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Daryl

I was up before dawn, ready to keep moving. The clearing we stayed in was near a creek. We could use it as a landmark to get back on track. Michonne pulled a map out of her bag. We stood near the creek and went over the map in the first light. Tyreese woke and when he looked down at himself he nearly fell as he scrambled backwards. Without looking at us he practically ran to the creek. He slid down the bank to the water and began scrubbing the gore off his skin. He pulled his shirt off and began frantically scrubbing it in the water. I just shook my head. I had no idea how he managed to make it this long without getting his hands dirty. Maybe he would cut Jo a little slack from now on.

Michonne pulled my attention back to the map in her hands. "This is Turner Creek, so Barnesville must be a few miles downstream."

"Sounds like out best chance at finding a new ride," Bob said, coming up behind us and glancing over her shoulder.

"Yo, Ty," I called, folding up the map and tucking it back in the pack. He looked up at me, but I didn't know if he was really seeing me. His eyes were far away and his hands kept scrubbing frantically. "Come on, let's go. Vamonos."

When he didn't stop Michonne and I shared a look and just walked away, leaving him behind. If he pulled through this he knew where we were going and could catch up. But I wasn't wasting another minute of Jo's on him.

Michonne and I were walking side by side down the trail when I finally heard Bob and Tyreese jog to catch up. I nodded at her but kept moving, not making a big deal out of it. I looked down at the trail and hesitated. I bent down and scooped up a small rock. I licked my finger and scrubbed at the rock.

"Is that Jasper?" Michonne asked, frowning down at me like I was nuts.

"Mmhhmm," I nodded, turning the rock over in my hands.

"It's a good color," she observed. "Brings out your eyes."

When I shifted uncomfortably at her words she flashed me a full smile.

I ignored her teasing.

"When Miss Richards went into A block, we were leaving, she asked me to keep a look out." I climbed to my feet. "I'm gonna use it for her old man's marker."

Michonne frowned at me like she didn't know me. "You know all of them back there?"

I smirked at her and turned to keep walking. "Ya stay in one place more than a couple hours, you'd be surprised what ya pick up."

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Jo

It was dawn when Hershel came back up the stairs to check on Henry. He paused for a moment, surprised to find me kneeling beside bed. I compressed the bag, counted to six and did it again and again and again.

Hershel stood in the door watching me with kindly eyes. I coughed into my elbow but kept my count.

"I sent Glenn to get some rest," I told him without turning around. "Roughly six hundred squeezes ago." I coughed again.

"Thank you," Hershel said reaching out and squeezing my shoulder. "He was pushing himself too hard trying to help everyone."

"No problem," I said giving him a weak smile. I continued to squeeze the bag as Hershel turned and left me alone.

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Daryl

We followed the path most of the morning. It wound through the forest before widening into a dirt road. The road led us to what looked like an old auto repair place. A huge tree had fallen in a storm, maybe last year by the amount of vines that had grown over everything. I frowned and stepped closer. Looked like there was a car hidden under all the vines, maybe more than one.

"You see something?" Bob called over to me. He was keeping his distance, staying on the road. I couldn't fault his survival instincts.

"I don't know, maybe," I said and stepped up, pulling back the vines. It was a van. I cleared enough brush to get one of the doors open. I climbed into the passenger side and pulled the wires out from under the dash. I stripped them with my knife, but when I touched the wires together nothing happened. I sighed in frustration. Just couldn't catch a damn break. I pulled myself out of the car.

"We gotta find us a new battery," I  told the others as they continued to clear the vines and brush from around the van.

I stepped towards the store, chances were they would have a battery in there. The window was completely covered in dirt. I spit on my hand and raised it to wipe the window clean. A walker slammed into the glass. I pulled back to make sure it wasn't coming through. When it didn't, I glanced back at the others. "We got some friends inside. Come on," I said motioning with my head towards the front.

The others followed me warily around towards what we assumed was the front of the store. It was completely obscured by vines. "Let's clear a path, see how many we got," I said swinging my crossbow over my shoulder.

We all started pulling vines and branches away from the store front. I was just hoping to find the damn door or a nice big front window. I wasn't going to mess with this place if it was filled with a small herd. It wasn't worth the risk and would be a waste of Jo's time.

Tyreese started hacking away at the vines with his machete, grunting with the effort of his swings. I glanced at him once in concern but turned back to what I was doing. He didn't stop though, instead he swung it harder and harder getting himself more worked up as he slashed carelessly at the building.

