she couldn't help but become even more vigilant than before. Something was definitely off, and she wanted to know what had happened sooner rather than later, but it wasn't like she could air her suspicions in front of the group. She held her tongue as the group started to disperse. Daryl told her he was going to go pack up the tent before they left, not to mention he wanted to go through his brother's stuff on his own. She just nodded her head and walked over to her SUV to pack whatever she could in it up. It wasn't like she was going to take a different car than Daryl and he sure as hell wasn't going to leave his brother's bike behind. It wouldn't fit in her vehicle so she needed to make sure there was nothing useful in it that could get left behind. She was about to shut the door after climbing into her car, but Shane's hand caught it just as she began to pull it and pushed it back open, holding it there so that she was trapped.

"So, you and Daryl, huh?"

"Go away, Shane," she said irritated that he was once again invading her personal space as well as the fact that he was practically holding her captive.

"No, I don't think I will," he stated just as irritated. "What you thinking goin' with a guy like that, huh?"

"I'm thinkin' it ain' any a ya damn business," she snapped back, heading to the other side of her car in an attempt to leave it before things got worse.

"I'm makin' it my business," Shane said as he grabbed her bicep and pulled her out of the car, putting her back against the driver's side door harshly and holding her there in a way her only retaliation would be using her legs, which might just break a bone. "Now you're gonna listen once and for all. You're gonna stay in camp, going to listen to everything I say as if it were the golden rule, and you're sure as hell gonna stay away from Daryl Dixon from now on, you understand?"

"Fuck you!" she roared at him, trying to push him away and failing due to how he was holding both her biceps firmly, half tempted to knee him in the nuts, the other half tempted to break his leg rather than deal with his bullshit again. "Ya don' get ta tell me what ta do, Shane! I ain' gonna fuckin' listen ta ya jus' 'cause ya tell me ta! Ya ain' got a single damn right ta say shite 'bout my relationships with anyone in this camp! I can do whateva I want ta do with whoeva I choose ta do it with! Ain' no fuckin' way I'm lettin' ya change that!"

Shane pulled her forward before he roughly shoved her against the door, slightly knocking her breath out of her, "You're not all there in the head, girl! Someone's gotta keep you from makin' mistakes you don't even know you're makin'!"

"That's enough, Shane," Rick said, as he walked up and noticed how her skin was discolored from where Shane was holding her.

He wasn't happy with the way Shane was acting and could tell Tea was having a hard time controlling herself. It wasn't just in the way she looked like she was about to lash out, it was also in the rage on her face that anyone could see. He didn't blame the girl for being angry with how Shane was acting and understood better why she wasn't willing to listen to the man. It was pretty obvious that what Shane had told him about Tea wasn't an accurate description of the girl and from the look of it, he was the one who initiated a lot of the fights. She had said she didn't like being touched, that she didn't want people forcing themselves on her, and here Shane was, getting right in her face while trapping and being rough with the young woman. It wasn't like Shane when he was a cop to be so rough, but it would be a lie to say the man wasn't a hot-head. He also had a history with having problems keeping a girlfriend for being too judgmental of how they acted and had complained to him on more than one occasion about the women he was dating. He was a very controlling person in his relationships, constantly acting like he never made a mistake in the relationship while constantly complaining about the choices the woman made. Rick had let it go in one ear and out the other, but now he had to admit that there was more to the story than what he knew.

"Naw, man, you ain't seen this girl like we have. She's a danger to herself and the camp with how she acts," Shane argued pushing her into the SUV once again as he let go of her arms.

"Fuck you, Shane," Daryl said as he walked up from their other side after putting some supplies in the truck's bed. "Ain't fuckin' true and you know it."

"The only fuckin' mistake I eva made was not stayin' out in the woods when I left the first time," Tea responded. "I should a neva fuckin' came back 'ere."

