Deckard Shaw always considered himself a hard man. A hard man, but a fair man. He had made his way up in the backstreets and criminal enterprises of the south two decades earlier. He was the son of a prostitute, and was never supposed to go far in life.

But he was a fighter, a spitter, and a shitter. After a stint in the army he returned to civilian life and quickly rose through the ranks of the established crime syndicates in Atlanta, before he went to war with them. He had a sixth sense with people and surrounded himself throughout the late eighties with loyal, strong men, and through a bloody shit fight he emerged as Atlanta's top dog.

He then waited. He sent out emissaries to the other six large bosses in the south and expressed his desire for peace, to maintain their respective territories and for everyone to continue getting richer, without drawing the attention of the FBI.

The other bosses were no fools, they watched and they waited, but for a decade Shaw made no moves on their territories.

He had no interest in narcotics or prostitution, but made his fortune through protection rackets, loan sharking to wannabe gangsters, and extorting crooked officials and politicians. His ranks swelled with strong and loyal men, and they were remunerated handsomely, buying even more loyalty.

He broke bread with the other bosses and expanded into the security game, providing security for celebrities, clubs and casinos. His men were so good they were even hired by other families until in 1998 he provided the security for every main family in the south. Then, on a day known as the bloody ninth of November, he took it all.

Orders were dispatched and in one fell swoop every single mob boss from Texas to the Carolinas was wiped out. In a single night he became the biggest and undisputed kingpin of the south.

He didn't rest on his laurels though, and when particularly special young men were brought to his attention, young men who he could tell were fiercely loyal and who possessed a particular set of skills, he paid attention.

One such young man was stood in front of him right now, in his office

Twelve months before the fall.

"You sure about this, Y/N? Once it's done there's no going back" Mr Shaw asked, looking at his youngest employee.

Y/N stood next to Deckard, towering above the man, as he did, with a silenced nine mm in his hand. In front of him was a jagoff from New York, one of the families henchmen, and he'd come down to Atlanta to throw his weight around and try and intimidate his way to a meeting with the top man. A typical Northern attempt at intimidation that failed to work in the south.

He'd made an impression, placing a car bomb under one of Shaw's company cars and killing four of his best men. It had worked in a way, he had got a meeting with the top guy, but probably not how he wanted.

He was currently on his knees, surrounded by plastic sheeting, with a gagball in his mouth. He was trying to plead his way out but all that could be heard was "mmm mmm mmmmm mmm."

Y/N looked down at the man. He was a walking stereotype from the track pants, to the wifebeater, to the fanny pack. He was looking up at Y/N with pleading eyes, begging for his life.

"So this maggot killed Owen and Georgie?" Y/N asked angrily.

"As well as Rick and Carlos. Two men you didn't know, but they had families. So are you sure, once you take a life you-"

Before Deckard could finish, Y/N had fired his silenced handgun four times, once in each shoulder and once in each thigh. The man had collapsed to the ground, rolling in pain and crying out in muffled screams. Y/n said with no emotion:

"A bullet for each man."

He fired again, three shots to the chest, killing the man in a manner of moments. He looked down at the life he had just taken as Deckard patted him on the shoulder.

"Well done" Deckard smiled as Y/N handed the silenced gun to a long haired man in the room.

"I have others who will handle clean up. Here this is for you."

He handed Y/N a thick, sealed envelope, stuffed to capacity.

"$10,000 in cash for the contract on this maggot's head. Should help you get ahead with Mrs L/N's surgery. How's she coming along?"

"Good, as good as can be. In my downtime on Monday I have to call in to the Cancer specialists. They need to take more of my blood and marrow, but-"

"Jesus, again? Take the rest of the day off, son. That would wipe you out."

"No sir, I'll be fine for my security detail Monday night" Y/N replied.

Deckard chuckled and shook his head. He knew and trusted Y/N. One of the things that made men like Y/N achieve greatness was they had no notion of switching off. He smiled and continued.

"As you know on Fridays Franky doesn't work. You have been taking shooting lessons, which have gone well, but with your exemplary work just now, you've graduated to Fixer. This man will be your Friday partner-" Shaw smiled, holding out his hand to the long haired man who stood silently in the corner.

"This is Vincent Vega."

Y/N nodded before he was dismissed, leaving Deckard's office and looking down. His right hand, the hand he had just used to execute someone, was shaking like a leaf.

—~—

The group had been on the run for close to two days since the close call at the CDC.  They had decided to cut down on vehicles, leaving the spare pick up, T-Dog's church van and Shane's jeep.

Daryl was riding Merle's bike, Shane was in the RV, and T-Dog had taken Andrea's spot in the Impala, Andrea moving over to the RV.

Amy had been shocked when Andrea told her about her and Dale. Happy for her sister but shocked nonetheless. Both sisters had been embarrassed when Clementine mentioned walking in on both of them, particularly teasing Amy about being a screamer.

