This is another really long one, y'all! Let me know if you prefer these longer chapters or more short ones.

][=][ Zhen Bryant's POV ][=][

I crept through the neighborhood with Duane behind me. My axe was in one hand and my pistol in the other. There were corpses all over; most of them were still, but some still moved around. We passed the Jones family car and slowly went up the steps to the busted-down doorway of the home we had been staying in. This place is a wreck... there's no way Morgan survived.

"Dad!" Duane shouted, shocking me and causing me to raise both of my weapons in front of me.

"Duane... you can't shout like that. If there are any more walkers around, it'll attract them to us," I said as I frowned at him and then looked around to make sure we hadn't already attracted any attention. "I know you want to find him, but we have to look around safely."

He nodded and looked down at the blood-covered floor. I looked at the stairs leading up to the room where Morgan had been firing his rifle down into the walkers on the roads throughout the neighborhood.

"Duane... I'm gonna go upstairs, but I want you to stay down here in case," I started to say before trailing off.

"In case my dad is dead," Duane finished with a broken tone.

"Y-yeah... that," I said as I approached the stairs and started to climb them. "See if you can find anything down here that we can use or if there's any evidence of your dad making it out of here."

With that, I made the climb, which I was dreading. I stopped in front of the doorway into the room... the door was barely hanging onto the wall. There were three walkers inside that looked like they were crouched around something and eating it.

"Hey, uglies," I said calmly as I entered the room and hefted my axe. "Please tell me you're not eating... Morgan."

I swung the axe in an arc that chopped the closest walker's head off, sending it flying into the corner of the room and allowing its headless body to fall over into a lifeless heap once again. The other two stumbled up from the floor, but I quickly swung the axe back again and knocked one of them backward, causing it to trip over whatever they had been eating. The last walker received a jab to the face with the end of the handle, and it stumbled back on top of its friend. The two walkers struggled to get back up from their heap of limbs, so I quickly slammed the blade into each head before they could get back up.

"Now that that's dealt with... moment of truth," I said as I tossed my axe over onto the bed and pushed the two corpses off of what they had been eating and gulped as I saw a brutalized skeleton of a person. "Oh... Morgan."

I turned away and barely held back the vomit that wanted to evacuate my body. I took several slow, deep breaths with my eyes closed to get my stomach settled before looking back at the bloody skeleton.

"I guess you didn't make it after all... shit... now I have to go tell Duane."

I went back down the stairs and found Duane attempting to search for anything that we'd left behind in the house. When he heard me coming down the steps, he looked over at me and clearly understood that his dad was gone.

"H-he's d-" he started, but stopped when I hugged him.

"I'm so, so sorry, Duane," I muttered as I squeezed him in the hug. "It's... it's pretty brutal up there."

"I understand," he said, his voice cracking through his tears. "L-let's go."

We left the house with nothing but tears and sadness at the loss of the Jones father. We slowly headed out of the neighborhood in the direction of Atlanta. The walk was silent other than the quiet sobs that Duane let out as he mourned his fallen father. I didn't want to force him to talk if he didn't want to.

We were passing the last block of suburban homes before hitting the open countryside of Georgia between here and Atlanta when a door swung open from the last house on the block. I hefted my axe and stared at the opening as a young blond girl stepped out holding a silver handgun aimed toward us. A younger, dark-haired boy followed behind her with a knife raised in front of him.

"Hey! Were y'all the ones shooting like crazy last night?!" The girl shouted as the two of them stepped towards us while Duane and I looked at them cautiously.

"Had no choice," Duane responded as he slowly held his empty hands up in front of him.

That's not entirely true since his dad caused the whole situation in the first place... but I won't mention that right now.

"Did ya kill anyone?"

That's an extremely odd question.

"No, just the walkers. We were stuck in a house and had to fight our way out. We... we lost someone."

The girl pursed her lips and glanced back at the younger boy before slowly lowering her gun.

