Rosie slumped down into the passenger seat of the truck, fiddling with the small, plastic velociraptor in her fingers while Daryl sat beside her, his attention fully on driving.

It was silent, and it had been for awhile. They didn't even play any music. Just nothing. Rosie was fine with it at first- she'd never been one for social interaction- but the more time she spent with the redneck, the more questions she thought up.

Even though he didn't want to admit it, Daryl wasn't too keen on the silence either. He had a lot of questions that had been bouncing around in his own mind about the girl, ever since she punched Carl. He didn't plan on asking them, though.

The air felt tense and awkward.

The main thing Daryl wanted to know was what Rosie had against Shane and what she didn't have against himself. Was it really all because of whatever her dad said about each of them? She hated Shane because he was cop and David hated cops, and she liked Daryl because Daryl was David's friend? Did it really all depend on David?

He decided not to ask these questions because it wouldn't matter by the end of the week. He would inevitably say something shitty and the girl would hate his guts, just like everyone else.

But for now, Daryl was stuck with Rosie. She wouldn't ride with Shane or T-Dog or Rick, the other cars were full, and the RV was crowded. It was either she rode with Daryl or she got left behind. He was an asshole, but he wasn't going to leave some little girl behind in the middle of nowhere. Especially not with the dead walking around.

Rosie huffed, setting her velociraptor down on the seat next to her and crossing her arms. She leaned her head against the window and watched the trees go by- only for a couple seconds though, because the glass was cold and every time Daryl would hit a small bump, her head would smack against the window. It already hurt enough from being knocked out three times.

Daryl huffed too, all of his questions nagging at his mind. It wouldn't hurt to ask just one of them, right? "So what's yer problem with Deputy Dipshit?" he asked.

"He's bossy an' annoyin'. And a cop," Rosie answered monotonously.

"Yer dad tell ya that?" Daryl asked her, trying not to think about the fact that his brother killed her dad.

Turning away from the window to look at Daryl, Rosie gave him a pointed look. "Ya ever listen ta Depeche Mode?" she asked him. He furrowed his eyebrows with confusion, glancing at her for moment. "Words are very unnecessary," Rosie said to him with a blank look on her face and a monotonous voice, "that's what they said."

Scoffing, Daryl bit back a laugh. Rosie stared at him, her eyebrows raised. He glanced at her, confused as to why she was confused. "What?" he asked when she didn't cease her staring.

"You don't know Depeche Mode?" she asked, clearly shocked by this bit of information.

"Why the hell would I know who Depeche Mode is?" Daryl grumbled.

"'Cause you're old," Rosie said, as if it were obvious. "Old people like Depeche Mode."

"I ain't old," Daryl retorted.

"Yeah ya are," Rosie said, scrunching her eyebrows together. "You're grumpy and ya drive a truck."

"That's what old means to you?" he asked, scrunching his eyebrows together in amusement. Rosie just shrugged before picking up her bag. She pulled out the dinosaur activity book that she'd gotten from the vatos and started doing a word search. Daryl's amusement quickly faded as the cars ahead of him slowed to a stop. Why the hell were they stopping? They weren't even close to the CDC yet.

Daryl put the truck in park and got out to go figure out what was going on. Rosie stayed in the truck. She didn't feel like talking to anyone. Plus, she was still busy doing her word search. The next word was carnivore and she'd been looking for it for the past minute. It just wouldn't stick out like the smaller words would.

After hearing a squealing noise, Rosie got onto her knees to look out the window. She sighed at the sight of smoke coming from the front of the RV. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but everyone looked stressed out and tired. Then Jacqui came rushing out of the RV, saying something quickly before rushing back in. That was concerning.

She watched Shane and T-Dog leave, but she wasn't sure where they were going. Rick went into the RV after the woman, and Rosie went back to her word search. She didn't look up again until she was completely finished. And by that time, Shane and T-Dog were back and Rick started talking to everyone about something. Rosie couldn't hear them, but she could tell by their faces that it was serious.