"Hey man, go easy," I called. "We don't know what we are dealing with," the last thing we needed was for him to do something dumb.

But he didn't stop, not even when his machete got stuck. Instead he jerked and pulled until he finally ripped it free. It came back with wires stuck to the blade.

I frowned, wondering what he destroyed. I took a step closer to him, to get a better look at the wires. A hand lashed out from the vines grabbing for my neck. I dodged it, ducking to the side and Michonne was there suddenly and hacked it off.

Another Walker appeared out of the vines, launching itself at Bob. I sighed in frustration. Bob was struggling to keep it off him and couldn't seem to pull a weapon and Tyreese was being no help. I jerked my chin to Michonne, sending her to help him. I pulled my knife and slammed it into the skull of the Walker coming for me. Another Walk lashed out, grabbing hold of Tyresse. Michonne hacked off the head of the one holding Bob and turned to help Tyreese. But he wouldn't clear enough room for Michonne to swing the katana.

"Ty!" Bob exclaimed his voice rising in panic.

"Ty let it go!" Michonne called, her katana up and ready to step in when she could. But Tyreese refused. Finally the Walker worked itself free, and it knocked Tyreese back onto the ground. I jumped in, grabbing it by the back of it's shirt. I pulled it off Tyreese, threw it onto the ground and jumped back to give Bob room to put a bullet in it's head. The single gun shot echoed off the building, close enough to make my ears ring.

I turned back to Tyreese where he lay on his back, panting. I reached down and pulled him to his feet. One glance at Michonne and I knew I wouldn't need to say anything about what happened. She was pissed, and would be more than happy to discuss it with him.

"Why the hell didn't you let go?" she asked, anger snapping in her eyes.

Tyreese didn't say anything, maybe he didn't have an answer. He wouldn't even meet her eyes when she stepped forward into his space trying to get a reaction. I shook my head at him and motioned for Bob to follow me in while Michonne and Tyreese had their little talk. I would rather have Michonne at my back inside, but I didn't trust either one of these assholes to keep watch.

I climbed through the curtain of vines first. I lifted my flashlight in one hand and kept my crossbow up with another as we stepped into the dark store. "Come on," I muttered and led the way. Bob looked nervous behind me, but he followed. I moved into the garage first. There were no cars, but the walls were lined with tools.

"Here we go," I said stepping across the bay to a pile of batteries left on the shelf.

I took one off the shelf and checked to see if it was still good.

"Those cells look pretty dry." Bob observed over my shoulder. 

I nodded. "A little distilled water will clear that right up."

We checked the rest of the store, to make sure there was nothing else we could use. We came around a corner and I frowned down at an over turned jug of antifreeze and a glass.

"That's puke," I said, shinning my light at mess on the floor. "Those douche bags in the vines took themselves out, holding hands, kumbaya style," I didn't bother keeping the disgust out of my voice at their weakness. Bunch of cowards.

"They wanted to go out together same as they lived, that make them douche bags?" Bob observed in a cautious voice behind me.

I shook my head, looking at the shelves. I couldn't imagine giving up like that, just throwing away a chance to survive. "It does if they could have gotten out," I said, pulling a gallon of distilled water off the shelves.

"Everybody makes it, til they don't. People nowadays is dominoes. What they did, maybe it's about not having to watch them all fall."

I snorted but nodded, not able to believe he was preaching this shit at me. "Right," I said placatingly. "Come on," I called, when he didn't follow right behind me. We came across one last walker stuck beneath some rubble, its teeth snapping in hunger. I shown my light in Bob's face but didn't say anything else as I walked away and headed back outside.

Michonne and Tyreese were sitting near the front of the store. I left them there on watch and went back to the van. Bob trailed along behind. I found a pack of cigarettes in the center counsel of the van. I lit one up and offered one to Bob as I popped the hood.

"You never told us about the group you were with before," I said casually, taking a long drag.

"Which one?" Bob asked. He wasn't smoking the cigarette, instead he simply stood there, staring at it as it burned. "You know when you found me out on that road, I almost kept walking."

"Why is that?" I asked, still leaned over the car as I connected the battery.

"Cause I was done being a witness. Two times, two different groups. I was the last one standing. Like I was supposed to see it happen over and over. Like it's some kind of curse." Bob took a long drag and looked up at the sky. "But when it's just you out there with the quiet..." he shook his head, as the memory ran through him. "Used to be I'd drink a bottle of anything just so I could shut my eyes at night. Figured the prison, the people, thought it would be easier."