The group were still doing ok on petrol, thanks to Y/N's trick with the pump a few days prior, and so siphoned as much as they could from the other vehicles, topping  up the ones they were keeping and filling up gas cans with the rest.

As they worked Dale walked up to Y/N and asked to speak to him alone. Y/N nodded and followed Dale away from the others, when they got out of earshot Y/N asked:

"So is this about what you needed to tell me before the CDC, or is this about you and Andrea?"

He chuckled as Dale got flustered.

"I just want you to know I never intended for-"

Y/N laughed.

"Dale, it's a bit absurd, me trying to give you the talk don't you think? You're both consenting adults, and shit who doesn't deserve a little happiness given the state of play on any given Sunday?"

Dale smiled at Y/N's relaxed acceptance before it faded from his face and the real matter at hand came to the surface.

"I need to talk to you about Shane, Y/N."

Y/N sighed. He had noticed a distinct change in his friend since Rick's return, which all but cemented his theory as to the nature of Shane and Lori's relationship.

"Yeah?" Y/N asked with apprehension.

"Look I appreciate everything he's done for us, but I just... the other day after M... after your grandmother's funeral, Rick and Shane went out on a sweep. I followed them. They had an argument and then heard a noise. Rick went forward to investigate and Shane pointed his gun at Rick's back."

Dale hesitated, waiting for the weight of his words to register with Y/N. When his reaction didn't change Dale reiterated:

"The look on his face. You've gotta believe me he was a moment away from pulling the trigger before he lowered it. I've known men like him before..."

"I do believe you, Dale, but I was taught by a good man about controlling emotional responses. It seems I haven't been doing enough of it lately... I've been worried about Shane, too. I'll keep a close eye on him and have a word to Rick when I can. Thanks for letting me know"

Dale nodded and smiled, relieved Y/N had listened. He wanted to add one more thing though, and said as Y/N walked away:

"I wouldn't trust him around my wife."

Y/N stopped momentarily turning his head to the side and nodding, before heading back to the others. Y/N arrived at the Impala and kissed Amy before getting in the driver's seat, Amy next to him and Clementine and T-Dog in the back. The convoy began driving and Amy looked over at Y/N worriedly:

"Everything ok with Dale, babe?"

Y/N's eyes shot up quickly to the rear view. He trusted T-Dog, but he wasn't about to speak plainly in front of him.

"Yeah, just wanted to talk about potential risks and how we can minimise them. Try our best to keep everyone safe" Y/N smiled. It seemed to placate everyone, though he noticed a worried look on Clementine's face.

The convoy continued to drive along, the RV at the front, Y/N behind him, Daryl next and then Rick at the rear.

Rick and Lori were talking about a vomit filled trip towards the Grand Canyon, Shane was showing Glenn how to strip and clean a handgun, and Andrea was sat next to Dale, up the front of the RV, exchanging happy smiles and reddened cheeks. Dale suddenly honked his horn and slowed the RV down, the group hitting a massive snarl of cars faced haphazardly across the interstate they were travelling.

"Oh jeez. Aw no. See a way through?" Dale asked.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass-" Andrea began suggesting but Dale shook his head.

"We can't spare the fuel" he said sadly. The tanks were down to about half, the RV was a guzzler and though valuable for how many people it could contain, it was a constant stress for parts and petrol.

"Can we get through here?" Glenn asked, walking up to the front of the RV. Almost on cue the radiator hose snapped,steam hissing as the RV came to an instant halt.

Y/N gently brought the impala to a stop and Daryl rode up next to him.

"I'll ride up, see what's going on" Daryl said to a nod and a thumbs up.

Daryl had ridden up as Dale stood in front of the RV, lifting the hood and waiting for the rest of the hot radiator fluid to drain out.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times, dead in the water" Dale said angered at his vehicular issues.

"Problem Dale?" Shane chuckled.

"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of- okay, that was dumb." Dale said as he turned, looking around at the car graveyard around them.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane chuckled.

Daryl had signalled to the other two cars to come up and they arrived as Shane finished speaking. Daryl added:

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find."

"Food, water, maybe medicine, Clothes. If it looks useful, take it" Y/N said calmly.

"We can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start" T-Dog smiled.

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this" Lori replied. Y/N gave her a look.

"Lori, this is about survival. Life and death. Do you want to feel good and have Carl go hungry, or feel bad and let him sleep with a full belly?"

"Now hold on-" Rick started to say before Y/N held up a hand.

"No, Rick. I'm not being rude, but it's how it is now. When we escaped Atlanta, after the military base fell, we watched hundreds of people massacred by the dead because they went on the right side of the highway and got stuck, while we drove right on out on the left side of the road."

"What's that got to-"

Rick was again cut off, this time by an angry Clementine:

"What it's got to do with now, knucklehead, is that Y/N is a explaining that you can stick to a world that's gone and die, or do what you have to and live! We need to take what we can, when we can, especially for the kids' sake."

Rick and Lori were speechless and nodded, Y/N smirked to Clementine who responded with a wink.