"Us too... one's been missing about a week. The other just since last night," the girl said as she tucked the gun into the back of her pants. "A couple officers that were helping us out after... after our parents died."

"We just ran into an officer. One of yours named Rick Grimes?" Duane asked curiously.

"No, we're missing Officers Lambert Kendal and Leon Basset. They worked here in King County," the girl stated with a shake of her head.

"Well, I can tell you that at least one of them is dead... Leon. We ran into him when we went to the police station with our officer... he was a walker," I said as I frowned.

"Yeah... we assumed he was dead... he's the one that had been missing longer," the girl replied as she looked back at the boy. "Kendal went off to see what was going on last night when there was all that gunfire and noise."

"Sorry bout that... we had a bad situation... it's how we lost my dad," Duane replied as he looked down at the street.

"Everything dies," the boy said as he frowned at us. "Nothing you can do about it."

I squinted at him and raised my eyebrows, receiving a shrug from him in response.

"It's something our mom used to say... whenever a pet or family member died, just as a lesson, I guess... that you can't stop death because it will always happen eventually," the girl said when she saw my look of confusion.

"Everything dies..." Duane muttered quietly under his breath. "No matter what."

I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. Suddenly, the girl cleared her throat and looked at me.

"My name's Jaime. This is Billy. What're y'all's names?"

"Zhen," I stated simply before gesturing towards Duane. "And this is Duane."

"Nice to meet y'all. Do you need a place to stay while you look for his dad?" Jaime asked as she gestured back at the house they'd come from. "If you're gonna look, that is... if you think he might be alive. We've got space here."

I looked over at Duane, who just shrugged. He looked miserable, understandably so since his dad is more than likely dead because we ran off without him. Maybe if we'd stayed, we could've stopped it... was it wrong of me to just try to save Duane?

"Sure... I don't know if we'll look for him or not. We found some pretty gruesome evidence that he probably didn't make it out of the house we were in, but we could use a safe place to relax a bit and get some rest."

"Great," she responded before gesturing for us to follow her and Billy into the house. "We've got a decent supply of food, and we keep the place pretty safe... well, the officers were pretty good about it. Kept the immediate area clear of corpses and set some basic traps. If Kendal doesn't return, we'll have to start doing it."

We followed them inside, closing the door behind us. Jaime swung a couple of makeshift wooden braces down from one side of the door to their holders on the other.

"Welcome to our home," she said as she gestured around the simple house.

][=][ Ryan Goldman's POV ][=][

"Carl, it's time for a haircut; you're looking all kinds of messy, kiddo," Lori said as she approached us after lunch.

"Aw, come on, Mom, do I have to?" My friend groaned as he frowned.

"Yep, sure do. Come on, let's go," the woman ordered as she held her hand out for him. "The faster you get up, the faster it'll be done, and the sooner you can get back to playing."

Carl sighed in defeat and got up to follow his mom to where she had set up the minimal equipment we had available to us to cut hair. I waved at him as he turned to look at me, scowling. He half-heartedly waved back at me, then turned to face forward so he wouldn't trip. I packed up my stuff that had been sitting out around me and went over to where Jas, Ruby, and Dad were sitting together. Dad was walking Jas through some math problems that Mrs. Bryant had put together for him and Louis since they were in the same grade while Ruby was quietly playing with her Barbie dolls.

"Getting to understand that math yet, Jas?" I asked as I sat down across from him.

"I... think so, yeah. Math is hard, but I'm starting to get it."

"He sure is, did the last eight problems all by himself," Dad said as he ruffled Jas's hair. "Mrs. Bryant gave him some tough ones, though."

"Seems like she tends to do that for all of us," I replied as I chuckled. "Just our luck, we'd end up with a teacher in our camp with us after the world essentially falls apart."

"Oh, come on, this stuff is important, bud," Dad said as he rolled his eyes at me and gently smacked my shoulder.