"Don't fuckin' start that shit again," Daryl said, grabbing the girl's bicep to pull her away from Shane and shield her from the man's grip again. "Don't be listenin' to this bastard's nonsense, Ania."

Shane smirked, finally having something to taunt her with, "Ania? So you're name's actually Ania, huh?"

"Don't fuckin' call her that," sounded from Daryl at the same time as she growled out, "Don't fuckin' call me that. Only Daryl gets ta call me that, got it?"

"And why's that?" Lori said as she walked up. "You told everyone to call you Tea. How did he even get 'Ania' from that? You've only ever given us half truths about who you are. What are we supposed to expect when someone starts calling you somethin' different?"

"'Cause ya ain' people I give two shites about, Lori. I don' mind Daryl callin' me a name 'e suggested based on my actual name. That don' mean I'm goin' ta sit 'ere and tell ya my damn life's story jus' 'cause ya think ya entitled ta it. Ya not, Lori, neitha a ya fuckin' are. What's mine is mine ta share with the people I choose ta share it with."

"You gotta give us something," Shane tried to pressure.

"Her name's for her to share if she wants to, Shane, and to be used by those she wants to," Rick said, trying to end the meaningless conversation that was clearly making Tea uncomfortable as she curled her side into Daryl's chest.

"You know we know the least about her? She's been tight lipped about anything she's done besides school, and who knows if any of that is real or in her head. She ain't right and if she can't even give us basic information about herself, she can't be trusted. I don't know 'bout everyone else, but I don't want to stick around someone who can't keep control of herself let alone give us somethin' as simple as her name. There's no tellin' what she'll do!"

"Wow, ya an asshole, ya know that? A giant bag a dicks rolled inta a ball a shite," Tea complained in anger. "My name's Titania Parker if that fuckin' makes ya feel betta. Hope ya got the fuckin' answa ya were lookin' for and like basin' a person's characta on their name and not how they act. But then, ya got the biggest fuckin' asshole in the whole place ya make it stink jus' by walkin' by! Fuck ya, Shane, with a splintered wooden spoon right up ya fuckin' ass," she told him before she stomped off without even caring if she looked like some kind of petulant child.

"Girl's been through more shit than either a y'all will ever know," Daryl told Shane, pissed off himself that he'd all but forced her to share something she didn't want to. "Shit that'd break anyone else. Shoulda just fuckin' let it go when she told ya to. And you wonder why can't fuckin' stand your ass."

"We've all been through shit, Daryl," Shane told him.

"Naw, man," Daryl cut him off. "Ain't my place to say what all happened, but that girl spent her entire life bein' treated like you just treated her. Those bruises she's covered in from Atlanta? Child's play 'ccording to her. So keep your trap shut from now on, elsewise I'm gonna make it stay shut."

"You had no right cornerin' her like that, Shane," Rick said, watching Daryl went after Tea. "And callin' her out like that. You know she's the reason we didn't get into any trouble in Atlanta? There was a mix-up and Glenn got taken. She got beat all to hell when he was taken and just took it with stride. We had one of theirs, and she reasoned with him to show us where they were camped. It was some random building and she still knew where we were; an old folks' home. She was a volunteer there and worked some cases for those old people. The people there knew and respected her. Some even outright admired her. She sang to them for nearly an hour, taking requests even from those who had different religious views. Those people spoke nothing but praises, same as a few of the members around here. I don't know what you got against her, Shane, but you can't be acting like this."

Daryl hadn't seen which tent Tea had went to after she left, so he went to hers first to find it empty. He moved over to his own tent and opened it to see her curled on top of his sleeping bag obviously trying to keep from crying. When she sat up as he came over to it and sat down, he pulled her over to his lap rather than letting her deal with the damage Shane had caused by herself. He rubbed up and down her arm with one hand while rubbing circles on her thigh with the other. She had one arm under his and draped around his back, clutching at the fabric of his shirt, the other doing the same above his heart. Her head was tucked under his chin and he simply held her as she shook, trying to will away all the emotions inside as he felt the dampness on his collar. He was pissed and wanted nothing more than to stomp Shane's ass for how he'd cornered her, but he figured Tea would be having a hard time after having to relive something she'd already gone through. He shifted together until he was laying down, moving her to lay next to him as he laid on his back, holding her close to him. It didn't take very long for them both to be overtaken by sleep once again, not waking again until the next morning.