The group dispersed and Rick and Shane went into the RV, only to come back out a minute later helping a sickly man walk. Rosie knew that it was Jim, the one who got bit. They walked him up a small hill and leaned him up against a tree. What were they doing?

Then Rosie noticed Daryl walking back to the truck, so she ducked away from the window, leaning back in her seat as if she hadn't moved at all. Instead of getting into the driver's seat as Rosie expected him to do, he came over to the passenger side and pulled open the door. Rosie gave him a questioning look.

"They're leavin' Jim here. He wants ta stay. Come and say goodbye," he told her, holding the door open.

"I don' even know 'im," Rosie said, looking at Daryl with confusion. Why would she say goodbye to a man she never even knew?

"He said he wants ta talk to you, for whatever reason," Daryl said, muttering out the last words. Rosie looked off past him towards the group that was now gathering around the tree. Jim was looking back at her.

Why's he want to talk to me?

Even though she didn't particularly want to, Rosie followed Daryl towards the rest of the group surrounding Jim. Her eyes found Carl and Sophia, who were standing next to their parents and wiping their eyes. Rosie didn't understand why they cared so much. They barely even knew the guy. But, even though she didn't like standing near Shane and didn't understand why everyone was so sad about this, Rosie stood next to Daryl and waited for Jim to talk to her, like he apparently wanted to.

She watched Jacqui who was in the RV with Jim say goodbye to the man. She wondered if they were friends before the end of the world, or if they had just gotten close after. Then she watched Rick offer Jim a gun, which he declined. Rosie thought that he should have taken the gun. Did he want to turn into a walker?

Dale said goodbye next. Then the others walked away, except for Rosie and Daryl. Rosie wanted to walk away, but she was supposed to stay until Jim talked to her, like he wanted.

He was a dying man. Why not give him what he wanted?

Jim looked over to the girl. "Hey, Rosie," he said with a smile. Rosie nodded at him to say hello. She had no idea how he even knew her name. She had never spoken a word to him. The only time she remembered seeing him was when he and the other men found her with her dad in the woods.

At least Jim wasn't the one to pry her away from her dad.

"You're probably confused," Jim said with a chuckle. Rosie nodded again, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. Jim laughed a little bit again. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about your dad."

There it was again. Someone Rosie barely knew, apologizing as if they really cared. It didn't make sense. Why would they care? She tried to run away from them. Why didn't they hate her?

Jim looked Rosie in the eyes, which made her uncomfortable. She didn't look away like she usually would, though. She would feel bad. This was a dying man. "You take care of yourself, ok?" Jim said, his smile fading into a more serious look. "This group cares about you. They do."

Rosie just nodded at the man, unsure of what else to say. It didn't make sense.

"I'm okay now," Jim said, nodding and finally looking away from Rosie. His eyes raised up to the trees, his sad smile returning.

Daryl nudged Rosie forward, nonverbally telling her that she should say goodbye now. Rosie stepped closer to him, looking up from her cowboy boots.

"Goodbye Mister Jim," she said quietly.

He smiled at her one last time before Rosie turned walked back down the hill. Daryl stayed a moment later before nodding at the man and walking off, back towards the truck.

Everyone returned to their vehicles. The RV was now fixed and they were back up and running again. It was time to go.

When they started driving, Rosie looked out the window, eyeing Jim as he leaned up against the tree. It made her feel sad, but she wasn't sure why. She didn't usually feel sad, especially for people she didn't know. She decided she wasn't actually sad, she was just hungry.

•

Rosie wished she could have fallen asleep on the ride. She was very tired, not having slept the night before. She was always a light sleeper. Even the quietest noise could wake her up. So every time she felt herself nodding off, she jolted awake less than a minute later. She hoped that the CDC place everyone was talking about would have a good place to sleep. Away from everybody else. She hated the lack of privacy at the camp. It reminded her of her bedroom at home.