"Come on y'all. Look around, gather what you can. Watch out that any dead in the cars are really dead, and you kids stick with an adult, ok?" Y/N called out.

Carl and Sophia nodded. The group split to look through cars. Carol and Sophia headed with Y/N and Amy, who headed back towards the Impala. T-Dog, Daryl, Rick, Lori and Carl headed in the opposite direction, walking further out forwards, while Shane, Andrea and Clementine checked the vehicles closest to the RV. Glenn stayed with Dale, working on the RV. They stood in front of the radiator and Glenn asked going through the toolbox:

"Hey, which one?"

"Flathead. Radiator hose clamp is always a flathead. Here, you do it. Learn something" Dale smiled.

Meanwhile, Y/N, Amy, Carol and Sophia were going through the cars at their end. Carol had taken a suitcase out of a boot and held a red shirt against herself smiling.

She looked up embarrassed at Y/N and Amy smiling at her. She explained:

"Ed never let me wear nice things like this. We're going to need clothes."

"We are" Amy agreed. Y/N said calmly:

"I'll never apologise for my actions, Carol. But I am sorry for causing you distress."

Carol smiled.

"You never owe me any kind of apology, Y/N."

—~—

Dale had gone on top of the RV as a lookout while Glenn had joined Shane, Clementine and Andrea searching around cars near them.

"Ugh, it's no good. I need to pee" Clementine sighed, turning round and returning to the RV. In truth she wanted to be nowhere near Shane. Andrea agreed though adding:

"I'll come with you."

The two entered and Clementine went to the toilet cubicle, Andrea sitting at the table.

"So how are things with Dale?" Clementine asked, causing Andrea to blush.

—~—

Shane came up to a water delivery truck, opening the side door and smiling.

"Glenn. Were we short on water?" he asked. Two dozen six gallon unopened water containers were in the truck's compartment, and the truck had four of them.

"Hey, save me some" Glenn laughed excitedly as Shane opened a bottle, drinking from it and letting it gush over his head.

"It's like being baptized man" Shane laughed before Rick called out:

"Oh, Christ. Lori under the cars. Under the cars. Everyone get down now!"

—~—

Y/N had jimmied open a locked boot when a horrible stench hit his nose. He turned to look in the direction they had come from and his eyes widened in horror.

A horde had approached them, hundreds deep, and it was closing in fast.

"Amy, Carol, Sophia, get under the cars! Now!" He whisper shouted. As they saw what he saw and jumped under the closest vehicle. Y/N quickly pulled a wrench from the boot he'd  opened and threw it towards the RV as hard as he could, trying to get the others attention, before he rolled under a car next to Amy. She looked at him terrified but felt reassured as he put a finger to her lips. She nodded.

Behind Amy under the car to their left Carol was laid covering her mouth to hide her terrified whimpers. Y/N made eye contact and held a finger to his lips. She nodded but pointed to Y/N. He was puzzled before he realised she was pointing behind him.

Y/N rolled over slowly and silently and saw Sophia, hiding under a car to their right by herself.

The girl looked at Y/N frantically and all he could do was to put one finger to his lips, and try to placate with his other hand outstretched, praying she would be able to stay calm as the first walkers began to shuffle past them.

—~—

T-Dog was going through cars with Daryl, about ten feet from each other, when he found a packet of smokes in a glovebox. He smiled before a cold chill ran down his spine as he looked in the back seat, a baby seat sat there covered in blood and viscera.

"Psst" he heard behind him, looking at Daryl who motioned back to the group, at the horde which was nearly on them. T-Dog hid behind a car but slipped, a jagged metal edge of a broken car door slicing down and deep into his arm.

T-Dog stifled a scream and ran, leaving a blood trail behind him before he was grabbed by Daryl. Daryl shoved him into a car and closed the door behind him before grabbing a corpse and lying down, pulling it on top of himself to hide his scent as walkers began to amble past him.

—~—

Andrea was sat at the RV's table when she suddenly heard groans... lots of them. She began to move forward to shut the RV door before a decaying hand grabbed the door frame. She backed up quickly and opened the toilet door, surprising Clementine who was just pulling up her pants.

"Walkers" Andrea whispered fearfully as she closed the door behind her.

—~—

Y/N was pleading with Sophia with his eyes, begging her to remain calm and quiet. She began to sob in terror, and then screamed as a walker fell next to the car. It turned to face her and growled, reaching for her, and Sophia cried louder as she rolled over and out from under the car.

As soon as she did she caught the attention of close to a dozen walkers near her, screaming louder and running away from the road, down the incline next to the highway, and away into the forest that was next to the road. The walkers followed, some falling down the incline and some simply walking down it, but all were after the screaming girl.

Without thinking Y/N rolled out from under the car and grabbed the back of the head of the walked that reached under the car. He smashed it downwards three times with force, the skull cracking open and leaking blood and brains everywhere. In a moment Y/N was on his feet, leaping over the closest bollard with ease and running down the hill and into the forest in the direction Sophia had ran.