"I know, I know, we don't want to be behind when the world gets back to normal," I said as I raised my hands in front of me in surrender. "Doesn't mean I have to like it though."

"What if the world never goes back?" Ruby asked suddenly, grabbing both my and Dad's attention. "Will we still need to know that stuff?" She continued as she gestured to the paper Jas was working on.

"Ru, it will," Dad said, putting his hand on her small shoulder and smiling.

I wonder if she can see the uncertainty in his eyes as he's saying that... because I sure can.

"Yeah, Ruby, it'll get fixed. The government and army and scientists and such need a little more time to get it all sorted, but they will, and when they do, things will go back to normal," I said as I winced slightly, knowing that what I was saying is something I couldn't actually promise would happen.

Dad looked at me gratefully, then back at Ruby, who seemed to be thinking very hard about what we'd said.

"But... what if it doesn't?"

"Ruby, if it doesn't go back to how it was, then we'll just make a new normal for ourselves and keep living our lives," Dad answered as he pursed his lips. "What really matters is that we're all together, and we're all ok."

She pursed her lips in contemplation as she thought about what all we had said to her. Dad was looking at her, concern showing clearly on his face.

"Ruby, you gotta have some hope that it'll get better. Without hope, we have less reason to do everything we can to keep going," Dad finally said as he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged at the statement and went back to playing with her dolls. I sighed and got up from the table, not particularly wanting to keep talking about these topics. I found Carl sitting with his mom and Shane. It looked as if Lori had just finished cutting the boy's hair.

"Hey, Ry," he said, smiling at me as I joined them. "Shane said he's gonna teach me how to catch frogs tomorrow; you wanna join?"

"Teach you how to catch frogs? Have you never caught a frog before?"

"Not one frog. Frogs, plural. He says it's for frog legs to eat," he answered as he looked at the officer. "Even if it sounds gross."

Before I could reply, there was a siren wailing in the distance. Everyone around the camp started looking around, trying to find the source of the loud sound.

"Dale, you see anything?" Shane shouted as he approached the RV where Dale was perched for lookout duty. "Come on, talk to me."

"I don't know. Can't tell anything yet," Dale replied as he looked through the binoculars in his hand.

I stood with Carl and Lori; the mother had her hands holding us close, one on each of our shoulders.

"I'll be damned. Stolen car is my guess," Dale said as he watched something approaching the camp.

"Is it them?" Amy shouted as she tried to see what was coming.

Soon, a bright red sports car with a black stripe down the center came flying up the road into camp and stopped. Glenn got out of the wailing car while Shane began demanding he shut the alarm off or pop the hood. Amy instantly began bombarding the poor guy with questions about Andrea and the rest of the group. People from all around the campsite were congregating, all trying to get answers to a hundred questions. Glenn finally opened the hood of the car, and Jim yanked on something, shutting the entire vehicle off and silencing the alarm.

"Why is only Glenn back?" Carl asked quietly as he glanced between his mother and me.

"Everyone is fine!" Glenn shouted as the alarm cut off. "Well, almost everyone... Merle, not really. They should be right behind me."

"Are you insane driving this wailing piece of shit up here?!" Shane shouted angrily as he glared at the supply runner. "Are you trying to attract every walker for miles to us?"

"I really think we're ok, Shane," Mai retaliated as she went to her brother and hugged him. "There's no way anyone or anything could find the exact location with how it was echoing."

"You call being stupid, ok?!" Shane rebutted as he approached the siblings.

"Shane, she's right. The sound was echoing all over the hills. It's hard, probably impossible, to pinpoint the source," Dale said as he held his hand up to get the officer's attention, receiving a death glare from the man in return. "I'm not trying to argue; I'm just saying... it wouldn't hurt you to think things over better, though." The last part was addressed to Glenn, who raised his hands in surrender and muttered apologies.

"Here they are," Glenn said as a large moving truck approached and then came to a stop. The supply group immediately began to get out and rejoin their worried friends and family.

