A/N: There are a lot of time jumps coming up. I will be adding the month into the chapter titles, to let you know that weeks are passing between each chapter. There might be some jumps taking place within the chapters, but i'll add in a title to let you know.

Chapter 32: July

"We just have to keep moving. That's all." Rick announced with his eyes still caught on the map that was spread out over the hood of his car.

The group that was huddled around him, nodded along in agreement, as they all assessed which herd was where and what herd was likely to join up with another.

She didn't have any input. She didn't have anything to say that could possibly help.

Rather then standing around trying to feign interest, she started weaving back through the cars that were spread out down the road.

She headed back to the truck that she traveled in, slept in, ate in, rested in. The truck she was sure she was going to spend what was left of her life in. Because surely they couldn't go on like this. She wasn't sure she wanted to go on like this.

"Looking a bit green around the gills."

She stopped briefly when the familiar voice reared up. But she didn't bother turning back to look at him. She didn't need to. She knew the expression he would be wearing. If she had any artistic skills at all, she would have no problem sketching out the way his face looked right now, without even glancing in his direction.

"I saw you this mornin, ya know. Pukin' ya soul up, over on the side of the road."

She turned then and looked over at him. Wondering where he was going with this. Why he even cared to bring it up.

He smirked and took a long draw of his smoke, before he bothered to continue.

"Got you a stomach of steel. I remember when we got that bad Mexican food, we both thought we were gonna die, the food poisoning was so bad." He chuckled to himself at the memory, but she couldn't join him. She just stared at him, waiting for him to get to the point. "I was hugging the toilet bowl all night, never vomited so much in my life."

He smiled at her then with narrowed eyes, as his head dropped slightly to the side. "Not you though. Got you a gut of steel. Always thought so."

She shrugged, backed up a step and turned around, ready to continue on her way.

"Only time I ever seen you puke was when you were knocked up" he added with far to much amusement in his voice.

She quickened up her pace then and started briskly walking back toward the truck.

"You stupid bitch." he chuckled, barely loud enough for her to hear as she retreated. "Look at the shit you've gotten yourself into, all because you couldn't keep ya legs clo-"

"Back the hell of, man"

She didn't turn back when T-dog snapped at Ed and not when Ed simply laughed in response. When she got into the truck she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, even when T-dog got in beside her.

"That all true?"

She took a deep breath and sucked back all of the pain and fear that threatened to escape her.

Resting her hands on the steering wheel, she dropped back into the seat and forced herself to calm down. But the struggle she was in must have been obvious.

"It's gonna be alright Carol" T-dog promised with a tone that reflected his complete uncertainty. Because this was what you were supposed to do, when you saw someone who was completely hopeless, when you could see that someone was quite obviously doomed,… you lied.

She let out a laugh and nodded, deciding to play along.

"Yeah. Everything's going to be great." she agreed as she leaned forward to start the truck.

"What if they come and-.. and we're not here?" Sophia spat with far to much emotion, pointing at the ground as she spoke. She was sure he was far to stupid to understand which 'here' she was referring to.

The sun was barely in sight and that usually meant that Sophia was still dead on her feet. But this morning she had woken up with more energy then usual and she was insisting that she spend all that energy sitting around, doing fuck all.

"What if they near by and were sitting round here, waiting when we don't need to be waitin'?" he asked coldly, unable to draw any emotion into his voice. He was exhausted and couldn't bare the thought of sitting still. If he sat still for to long he was going to pass out and that wasn't an option.

What he needed to do today, was figure out where the group was.

"You don't even know where you wanna go. It's stupid." Sophia growled out.

He raised his brow in surprise. Sophia's words and tone had obviously even surprised her. She recoiled as soon as they had left her mouth and watched him wide eyed, as though he was going to snap at her, for her attitude.

"Sorry" Sophia quickly mumbled out, dropping her eyes down to his feet.

He shook his head.

"Don't be. Ya right, I don't know where to go. Ya right.. and ya allowed to question me, especially if ya think I'm doing something wrong. I'll hear ya out." He said calmly, mostly because he didn't have the energy to sound anything but calm.

"But Soph" he added, drawing her eyes back up to his.