—~—

Most of the walkers had continued passed the group along the snarled up highway, but the one in the RV remained. The two frightened women were stood in the toilet, but Andrea in her fear accidentally elbowed the flimsy door, alerting the walker to their presence.

It growled and smashed on the door trying to gain access to devour the women inside. They both screamed and tried their best to hold the door closed. Dale was still on the roof and looked down in terror feeling unable to help until he noticed a small fly screen latch on the roof connecting down to the toilet. He desperately ripped the fly screen and managed to get a corner up, dropping a screwdriver to Clementine who caught it, pulled the door open, and slammed it into the walker's skull, killing it easily.

—~—

The group were emerging from their hidey-holes, Carol rushing to Amy terrified:

"Amy, walkers are after my baby."

"I know, I know. Y/N went straight after them. Let's get to the others" Amy replied, terrified not just for Sophia but for her fiancée as well.

—~—

Y/N took down one walker with a knife to the base of the skull, the others continuing to chase the screaming girl. She was slow, the brush thick under her feet, and loud, as she was unable to hide her fear. Y/N caught sight of her blue shirt ahead, taking off faster, shoving the walkers in front of him to the ground to close the distance.

Maybe it was because they seemed fresh turns, maybe because of their terrified prey, but these walkers seemed faster than normal, and there was close to a dozen of them. Y/N willed himself forward, getting close to the girl and whisper-shouting:

"Sophia!"

Getting the frightened girl's attention. He grabbed her hand and she panicked reaching for the gun on his hip:

"Shoot them, shoot them!" She whimpered, but Y/N stopped her.

"No, too many, too much noise- the big group on the road would come back. We've got to go, now!"

He scooped the girl up bridal style and turned around- the walkers were close, spread out to corner them but not far enough to rush through the gap unharmed, not with a girl in his arms.

Y/N decided quickly to turn and run further into the forest. After about five minutes he came across a small shallow river. He placed Sophia down and jumped in, holding his arms out to her and carried her again several feet until he saw a gnarled mess of roots and bushes leaning into the water. He placed Sophia down.

"Sophia, you have to do exactly as I say. Hide in there. Squeeze in tight. I'll draw them away from you."

"No, no don't leave me" Sophia begged. Y/N spoke quickly and firmly, trying to be reassuring at the same time to make the frightened girl understand him:

"Listen listen listen. They don't get winded. I do. I can only deal with them one at a time. I wouldn't be able to protect you. Not against that many."

Sophia nodded her head as he continued:

"This is how we both survive. You understand? Okay, if I don't make it back, run back to the highway, back to the others straight the way we came. Keep the sun on your left shoulder. I promise I'll be back for you. Be quiet as you can."

Sophia nodded from the darkness of her cover.

And Y/N jumped out the water to stand face on to the approaching walking corpses:

"Come on! You ugly son of a bitch. Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!"

He ran backwards, waiting just enough for the first one to get to him, stabbing it through the temple and catching a spray of blood for his trouble.

—~—

An hour had passed. An out of breath Y/N was at the spot he left Sophia with Rick, Shane, Daryl and Glenn. Y/N was covered in blood.

"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked. Y/N nodded.

"I left her right here. I drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek."

"Without a paddle- seems where we've landed" Daryl replied.

"She was gone by the time I got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder" Y/N added, a fear gripping his chest the likes of which he hadn't felt before. Daryl followed the way Y/N pointed only to find Glenn standing there.

"Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail."

"Assuming she knows her left from her right" Shane added dismissively. Y/N's lip curled.

"Shane, she understood me fine."

Shane sighed at his friend. He hadn't meant it as an insult. He replied with a calmer tone:

"I just meant the kid's tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck."

Daryl was looking at the ground and the direction Y/N had told Sophia to go:

"Got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway. Let's spread out, make our way back."

Y/N was helped up out of the river bed by Shane, and said relieved to the others.

"She couldn't have gone far. We're gonna find her."

Shane nodded.

"She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere."

"You did the only thing you could, Y/N. That many walkers... not many choices available" Rick added, seeing the guilt etched on Y/N's face.

Daryl spoke up as he continued tracking:

"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off" Shane pondered.

"A walker? One veer off from the pack that were chasing you?" Glenn asked Y/N. Daryl answered abruptly:

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers."

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked. Rick went to answer, Y/N getting in first.

"No, better if you, Rick and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm."

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied. Come on" Shane replied. Rick though hesitated.

"You sure you don't want to come back and I'll go with Daryl? You look exhausted, Y/N."

Y/N shook his head.

"It's on me this little girl is out here. I need to keep looking."

Rick sighed and nodded.

—~—

The group at the highway were busy moving cars, using Carol's to push them off the highway to clear enough room for Dale to turn the RV around. Carol stood with her arms crossed against her chest, looking out towards the forest.

"Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?"

Dale answered calmly, hoping to calm the woman but understanding he wouldn't be able to:

"We have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running. Now that we have that extra fuel we can double back to a bypass that Andrea flagged on the map."

"Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess" Shane replied as he pushed a car out the way behind the wheel of Carol's.

"We're not going anywhere till my daughter gets back" Carol snapped.

"Hey, that goes without saying" Amy sad with a sad smile as she rubbed Carol's arm supportively.

Rick turned around from pushing a car with Glenn and smiled:

"Y/N and Daryl, they're on it, okay? Just a matter of time."

"Can't be soon enough for me. I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by, or whatever you'd call it" Clementine added as she stopped next to Amy and wiped sweat off her brow.

"Yeah, what was that? All of them just marching along like that" Amy asked.

"A herd. That sounds about right. We've seen it. It's like the night camp got attacked. Some wandering pack, only fewer. Okay. Come on, people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it. Let's go, come on" Rick replied.

—~—

Daryl and Y/N were walking through the forest still. Y/N looked down in concern.

"Tracks are gone."

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone. She came through here" Daryl replied, pointing forward.

"How can you tell? I don't see anything. Just dirt and grass."

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl chuckled.

—~—

On the highway the group continued looting through cars and moving others. Rick, Glenn and Y/N's three girls were at one end, Shane, Carl and Lori were at the other while T-Dog rested his arm and Dale kept watch on top of the RV, just in case the heard had turned back. Carl pulled a pack out of a truck and excitedly ran back to his mom and Shane. Lori was searching a car, Shane was under the hood of another.

"Shane" he said as he ran up.

"Carl, what happened?" Lori panicked.

"Mom, I found something cool. Shane, check it out. It's an arsenal."

Carl laid out the weapons proud of himself.

He looked to Shane for praise, instead hearing:

"That's cool, bud. Go give 'em to Dale."

Carl wouldn't be discouraged though, picking out a small axe and swinging it.

"Check this one out. Whoa, it's a hatchet."

"Be careful. Don't play with those" Lori reprimanded.

"They're really sharp" Carl said happily, ignoring his mother.

"What did I just say?" Lori snapped.

"Can I keep one?" Carl asked happily.

"Are you crazy? No, Carl of course you can't" Lori answered again, this time angrily.

"No way. Shane. Shane, tell her to let me keep one" Carl said looking to Shane for support. Instead he was snapped at.

"Hey, man, go give them all to Dale now. Go!"

Carl wrapped up the weapons pack and walked off heartbroken and Lori looked at her former lover furious.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"The way you blew him off just now. You crushed him."

Shane ignored her, loading a suitcase onto the back seat of the car he was working on. Lori continued, angered.

"I don't believe you. You're giving me the cold shoulder?" she asked in disbelief.

"Isn't that what you want? Aren't you the one who said stay the hell away from him and you?" Shane replied.

"You forget what happened at the CDC? Your little meltdown in the rec room slip your mind? When you tried-"

She was cut off fiercely.

"When I tried to what?!? What do you think that was?"

"I think it is pretty plain what that was. Something I had to beg Clementine not to tell Y/N and Rick about. How do you think that would have ended?"

Shane's lip curled before he managed to just pull himself back.

"It was a mistake. One that I admit to. I have a few mistakes under my belt, Lori. So do you."

"No debate there. But Shane, we need to stop this."

"Why do you think I'm prepping my new ride? I'm leaving" Shane shot back. Worry quickly replaced anger on Lori's face:

"Leaving?"

"As in gone for good. Gonna quietly slip away first chance I get"

Lori continued to look in shock. Shane got in the car and turned the key, the ignition starting and the radio coming to life.

The emergency alert system has been activated. The Office of Civil Defense has issued the following message: Normal broadcasting will cease immediately. This is a civil emergency.

"Is that a local signal?" Glenn asked as he approached with Rick.

"It's got to be within 50 miles of here" Rick added.

Avoid anyone infected at all costs. Remain calm. Help is on the way. The emergency alert system has been activated.

"Asshole. Okay, let's get back to work" Shane muttered as he turned the car off.

—~—

Y/N and Daryl continued to walk through the forest, following the trail Daryl had found. They ducked down, a lone walker in their path. Daryl pointed in one direction, then the other, Y/N nodded and headed off to the left. He quickly got in front of the walker and whistled, getting its attention. The walker growled and took a step before collapsing from an arrow in the head.

Daryl and Y/N both reached the walker at the same time. Daryl yelled out "Sophia!" as Y/N leant down, pulling his knife from its sheath and poking the walker in the stomach with it.

"What you thinking?" Daryl asked.

"That there's only one way to know if this thing was near Sophia... get ready for the smell."

"Here, I'll do it. How many kills you skin and gut in your life?" Daryl chuckled. Y/N looked at him and replied: "none."

It made Daryl pause. The look in Y/N's eyes... no kills... or kills he gutted. Daryl shook his head as if to banish the thought:

"Anyway, mine is sharper. Now comes the bad part."