I smiled widely as Andrea ran to Amy, and the sisters hugged while crying. I caught Carl frowning out of the corner of my eye, his eyes starting to water. When Morales came our way and was engulfed in happy greetings from his kids, the boy broke down. Lori let go of my shoulder and crouched in front of him, giving him a tight, comforting hug. I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, making sure he knew that he wasn't alone.

"How'd y'all get out of there? We heard T-dog say you were trapped... surrounded by walkers," Shane asked as he watched everyone greet the supply group.

"New guy, he got us out," Glenn said as he gestured back at the truck. "Even had Zuri with him by some stroke of luck."

"Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello!" Morales shouted as the driver's door of the truck opened up.

When Mr. Bryant and a girl, who I assumed was the Bryant's missing daughter, Zuri, came around the back of the truck, they immediately ran for Mrs. Bryant, who stared in shock at the girl, her eyes immediately welling up with tears of joy.

"Guy's a cop, like you, Shane," Morales said as the person exited the truck and closed the door.

I noticed Shane staring at the man in awe, and my eyes widened as a thought hit my mind, "Carl... is... is that your dad?"

Carl and Lori immediately turned their heads to the man approaching, and by their change in expressions, I knew I had guessed correctly. Carl stared in shock for a moment before running straight towards the man.

"Dad!" He shouted as he bolted the fastest I had seen him run yet.

The man fell to his knees and grabbed Carl, wrapping him in a bear hug as they wept in pure joy. Mr. Grimes then stood up, carrying his son as he went, and walked to Lori, who... looked scared.

Why would she be scared?

I glanced over at Shane, finding that I wasn't the only one seemingly questioning the reactions of the mother and our leader. Mrs. Bryant looked quizzically at Shane, glancing at the reunion of the Grimes family every now and then before returning to the leader again. I shook it off and then focused on the pure joy I could see on Carl's face as he held onto his father as tightly as he could.

][=][ Mai Bryant's POV ][=][

I shouldn't worry about this right now, I have my husband and daughter in my arms, but... those looks on Shane's and Lori's faces. It confirms what I had suspected. It hadn't been an issue before, but if Rick is back... that means he was never dead, which means Lori was cheating on her husband with his best friend.

"Honey, are you ok?" Malik asked as he kissed my cheek.

I shrugged, then looked back at him and my daughter, shaking my thoughts out of my mind to focus on the excellent news standing before me.

"Zuri, I'm so glad you're here," I stated as I hugged her tighter. "Where is your brother?"

"He's ok; he's just back in a community with some people we met. They're supposed to be coming towards Atlanta soon after Rick and me," she answered as she pulled away and smiled at me, relief showing on her face.

"Ok. We'll just have to put warning signs on the road to ensure they don't enter the city when they arrive," I said as I smiled at her happily.

"Yeah, for sure. The city is a shit show, worse now than it was before even because in all the craziness that happened, we drew a lot of the walkers out into the streets," she said as she frowned slightly, thinking back on all the events that had transpired in the city.

"It doesn't matter now. We'll put signs up to warn them not to enter and leave directions for the camp," my husband said as he wrapped his arms around us. "Right now, let's just be glad we've found each other again. Come on, Zuri, your grandparents will want to see you."

I nodded in agreement with his statement and let him take Zuri to the tent where my parents were taking their afternoon nap. With that, I looked over at Shane and crossed my arms over my chest. He caught me looking and scowled at me before turning away and going to speak with his resurrected friend.

"Sis, what's up?" Glenn asked as he came to stand next to me. "I know you've never gotten along with Shane, but why are you staring him down like you watched him kill a puppy?"

"Don't worry about it, Glenn," I answered as I once again shook my head, trying to get my thoughts off the Grimes family and Shane.

"Can you come with me to put a warning on the billboards approaching Atlanta on 85?" I asked as I gestured at his fancy new car. "We can take your new toy for a test drive."