I poured the distilled water on the cells, and closed it up. When Bob hesitated, I turned so I was looking at him. He was weaker than I thought. I couldn't imagine getting drunk with walkers everywhere. Seemed like giving up, also seemed like a great way to get dead.

"The run to The Big Spot," he said the words quickly like he was afraid to admit it. "I did it for me."

I nodded, staking a swig of water out of the jug. "I get it man, you gotta keep busy."

"No," he snapped impatiently. "I did it so I could get me a bottle. Of anything."

I turned back to him not understanding the frustration in his tone. He was staring at the ground and wouldn't look me in the eye.

"I picked it up, I held it in my hand, but I put it down. I put it down so hard it took the whole damn shelf with it. That's what brought on the Walkers and that's what got Zack killed."

He stared at the ground for a long time in silence. He was waiting for me to yell at him and scream at him, hell maybe even hit him. Anything to get rid of his guilt. But it wasn't his fault, the roof would have caved in no matter what. And I understood having guilt eat away at you, like a damn disease, every day. All I had to do was look at Jo when she was fighting and I knew, knew I could have kept her from The Governor if I had only tried harder.

"That's bullshit," I snapped, my own thoughts made my voice harsher than I meant. I motioned to the car. "What don't you get in there and try the engine. It's a red and a green wire," I took a long drag. "Go on," I said when he didn't move. "It ain't rocket science."

He smirked at me and walked around to the drivers side.

"Give it some gas," I called to him when nothing happened at first. Then the engine turned over and purred. I smiled, and clapped. I raised my fingers to my lips and whistled for Michonne and Tyreese to come. They glanced over their shoulders at me and started climbing to their feet.

Then I walked over to the drivers side window. "You know, Sasha and me picked that spot. We took you with us. There's no way anybody could've known." My voice turned hard, I wanted him to understand my resolve. "You ain't gonna be stand'in alone," I said, tossing my vest in through the open window. "Not anymore. Let's go!" I called to the others and climbed into the passenger seat, leaving Bob to drive.

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Jo

The next time I woke up it was to the slamming of cell doors. I was disoriented and climbed roughly to my feet, sagging against the wall of my cell. It took me a minute to remember how I ended up back here. Sasha had relieved me after upwards of five thousand compressions on Henry's bag. I had no other way to tell the passing of time. Sasha sent me back to my cell, making me promise to close the door behind me, for Daryl she said. I was too exhausted to even roll my eyes at her. I collapsed on my bed and fall asleep immediately.

I blinked slowly, clearing off the last vestiges of sleep and looked down into the cell block. Hershel was closing cell doors. Forcing every one to stay behind the closed doors. Keeping people safe from each other. It meant the virus was getting out of control. I struggled to the door. I leaned against the doors in time to see Hershel pushing a body out on a stretcher. I went down to help him.

He looked up as I came down the stairs. I felt a little light headed, but it was good to be out of my cell. I took the back of the stretcher, pushing it with Hershel.

"Don't over do it," he warned me, but he didn't send me away.

I nodded. "I won't," I promised.

We pushed the stretcher into one of the empty visitation rooms. When we got there Hershel turned to me. "You should go back dear," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I frowned up at him. I reached into my open jacket and drew a knife.

He arched an eyebrow at me. "You haven't taken them off to sleep."

I blinked at him. "Going to sleep was one of the most dangerous things I used to do," I said in a quiet voice, looking down at the blade in my hand.

Hershel looked uncomfortable. "You don't need to see this," he said shortly, and gave me a gentle push back towards the cell block. "I'll take care of it."

I shook my head at him and walked back over to the stretcher.

"Jo," he said in a warning voice.

I didn't turn to face him. "Have you ever done it?" I asked, my voice sounded hollow and emotionless even to my own ears. I didn't know the man on the stretcher, but Hershel did. Hershel had cared for him and he died despite Hershel's care. It would cost me nothing to do this and could cost him everything.

Hershel was quiet for a long time, too long. We were running out of time. I wasn't sure how long the man had been dead, but his skin was already cooling. He could turn at any moment.

"No," Hershel replied, and he almost sounded guilty.

I nodded, gave him a small smile and reached out to squeeze his arm with my free hand. "Then there's nothing for you to spare me."

And I slammed the knife into the forehead of the dead man.

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