He sliced across the walker's stomach, surprised Y/N gave no reaction. Y/N noticed his face and chuckled:

"Atlanta, when we met Rick. We had a crazy idea to get out. Cut open one of these fuckers and gut up. It worked, til it rained."

It was Daryl's turn to chuckle.

"You're a crazy son of a bitch ain't ya. For what it's worth you did the right thing with the girl. That many bodies you left behind, no way you can keep a little girl safe at the same time. Sometimes you got a shitstorm behind door A and a storm of shit behind door B."

"Yeah, for a right call though it feels really fucking shitty."

Daryl nodded and surprised Y/N, patting him on the shoulder.

"Let's get this done."

They sliced into the disgusting formerly undead creature, its half rotten innards slopping down next to its corpse. The smell made both men almost gag. Daryl sliced again, opening the stomach, or as he called it "gut bag" and his knife pulled out a chunk of meat and fur.

"Yeah, Hoss had a big meal not long ago. This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch."

Y/N sighed and stood.

"At least we know."

"At least we know" Daryl reiterated. He was genuinely beginning to like the man next to him. He, along with Rick, was one of the first people in Daryl's life he felt no kind of preconceived judgments or looks of condescension from. When they looked at Daryl they saw a man. Nothing more. Nothing less. Daryl liked that, Daryl appreciated that. And Daryl could currently see the man next to him was torn apart with guilt for something he had no choice but to do.

—~—

The group on the highway were currently laying out all the food, water and supplies they had managed to scavenge from the vehicular knarl up and it was a quite substantial haul. Carol still stood with her arms wrapped around herself as Andrea and Amy approached.

"It's late. Gonna be dark soon" Carol said to the sisters with despair in her voice. Amy hugged her while Andrea said with audible determination:

"They'll find her. I know what kind of man Y/N is, he's a man that won't stop for people he cares about... the things I've seen him do... he cares about Sophia. I promise you."

Carol nodded as Amy looked away and wiped her eyes, the emotions of the day taking their toll on her. Andrea walked back to the door of the RV where Dale stood and wrapped her arms around his waist, surprising most of the others who weren't aware of their growing relationship. Dale kissed Andrea on the head. Some were shocked. Some smiled. Glenn said loudly:

"Oh God, they're back."

Y/N and Daryl walked up, Y/N still covered in thick dried walker blood. Both men looked exhausted.

"You didn't find her?" Carol sobbed. Y/N looked at her with eyes full of guilt.

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods."

Daryl immediately moved to Y/N's defence, trying to explain to the mother who was clearly worried out of her mind.

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" Carol almost screamed. Y/N began to stammer.

"I-I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there."

"And we tracked her for a while" Daryl added.

"We've gotta make this organised. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I asked him to oversee it" Y/N said, again with a tone of deference to Daryl's tracking skills. Carol looked to the experienced woodsman.

"Is that blood?"

Y/N sighed.

"We took down a walker. Not one of the ones who chased Sophia into the woods. A different one."

"Walker? Oh my God" Carol gasped, collapsing down onto the roadside fence. Lori sat next to her.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia" Y/N said in an effort to calm the distraught mother.

"How can you know that?" Clementine asked her friend with a confused tone. Y/N looked at her, before he and Daryl looked at each other. Daryl leant down towards Carol and said gently:

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure."

"Oh God" Carol sobbed in revulsion before she looked at Y/N with hatred in her eyes.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?"

Y/N dropped to a knee to get down to the mother's level and answer her.

"Carol... there were a dozen walkers on us. I had to get space to take them down and I couldn't protect her while I did that. I had to draw them off to... I promise it was her best chance."

Y/N's voice had a distinct tone of regret and self revulsion in it, one that broke Amy's heart to hear.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol. I don't think there's another man here who could have done what he did, taking down that many walkers" Shane added, going in to bat for his friend. He noticed a glare from Clementine he ignored. Carol though was far from convinced.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child."

"It-It was my only option. The only choice I could make" Y/N answered, sounding on the point of breaking. Everything Carol was throwing at him, he had already thrown at himself all afternoon. He'd looked in that little girl's eyes and promised her she'd be safe. He'd walked off and left her. If something had happened to her that blood was on his hands.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that" Rick stated. He could see the self hatred and guilt all over his younger friend's face. He would have ran after her himself if he had known, but they were too far away and it was too late by the time they had heard what happened. In truth he looked at Y/N with a mixture of awe and fear... to have taken down that many walkers single handed. Y/N was a man not to be fucked with, that was for certain.

"My little girl got left in the woods" Carol sobbed as she broke down. Clementine sat on the other side of Carol and she and Lori tried to comfort the woman.

It was too much for Y/N and he stood and walked off, away from the group. Amy rubbed his shoulder on the way passed, shocked when he pulled away from her. She watched upset as he walked off with his hands on his head.

—~—

It had been another uncomfortable night in the car, for Amy and Clementine at any rate. Amy had placed the passenger seat back, and Clementine had laid across the backseat, her 5'3" frame fitting across rather easily.