"Absolutely! Let me go grab some spray paint from Dale; go ahead and get in the car," he said as he headed towards the older watchman.

I climbed into the driver's seat and waited for him to return. When he did, he looked absolutely horrified that I was in the driver seat.

"No, no, no," he said as he tossed a backpack of supplies on the back seat. "You don't get to drive my car."

"Too late, I'm in the driver's seat. Hop in," I said as I smirked at his frustrated face.

"But... but it's my car," he complained as he got on the passenger side. "Please, Mai."

"Nope," I said playfully as I smacked his shoulder and switched gears. "Let's go. Dale can tell the others what we're doing. I don't want to waste any time getting the warning out to ensure Zhen doesn't fall into the same situation y'all just escaped."

][=][ Time Skip ][=][

"Disoriented," Rick stated as we were all sitting around the fire that night for dinner, "I guess that comes closest. I mean, fear, confusion, all those things... but disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things," Dale stated after a moment of silence. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped outta my life and put somewhere else," the Grimes man continued as we all listened intently. "For a while, I thought I was trapped in a coma dream... something I might not ever wake up from."

"Mom said you'd died," the man's son said as he lay in his dad's lap and looked up at him.

I guess she moved on quickly, I thought to myself as I glanced between Lori and Shane.

"She had every reason to believe that," Rick responded as he held the side of the boy's face and looked down at him. "Don't you ever doubt it."

"When everything started getting really bad, they said that they were gonna medevac you and all the other patients to Atlanta," Lori said as she looked up from the fire she had been staring at. "Which obviously never happened."

"Well, that's not surprising after Atlanta fell," Rick said in understanding as he glanced between his family and those of us around the fire. "And by the looks of that hospital when I woke up... it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks do not deceive," Shane said as he looked from Rick to the fire in front of him. "I barely got them out... yanno?"

"All of King County was totally overrun at the start," Joshua continued, reinforcing Shane's point. "We were all lucky to make it out of there. Luckier still that we happened to be behind Shane and your family when Atlanta got bombed, Shane led us off the highway to this place here. Not sure what would've happened if they hadn't been there in front of us."

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for getting them safe, Shane," Rick said, making my eyebrows furrow as I thought about how Shane and Lori had both betrayed Rick shortly after. "I cannot begin to express it."

"And there go those words fallin' short again," Dale stated as he smiled and looked over at Rick. "Paltry things."

There was a moment of silence as everyone just sat around the fire, enjoying the company and the gentle heat of the low flame. Unfortunately, that silence was interrupted by the sound of a log crashing into a fire a short distance away. I looked over and saw that Ed had tossed another log on his fire.

"Ed, you wanna rethink that log?" Shane asked as he stared at the man.

"It's cold, man," was the man's response.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane asked as he stood up and approached the Peletier family around their fire. "We keep our fires low so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"Man, I said it's cold," the Peletier father argued. "Just mind your own business for once."

I can't say I disagree with that last statement, even if Ed is an abusive piece of shit.

When Shane reached the family, he spoke quietly to the abusive man, who finally gave in to the leader's demand.

"Go on, pull the damn thing out," he ordered Carol as he glared at Shane. "Go on!"

Carol fearfully jumped up from her seat and cautiously pulled the flaming log out of the fire. Sophia was looking between her parents with concern and fear on her face. Shane shook his head and stomped on the log until the fire on it had burned out. When Shane rejoined us after the whole Ed fiasco, we sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"So... what're we going to do about this Daryl guy?" Zuri asked suddenly as she looked around the fire. "Merle's brother?"

"That is a good question. Have we given any thought to it?" Dale asked as he nodded at my daughter. "He won't be pleased to find out his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him," T-Dog said as he stared at the fire. "I dropped that key, so it's on me."

"Well, I cuffed him. That makes it mine," Rick countered as he shook his head.

