It had been a month since the five had escaped the fall of Atlanta, and they had made it out just in time as well. They had got turned around on the highway just after leaving southbound and instead turned to the west, up into the hills near an old quarry that had been turned into a National Park. They had quickly met with other survivors on the road, ones who had been trying to get into Atlanta and the Military camp. Y/N had warned them it had fallen that morning, and the massacre they witnessed on the bridge of evacuees.

They had watched in horror that night, still stuck on the road, as the military- or what was left of it- had carpet bombed the city. Amy cried in Y/N's arms as he watched in shock, Andrea whispered next to him: "You were right. Thank you."

She had been much better with Y/N from then on, more appreciative, noticing all that he had done protect them. They had formed a camp with the survivors they had met and most of them had grown close quickly, depending on each other for survival. Y/N had quickly become close friends and to an extent co leader of the camp with a man, a former Sheriff's Deputy named Shane Walsh.

The camp looked to the two of them, Y/N despite his age proving worthy of respect, taking responsibility for the boundaries of the camp, bringing fresh water with Shane, and going on runs with another member, Glenn Rhee, into Atlanta for supplies once the fires were extinguished.

Neither Y/N nor the others had mentioned the specifics of his former employment, other than to say once Margaret had came down with cancer that he had dropped out of school to help pay for her cancer treatment, that he had been a Jack of all trades and worked in security and in debt recovery, and he had advanced skills in shooting which was a huge bonus considering the current state of the world.

Amy, Andrea and Clementine had fallen in well with the other women in camp, and everyone helped, much to Andrea's disgust, when the women were assigned the domestic chores and the men security and resource acquisition. Margaret had fallen in well as well, but given her health she was much less relied on, but still liked to chip in where she could.

--~--

Amy walked back into camp with Clementine, the two of them with arms full of sticks they had been gathering for the camp fires. They had been collecting all day, trying to keep Amy's mind busy. YN and Glenn had gone on another run into the city that morning but had taken a number of others with them, including Andrea, and Amy didn't want to sit in her lonely tent and worry.

Most of the camp slept in tents, the five included- Clementine, Andrea and Margaret sharing a larger one and Y/N and Amy sharing a two person one. As they got near the centre of the camp and a large RV owned by an elder of the camp, Dale Horvath...

... the CB radio the group had set up started coming through. Amy rushed over to the transponder as a man's voice called out:

"...Can anyone hear me? Over..."

Amy rushed over and picked up the receiver answering:

"Hey, hello?"

"...if you can hear my voice"

"Yes I can hear you, you're coming through. Over"

"...if anybody reads, please respond. Will be.... high... 85... over."

The radio crackled with bad reception as Amy continued:

"We're just outside the city. Hello! Hello?" and as the radio did nothing but crackle she sighed "damn it" before looking over to Dale who had approached from where he sat with Margaret:

"He couldn't hear me. I couldn't warn him."

"Try to raise him again" Dale urged. "Cmon son, you know best how to raise this thing" he added as he looked to Shane. Shane dropped the axe he had been using to chop firewood and took the receiver from Amy with a smile as the two survivors he had come into camp with, Lori Grimes and her son, Carl, approached.

"Hello, hello. Is the person who called still on the air?" Shane asked, receiving nothing but crackling.

"This is Officer Shane Walsh broadcasting to person unknown. Please respond."

He waited several moments to dead radio air and turned to Dale.

"He's gone"

Dale nodded as Lori added: "There's others. It's not just us."

"We knew there would be, right? That's why we left the CB on" Shane added with his impossible to read stare.

"A lot of good it's been doing, and I've been saying for a week we ought to put signs up on 85 and warn people away from the city." Lori replied.

"Folks got no idea what they're getting into" Amy added, closing her eyes as she remembered the screams on their way out.

"Well, we haven't had time" Shane said as he stood and began to walk away.