Andrea had taken to sleeping next to Dale in the RV, and Y/N hadn't returned to the group. Rick had carried a water bottle, one of the six gallon ones, to him to wash off at Amy's request.

She had taken him some food and sat with him but he had said very little and refused to come back to the group, staying on guard in case Sophia made it back. He was currently stood next to Daryl at the bonnet of one of the cars. He had washed off and currently had one of his specialised tops from work on.

It was skin tight and covered well, but was breezy and the material breathed, allowing its wearer to not overheat from exertion. Amy had no idea what Y/N needed clothes like that for at work, but she knew he couldn't talk about a lot so didn't ask.

"Everybody takes a weapon" Rick said as he rolled out the cache Carl had found the previous day.

"These are your first port of call if we encounter any walkers out there. A single bullet fired at the wrong time, say there's a herd that happens to be passing by. It's then game over for all of us. Do not fire unless absolutely necessary."

Following the lecture Daryl spoke up.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other" Rick added.

"Everybody assemble your packs. Keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move" Shane said, looking at Dale. Y/N had stood leaning on the car with his head down the whole time. Amy wanted to hug him, to console him, but he had pulled away completely. First it was Nanna, now Sophia... the guilt of losses Y/N blamed himself for was tearing him apart inside. Dale answered Shane:

"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to. Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."

Rick and Lori approached him with their son. Rick spoke:

"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone?"

"I'm going with you. You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible" Carl argued. Lori looked at her husband.

"Your call. I can't always be the bad guy."

Dale chuckled:

"Well, he has all of you to look after him. I'd say he's in good hands."

"Okay. Okay. But always within our sight, no exceptions" Rick said relenting to his son. Carl nodded happily as Dale winked at the boy. Andrea was next to approach. The two smiled and shared a kiss.

"Please be careful out there" Dale said sweetly. Andrea nodded:

"I will. Look after T-Dog for us."

"I will" Dale smiled back.

—~—

The group was walking through the woods. Y/N was up the front with Daryl and Rick. Y/N's girls, as Clementine had labelled the three of them, were in the middle. Carl and Lori were at the back with Shane. Carl excitedly pulled the knife from his belt.

"Shane, look. Dad said I could carry it and mom said as long as I was-"

"Keep it down. We're looking for Sophia. You need to focus on the task" Shane replied harshly, cutting him off. Carl's head dropped as Lori stopped and smiled at him:

"Got to keep up."

"I am."

"You okay?"

"I think Shane's mad at me. Did I do something wrong?"

"No. No, honey, I promise you. He's just- he's worried about Sophia, that's all. Come on" Lori smiled.

—~—

The group had arrived at a tent in the woods.

"She could be in there" Y/N whispered.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there" Daryl replied. Rick motioned to Carol.

"Carol. Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."

Carol braced herself and sang out sweetly:

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy. Daryl? Daryl?"

She called out to the hunter as he and Y/N got close with their knives in hand. Daryl had slowly opened the tent's flap, and the stench had quickly hit them. Its occupant had been in there for a long time.

"It ain't her. Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?"

They suddenly jumped, church bells ringing out in the distance. Y/N bolted towards them.

"He goin' in the right direction?" Shane asked as they ran behind Y/N.

"I think that so. Damn, it's hard to tell out here" Rick replied.

"If we heard them, maybe Sophia did too" Carol hoped.

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others" Clementine added.

"Or signaling they found her" Amy said with a smile.

"She could be ringing them herself. Come on" Rick said to the others who were falling behind.

—~—

On the highway Dale was on lookout on top of the RV. T-Dog looked up at him.

"Ain't you supposed to be fixing that radiator? What if they come back with Sophia and Rick wants to move on right away?"

"I had it fixed yesterday" Dale answered looking down.

"What? What was all that rubbing and sanding for then? That just bullshit?"

"Yeah, that's one word. Another word would be pantomime- just for show. No one else needs to know that."

"Pantomime" T-Dog chuckled.

"If the others know we're mobile, they'll want to mobilize and move on."

"So you don't think they're gonna find Sophia, that it?"

"I'm just guarding against the worst. Sooner or later, if she's not found, people will start doing math. I want to hold off the needs-of-the-many-versus-the-needs-of-the-few arguments as long as I can."

"That is one tricky hose, huh?" T-Dog asked with a sly smile.

"Very" Dale answered happily.

—~—

Y/N emerged into a clearing first, joined next by Rick and Shane.

"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells. Y/N?" Shane asked as Y/N marched forward. He got to the doors and was joined by the others. Daryl got into position next to him and Y/N held his finger up to his lips. Daryl nodded and Y/N pulled the door open and sighed.

There was no Sophia but there was four walkers sat among the pews. They turned and stood as the doors opened, Y/N, Rick, Shane and Daryl easily disposing of one each. Y/N turned and stormed out the church, yelling at the top of his lungs:

"Sophia!!!"

Daryl meanwhile looked up at the Crucified Lord in front of him.

"Yo, J.C., you taking requests?"