They all gathered together around the campfire as Shane stood in front of the group and spoke to them all, "Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal, anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales spoke up then, "We're, uh, we're not going."

"We have family in Birmingham. We wanna be with our people," his wife spoke up.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane reasoned.

"We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family," the man said.

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"We talked about it. We're sure."

"Alright. Shane?"

"Yeah."

They bent over the bag of guns. ".357?"

"Yeah, and ammo."

The two handed the gun and the ammo over with Shane saying, "Box is half full."

Daryl scoffed and walked off, Tea muttering a 'called it' loud enough for him to hear, as the group said goodbye to the Morales family. Looking around, Shane couldn't help but look at Rick and say, "What makes you think our odds are any better?" before turning to the camp and urging them into action.

She climbed into Daryl's truck after putting her supplies in the bed at the same time as he climbed in, looking over at her and telling her to put her belt on and making her chuckle at him. It didn't matter as much to her that she was leaving her vehicle behind, especially when she hadn't used it often to begin with having preferred taking the bus or taxis back and forth where she needed to go. Jesse was always the one who did the most driving and took care of the grocery shopping for them while Tea took care of the better part of the chores. It had always been like that as she was particular about how things got cleaned while Jesse had been horrified when she had gone to the store alone the first time and came back with nothing but ramen noodles and frozen dinners. Jesse had asked if she knew how to cook in all seriousness, then laughed when she said that it was simply easier to make the things she bought and that if she wanted her to cook a real meal, she would have to do the shopping herself. That's what she did from then on and they took turns making meals, ordering pizza or tacos from their favorite local Mexican place every Sunday when they would watch the latest Supernatural episode they had on the DVR, though it usually ended up in a marathon of the show while they argued over the little things Tea would notice and the fact that she rationalized the monsters. The only thing she would miss was the radio that had the ability to shuffle between multiple CDs and the fact that she had been easily able to keep her music in it for when she was driving. Her CD case was quite heavy, though, and they wouldn't have the luxury of carrying something that would become dead weight the longer they traveled on the bare minimum of necessities.

She spent the time they were on the road thinking about her music before the cars in front of them came to a stop. Both Daryl and Tea exited the truck although Tea waited for Daryl to grab his bow from the back before they walked up to the front. It wasn't much of a surprise that everyone congregated in front of the RV, which was billowing smoke from its engine. Dale opened the front of the RV up and looked into it after waving some of the smoke away. Of course, it was the radiator hose from the truck, finally unable to hold out any longer.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose," he told Rick. "I said I needed the one from the cube van."

"Can you jury-rig it?" the cop asked.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead," Shane said, holding binoculars up to his eyes. "Gas station if we're lucky."

That's when Jacqui came out of the RV looking shaken saying, "Y'all, Jim. It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore."

"Hey Rick, you want to hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back," Shane said.

"Yeah, I'll come along too and back you up," T-Dog said as Rick went into the RV.

"You all keep your eyes open now. We'll be back real soon," Shane said to the group, scowling as his eyes scanned over to Daryl and Tea and then to Lori and Carl.