Gazing out the window, Rosie's eyes widened as they pulled up in front of the CDC. There was a big huge parking lot and a long road. Dead bodies were everywhere.

The stench of rotting flesh bombarded Rosie's senses when she stepped out of the car. She swung her backpack over her shoulders before pulling the neckline of her shirt up over her nose.

Shane showed up behind Rosie, a gun in his hand. "Stay close," he said to her. Rosie rolled her eyes, but he didn't see.

Everyone coughed as the awful smell entered their noses. The group began maneuvering their way through the parking lot, careful not to step on any of the rotting bodies.

Noticing that Daryl had his crossbow at the ready, Rosie reached for her pocket knife, just in case. She kept it closed, fiddling with it in her fingers, but she wanted to have it in hand, at the ready. It provided some sort of comfort as they walked through the graveyard of a parking lot. She didn't want to get her dad's gun out yet, though. She was scared that if she did, someone would take it.

Shane stayed by Rosie's side the entire time. Rosie didn't know why he did it. She thought he ought to have hated her by then, just like she hated him.

Once they made it to the big doors, Shane finally split from Rosie, going up to the doors with Rick. He pushed and banged on the metal, but there was no response.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog said. There was a short silence after that, aside from the sound of everyone's heavy breathing and the incessant buzzing of flies.

"Then why are the shutters down?" Rick reasoned. It was clear by his voice that he was in distress, even if what he was saying gave hope.

"Walkers!" Daryl suddenly shouted, alerting the rest of the group and getting his crossbow ready. Rosie turned around quickly and flicked open her knife. She didn't plan on having to use it, knowing that the adults with guns would probably kill all of them, but you couldn't never be too careful.

Rosie scrunched her eyebrows together when she heard the sound of Carl and Sophia whimpering. Hadn't they seen a walker before? Why were they crying?

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl shouted angrily.

"He made a call," Dale defended.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl said, holding his crossbow up and stepping closer to Rick.

Shane marched up to him "Just shut up! You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" he said, pushing Daryl backwards. Rosie thought he should have known by then that touching people only got them more riled up, especially having been a cop. Shane turned back to Rick. "Rick, this is a dead end. Do you hear me? No blame."

"We can't be this close to the city after dark!" Lori added in, sounding panicked.

"Fort Benning, Rick. Still an option," Shane said. Rosie had never heard of Fort Benning before. She wondered why they would go there, but didn't bother asking anyone. It seemed like there were more pressing issues at the time. The sun was setting and they were basically in a mine field.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles," Lori said, holding Carl close to her chest. That's another thing Rosie didn't understand. Why did all of these mothers hold their children close to their chests? What did that do?

"125. I checked the map," Glenn said.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight! Now!" Lori shouted.

"We'll think of something!" Rick argued with a low growl of a voice.

Everyone started panicking, crying, and rushing back to their vehicles. Rosie didn't, though. She was too distracted by Rick, who was standing in front of a small security camera. Then she saw the camera move.

"The camera!" Rick shouted, holding a hand out to stop everyone from leaving. "It moved!"

"You imagined it," Dale dismissed him.

"It moved," Rosie confirmed as Rick began marching up towards the camera.

Shane dismissed them and kept trying to get Rick to walk away, but he wouldn't. He kept staring into the small camera. He started banging on the door. They watched as he began screaming into the camera. "I know you're in there. I know you can hear me! Please! We're desperate! Please help us! We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left!"

"Rick! There's nobody here!" Lori tried to stop him.

"The camera was movin'. I saw it," Rosie snapped at her, getting frustrated and overwhelmed with all of the noise. People were yelling and screaming and she was already overwhelmed with the constant buzzing of the flies. Shane stood in front of her, shaking his head and blocking her view of Rick and Lori. This made her even more pissed off.

"We have nowhere else to go! Please! If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please! You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick continued screaming.

When Shane finally got Rick to turn around and walk away, the door suddenly opened. A bright light shined from it, burning all of their eyes.

Rosie thought it looked like an alien spaceship.