Shane followed Y/N outside.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Y/N. There's no steeple"

The bells went off again and the group ran round the side of the building, Glenn ripping the guts out of an electrical box on the wall, and the bells stopped instantly.

"A timer. It's on a timer" Daryl said to the others. Carol sighed.

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit."

All the others joined her, except for Andrea who silently sat at the side of the church resting, and Shane and Lori. Lori looked at him as the doors closed.

"Are you really leaving?"

"Don't you think it's best for all of us?"

"I think it is. What made you decide?"

"Gotta back away. Just trying to be the good guy here, Lori, even if you don't see it. None of this was intended. I hope you know that. Well, don't matter. As long as I said it."

"You're just gonna disappear? You're not even gonna tell Rick?"

"He'd only try to stop me. No, that's on you. You tell him what you want. Or tell him nothing at all. You're his wife."

"And Carl? We dragged him into this."

"I love Carl" Shane shot back.

"He thinks you hate him."

"I'm trying to put some distance. I'm trying to make this easier. This ain't easy on any of us, least of all me. I'm the one who loses you."

Andrea listened in from round the side of the church, horrified. Inside the church Carol was stood in front of the statue of a crucified Christ.

"Father, forgive me. I don't deserve your mercy. I prayed for safe passage from Atlanta and you provided. I prayed for Ed to be punished for laying his hands on me and for looking at his own daughter with whatever sickness was growing in his soul."

"Christ" Y/N whispered from a few pews back, leaning on the row in front of him, his head in his hands. Clementine looked at him with significant empathy as Amy wrapped her arms around his giant frame. Carol continued:

"I prayed you'd put a stop to it, give me a chance to raise her right, help her not make my mistakes. She's so fearful. She's so young in her way. She hasn't had a chance. Praying for Ed's death was a sin. Please, don't let this be my punishment. Let her be safe, alive and safe. Please, lord. Punish me however you want, but show mercy on her."

—~—

"Got to move here, fellas. These people are spent. There's only so many hours of daylight left. We still got a long way back" Shane said to Y/N and Rick, who had exited the church.

"I can't stop yet" Y/N said to the others with a worried look.

"We still got a lot of ground to cover, whole other side of the Creek Bed. So we search that on the way back" Shane asked. Y/N replied.

"She would have heard those church bells. She could be nearby."

"She could be a lot of things" Shane answered quickly. Y/N stepped forward angrily and Rick quickly jumped between the two.

"I can't go back. Her being out here is my fault" Y/N snapped.

"That's great. Now they got you doubting yourself, huh?" Shane asked with as much anger.

"What about you? You doubt me?" Y/N shot back. Rick moved to be peacekeeper.

"Hey, we can assign all kinds of blame" he added. Shane sighed and turned to the others who were watching their leadership triumvirate start to turn on each other.

"Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me, Y/N and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you" Y/N replied holding his hand out to Daryl who smiled and shook it.

"I want to stay too. I'm her friend" Carl said suddenly. Lori smiled.

"Just be careful, okay? When did you start growing up?"

The others left, Amy kissing Y/N goodbye, Clementine giving him a hug. When they had gone Y/N asked:

"Give me a minute?"

The other two men nodded as Y/N entered the church and closed the doors behind him. He looked up at the statue of Jesus.

"I don't know if you're looking at me with what? Sadness? Scorn? Pity? Love? Maybe it's just indifference. I guess you already know I'm not much of a believer. After all, if you are out there how many prayers have gone unanswered in all this huh? But if you are out there... if this is punishment for the lives I took... you take it out on me! Not my Nan, not an innocent girl, me! I've done some bad shit, maybe even evil... but that little girl didn't hurt anyone... please... if someone has to pay the balance let it be me, don't let it be her..."

Y/N exited the church.

"Get what you needed?" Shane asked.

"Guess I'll find out" Y/N replied.

"Come on" Rick smiled to his son.

—~—

The rest of the group were walking through the woods. Carol asked loudly:

"So this is it? This the whole plan?"

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups" Daryl replied.

Amy took a drink of water from her bottle, handing it to Andrea. She looked across and caught Carol glaring.

"Carol, I mean this nicely, but I am sick of the looks you're giving me. All of you."

She leant down to Carol:

"Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Y/N. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make, or that anybody could have done it any differently. Anybody?"

She looked around the group and no one answered except for Clementine who smiled. Andrea patted her shoulder:

"My sister is right. Y'all are happy to look to a teenager to make all the hard calls and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."

Carol looked down guiltily. Clementine hugged her two friends and looked at Daryl.

"We should keep moving."

—~—

The three men and a boy were walking through the woods, and as they did they caught sight of a deer standing ahead of them, in a small opening of trees. Carl was mesmerised and he slowly began walking towards the animal to pet it. The two made eye contact, Carl moving slowly with a smile on his face before a gunshot went off, the deer and Carl hitting the ground.

Rick screamed "No!!!" as the three men ran forward, Carl's shirt turning red.