Tea looked at the remaining survivors as the two left. Most of them were obviously having problems processing what they had been through both during the walker attack and what was happening with Jim. They had gone from being relatively safe to up shit's creek without a paddle in two days. While this was nothing new to Tea, who was mostly just wracked with the guilt she was trying to fight against, the rest were having difficulty accepting this new reality. While she didn't like change, Tea was used to being thrown into constantly changing situations due to her parents' actions. It wasn't as if she wasn't being affected by the change but the guilt that she felt was currently overpowering her discomfort and nerves. She could see both Andrea and Jacqui breaking under the probability that they were all going to die as horrible a death as Amy had or suffer like Jim was right now. Jacqui ended up just going into the RV to check on Jim after a little while considering everyone was just staying quiet and looking around awkwardly. Daryl ended up leaning against a car right next to Tea, their shoulders pressed against the other as Tea fought the urge to lean her head on his shoulder. She just wasn't fully comfortable yet with bringing more attention to themselves than some of the members were giving them. Jacqui stayed in the RV for a long time before coming out and telling Rick that Jim wanted to talk to him, the man gladly going into the large vehicle to talk to the dying man. Shane and T-Dog came back long before he came back out with a pensive look, telling them all what Jim's current wish was. Many in the group questioned what he meant and he simply repeated what Jim had said.

"It's what he says he wants," he concluded.

"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.

"He seems to be," Rick said. "I would say yes."

"I can go in and check. I mean, I am a psychologist, and a lot of doin' that is makin' evaluations ta see whetha a person was lucid and sane or not. It wouldn' be a big deal," Tea offered.

"I don't think that's necessary," Rick replied, "but thank you."

There was a pregnant pause before Dale spoke up, telling them, "Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shot me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing someone. I was just gonna suggest we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off?" Shane asked. "Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."

"Not your call," Lori said. "Either one of you."

"She's right for once," Tea said, shocked she would agree with Lori of all people. "This isn' fuckin' suicide or even givin' up. He's suffaring and jus' want it ta end his way. The inevitable is gonna happen and he jus' wants ta let it happen without bein' in more pain than 'e already's in. Seen it happen before, especially in patients like 'im that I've had ta make sure it wasn' goin' ta be chalked up as murda for, and ain' nothin' wrong with it. It's his choice. Swallow ya own pride and honor it."

The lawmen looked at each other, contemplating her words. They nodded and went into the RV together. When they came back out, they were supporting Jim between them. As gently as possible, they carried him off the road and into the brush, setting him down under a tree as gently as they could. Everyone gathered around him to say goodbye to the man, except for Andrea who was sitting on the steps of the RV looking forlorn. Jacqui was crying so much by the time they were done. Rick had asked the man if he wanted a gun only to be told no because they would need it on their way. Many members of the group went closer to him to say goodbye before heading back to the vehicles. Tea couldn't help but go to the man and bend down to grab his hand.

"Titania Parker, huh? You keep them safe, ya hear?" Jim said, putting his other hand on top of hers. "Only you can keep them safe."

"I'll do my best," she promised, though she knew he was in the last stages before his final breath.

"You'll do more than that," he insisted.

Daryl walked up and gave the man a curt nod before taking Tea's hand and leading her back to the truck, telling her, "You didn't have to make that promise."

"I only said I'd do my best. That's all I can," she answered as Daryl opened the passenger door. "It's not like I haven' made promises in the past ta the people I was with when I died. I did my best ta follow through with them, too. All I can do is my best ta make sure we all keep livin', but if comes down ta ya or the group, I'm choosin' ya, jus' sayin'."

Before she got into the truck, Daryl stopped her and gave her a peck on the lips for what she'd said, telling her he'd do the same. When he entered the cab, he noticed that she had moved to sit in the middle rather than by the door, making him give her a small while turning the key and shifting into gear. He grabbed her hand before the convoy started up against earning a squeeze in return. Tea made no other show that she noticed the gesture as he kept her hand securely in his and on his thigh as they traveled down the road. She was just happy that he had made an effort to comfort her even when they both were feeling the weight of everything that had happened on their shoulders. They made a pit stop right before they entered the city for people to make sure they were ready to go when they finally got where they were going and that the weapons were all ready to go. While Tea planned on taking her crossbow with her, she would rather not use it and instead made sure her clip was full and she had an extra on her belt before going to the other side of the vehicle. She and Daryl both made sure the other was ready before Tea leaned in and kissed him on the lips when no one else was looking, his arm snaking around her to hold her closer before they both got back in and they finished their trip to the CDC.