"I think we need to make time" Lori responded again, refusing to let things go. Shane stopped and turned, rubbing his jaw:

"Yeah, that. That's a luxury we can't afford. We are surviving here. We are day to day. Your boyfriend agrees" Shane replied, finishing by looking at Amy.

"And who the hell would you propose we send?" Dale asked Lori.

"I'll go. Give me a vehicle" Lori replied angrily.

"Nobody goes anywhere alone. You know that" Shane replied firmly, looking into Lori's eyes. She backed down, angrily, and responded "yes sir" dismissively as she walked off. Carl chased after his mom, Shane stepping in front of him and saying:

"Hey hey hey, whoa just take a seat there bud. You're all right, go on. You're all right."

"Yeah, come with Clem and I, Carl. You can help us sort wood" Amy giggled as the young boy rolled his eyes in annoyance. Shane followed Lori to their tent, asking as she got to it:

"What are you pissed at me? You can be pissed at me all you want. It's not going to change anything."

He followed her into the tent and stood behind her.

"I'm not putting you in danger, ok. I'm not doing it for anything. That make you feel like sometimes you want to slap me upside the head... tell you what, girl, you feel that need you go right ahead. I'm right here, go on."

Lori turned and looked at Shane exasperated but he continued:

"You cannot walk off like that, all half cocked. Look you do not want to do it for my sake, or your sake, that's fine. But just... you do it for him. That boy has been through too much, and he's not losing his mother too. Okay?"

Lori nodded.

"You tell me ok."

Lori nodded again, but being as stubborn as she was refused to say okay like Shane wanted as the two got closer, before they leant in and began to kiss, Shane cupping Lori's head. They steadily got more passionate, but separated quickly when Carl called out: "Mom."

Shane quickly walked out as Carl got to the tent, saying "she's in there boy. She's alright."

Carl entered and Lori quickly knelt down, getting to his level.

"Hey, I don't want you to worry. Your mama's not going anywhere, okay?"

Carl nodded and smiled, and ran off to finish his chores.

--~--

Y/N and Glenn had been doing runs into Atlanta since the start. They had a way formulated, they trusted each other to watch each other's backs, and they knew to stay silent and get in and out as quickly as possible. This time they had brought others in, Y/N wasn't keen on it but he was good friends with T-Dog.

And Andrea had been at him. There was one reason in particular Andrea had been desperate to come, and Y/N had finally agreed, on the condition they do what they were told, when they were told. One particular member who had jumped in the van at the last second was sure to make that difficult though. Y/N had left the group as they looked through a department store for different items needed at camp, and had pulled out a tattered city map he had been using. He had been going block by block, checking pharmacists for what he needed. Many had been looted early on, most of the opiods and such taken, he hoped that the Imatinib he needed would be left, and this was finally his lucky day. The pharmacy, only three blocks from the department store, had three boxes on their shelves. That bought his Nanna three more months, plenty of time to keep looking for more.

He exited the pharmacy and headed down the street, taking out two walkers with the hunting knife he now kept on his belt at all times. Most of the people at camp were terrified of the walkers and wanted to be as far away from them as possible, so it fell on Y/N, Shane and a few others to take care of the problem if they arose at camp. Fortunately Y/N had become quite adept with knives before the fall, so stabbing a couple of dead fucks in the head was menial. He paused as he headed into the second place on his list and looked around. He swore he had just heard gunshots in the distance, but no. No one could be that stupid.

--~--

Glenn looked down in disbelief at what he was watching. A cop had just ridden into Atlanta, on horseback, before falling from the horse after stirring up hundreds of geeks. He'd then opened fire- shooting off his gun before disappearing into a tank. He appeared out the top a moment later before closing the hatch and disappearing inside when the dead swarmed it. Glenn turned from the dumbass before sighing and turning back. He just couldn't leave a man in a position like that. Even a really stupid one. He grabbed the walkie off his belt and began to transmit:

"Hey you. Dumbass. Yeah you in the tank. Are you cozy in there?"