"What if they-… they're busy. Or what if they don't got a workin' car…what if they got themselves in some trouble or if they sick-….Or if they-"

"That's a lot of what if's" Sophia said quietly.

"You know we cant wait here. I know that you know that Soph"

Sophia looked away from him then and around the empty camp site before her sights made their way back up to him. "Ok. But- we gotta make some kind of a sign. Somethin'."

"Deal"

There were three ways into the campsite. A North, East and South entrance. First they checked the South entry, for no other reason then it was the closest to them. Then the East entry. By the time they were walking through to the North Entry he had given up hope of seeing anything at all.

The both stood still, looking at the ground. He examined the tracks in the dried mud, the newer set. The old ones. And the ones that were somewhere in between.

"You think it's them?" Sophia asked, so quickly that all her words ended up in an excited jumbled mess.

"Someone's been here a few times. This set here" he said pointing to the ones that he knew she would be able to see clearly. "They only a few days old. No more the a week"

He started walking again with Sophia following closely beside him.

"Water runs through here. Heads down to the stream, makes the ground muddy." He explained before she had a chance to question it.

Those were the kinds of questions she asked. She wanted to know 'why'. It was always 'but why?'. It had gotten so that he could hear the question before she even asked it.

As they got closer to the road, the tracks started the fade away, but he could see where they had veered off. He could see the direction they had come from.

He was so focused on tracking that he didn't think to much about anything else, until he felt the familiar tug at his sleeve.

"No roads. Not without a car. That's what you said." Sophia hissed, keeping her voice low as though someone or something would hear her.

He stopped then and looked around for another option. He nodded and rubbed his hand over his face, willing his brain to operate at full capacity, rather then this barely functioning state he was caught in.

"Yeah. Yeah ya right" he mumbled as he headed towards the side of the road, leading Sophia back into the cover of the thick treeline.

They didn't stop. Not until they saw the mass of cars that had obviously been moved from the road to clear the way. He pulled her along with him then and inspected the area, to see if there was anything that might give him a sign that it was their people who had moved the cars.

After that, they just walked. He was happy that the highway they were following was a straight shot. There weren't to many other options, they had to have come down this way.

"You smell that?" Sophia asked scrunching her face up and taking another deep breath through her nose.

"Burnin. Somethin's burnin...or was. Close by" he mumbled trying to get a clear view of the sky through the cover of the trees.

He could only just make out the fading smoke in the sky. He could only just tell what direction it was coming from. But as soon as he had a good idea of where it was coming from, he started leading them both in that direction.

"Should we really be doing this. Headin towards a fire?"

He couldn't help but laugh at her tone. It was almost sarcastic and completely unlike her.

"Just goin with the odds. It might be them." he said, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead. He was sure they were heading in the right direction. He couldn't see anything in front of him but trees and then more trees, but the smell of smoke was getting stronger.

"We'll be careful though." he assured her as he looked over his shoulder at her.

He wasn't sure how long they had been standing there, stuck in spot that was clouded by the smoldering ashes.

He remembered peering through the woods to get a better look, but once he could clearly see the destruction in front of him, his feet had taken over and pulled him forward.

He looked around them and tried to slow his breathing, but it was impossible to dismiss the panic rising in him.

In amongst what remained of the farm, was Dales RV, it to was still smoldering near the burnt out barn.

They'd found a few scattered items here and there, enough to assure them that their group had been here.

He could see the the zigzagging tracks that led back to the road, but it didn't fill him with much hope.

He could hear her heavy breathing, wheezing and whistling with each intake, but until now he had been to scared to look a her.

She looked as though someone had just kicked her in the gut, then realized it wasn't enough and decided it might be more fitting to just rip the kids heart right out of her chest. There wasn't a single bit of her expression that didn't mirror everything he was feeling.

And just as it had been for days, he didn't know what to say.

He couldn't even bring himself to say anything when she turned quickly and started walking back the way they'd came, with her hand balled up tightly at her sides.

There was nothing here for them and he knew it. Sophia knew it too. But he still felt like she was dragging him away from the burnt out farm. Carol had been here and she had been here recently. A part of him just wanted to hang around for awhile, hoping to get some kind of a sense of her. He thought maybe it would help him feel something other then this dread that was spreading through his blood like ice.