As soon as they rolled up to the CDC, though, Tea wished they hadn't come at all. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare with dead bodies fallen around a sandbag barricade and on the lawn of the building itself. The stench was atrocious and made several members of the group gag and cover their noses before moving forward. Tea, herself, involuntarily wretched a couple of times at the first sight and whiff before thoroughly berated herself for being so weak stomached. Shane urged everyone to stay together as the children and most of the women stayed in between the remaining men and Tea. It was annoying how none of the women other than Andrea had bothered to take up arms against the dead as it left everyone at a disadvantage because they would have to be protected. At least Carl and Sophia should have their knives if they needed to defend themselves, but the rest of the women? There was no excuse for their lack of protection should the men be unable to keep the women safe. Still, they pressed onwards until they reached the building. The shutters were down and even after banging on the doors, they didn't move. No one inside was willing to open the doors if there even was anyone still alive, even as Rick began losing his mind over the fact that the CDC had been a bad choice.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog said.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick reasoned.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, pushing Tea further away from the approaching walker and taking aim before he fired the bolt and angrily turned on Rick, "You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call," Dale tried to reason.

"It was the wrong damn call!" he responded while storming up to Rick.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane said as he got in between the two and pushing Daryl back. "Rick, this is a dead end," he said rounding on his friend.

"Where are we going to go?" Carol whined.

"Do you hear me?" Shane continued. "No blame."

"She's right," Lori cut in. "We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning, Rick, still an option," Shane tried.

"On what, Shane?" Tea asked. "We ain' got the fuel or the gas ta make it that far! That's roughly a hundred twenny miles straight in the opposite direction."

"It's a hundred twenty five," Glenn corrected. "I checked the map."

Daryl loaded the rifle he was carrying as Lori said, "Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now."

"We'll think of something," Rick said.

"Come on. Let's go," Shane said, ushering everybody to move, the women grabbing onto their children while Daryl dragged Tea to be in front of him as they headed bag to their convoy. "Alright, everybody back to the cars."

"The camera. It moved," Rick called out suddenly.

"You imagined it," Dale said.

"No, it moved," he said.

"Rick, it's dead. It's an automated device. It's gears okay. Just winding down," Shane told him as he walked up to the man and tried to pull him away. "Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead. It's dead, okay? You need to let it go, Rick."

Rick just fought against him and banged the shutters as Lori screamed, "Rick, there's no one here!"

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me," he cried to the camera. "Please, we're desperate!" As he pleaded his case, Shane was rallying everybody to go back to the cars. "Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." Lori ran back to him, urging him that there was no one there even as he kept trying. "We have nowhere else to go. If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" He banged on the shutters as Shane pulled Lori away and made a grab at Rick. "You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!"

Everyone was a flurry of motion. Daryl had switched to his rifle, the crossbow hanging on his back, while Tea pulled her Glock and moved to cover Sophia and Carl. To be fair, the kids crying was to be expected since they were rightfully scared. But the women acting like they were damsels in distress really grated on Tea as she couldn't see how they would willingly keep themselves open to attack while expecting others to keep them safe. What kind of example were they setting for their kids when they weren't willing to protect themselves? It irked her beyond belief as she, Glenn, T-Dog, Glenn, and Dale spread out to cover the others while Shane was all but hauling Rick away from the shutters. The cacophony of noise that surrounded them brought Tea's hackles to rise, especially since it would just attract more attention to their group. Just as Shane managed to get Rick to turn his back on the building and return to the group looking resigned, a bright light engulfed them all. Shocked into silence, most of them were shielding their eyes from the bright white light that came out of nowhere as the shutters behind them snapped open.