"Ok, guys, come on. This isn't a competition," Glenn interrupted. "Let's put it this way, and I don't mean to bring race into this... but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

I wish he weren't so right about that, but the Dixon brothers are that way.

"I did what I did. I ain't gonna hide from it," T insisted as he sighed.

"We could lie," Amy said, throwing a different idea into the mix.

"Or tell the truth," Andrea said with a shrug. "Merle was completely outta control. Something had to be done, or he was gonna get the whole group killed. Merle getting left behind is nobody's fault but his own."

"And you think that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked in disbelief. "I don't see a calm discussion to be had from that, do you?"

"We do need to figure out how to go about this. Otherwise, when he and my wife get back from their hunt... we will definitely have our hands full," Joshua said as he pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I was scared, so I ran. I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog said as he crossed his arms.

"We all were scared, T," Zuri said as she frowned at the man. "And we all ran."

"Exactly, so what's your point," Andrea said, finishing the thought process as she looked between T-Dog and my daughter.

"I stopped long enough to chain the door shut," T-Dog answered. "The staircase is narrow. Only half a dozen geeks could squeeze against it at a time. That's not enough force to break through it. Not that chain... not that padlock. My point... is that Dixon's alive, and he's still up there handcuffed to the roof. That's on us."

With that, he got up and walked towards his tent on the other side of the camp. After a moment, Zuri got up and followed him. That seemed to signal to everyone that the discussion was over, and everyone began splitting up to head to their tents. Shane shook his head and took the rifle from Dale, muttering something about taking over watch, and climbed on top of the RV.

"I'm gonna head to bed, honey," Malik said as he kissed my cheek.

"Ok... I'll join you in a bit," I said as I watched Shane as he stared at the tent that the Grimes family was in. "I wanna sit out here by the fire for a little longer."

"Ok, don't keep me waiting too long, though," he said as he chuckled and kissed my cheek again before walking to our tent.

When everyone was in their tents except for a few straglers around the campsite, myself, and Shane, I got up and went to the RV.

"You looked like you'd seen a ghost when Rick showed up earlier," I stated as I leaned against the RV below him. "And you don't seem thrilled to have him back."

"What are you talking about, lady," Shane said as he watched the Grimes's tent.

I scoffed and shook my head, "Shane, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"That man is my best friend in the whole damn world," the officer seethed in cold anger. "Why would I not be happy about him being back?"

"Because it means you have to stop fucking his wife," I stated simply as I looked up at him.

"How dare you?" He shouted, taking his eyes off the tent and staring at me angrily.

"Shane, it isn't rocket science," I said as I shook my head. "You always both happen to be off in the forest at the same time, the looks you were always giving each other, the looks both you and Lori had when you first saw Rick get out of that truck."

"Mai, you are way outta line here," Shane said as he gritted his teeth. "What you're implying... it just isn't true. I was just surprised to see him because I thought that he was dead in that hospital after King County got overrun."

"Shane, I'm gonna give you one chance to come clean," I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped away from the RV and the angry man on top of it. "If you don't tell him what has been going on since you left him behind in the hospital, then I will. He deserves to know the truth, and if you and his wife won't tell him... someone needs to."

"Mai!" He shouted as I walked away towards my family's tent. "Mai, come back here!"

Instead of responding, I flipped him off and kept walking. When I got to the tent, I glanced back at the RV and saw the man staring after me.

][=][ Ryan Goldman's POV ][=][

"Oh my god!" I shouted as Sophia and Eliza screeched in fear. Jas and Ruby started crying and grabbed my hands, and Carl started calling for his mom and dad.

We had been playing hide and seek in the woods when we ran into a walker eating a dead deer, causing us all to freak out. I dragged both Jas and Ruby away from the monster, pushing them back behind me as I walked backward, putting myself between them and the walker. Soon, the adults were all surrounding us, holding us close. Dad gave Jas and Ruby both a hug and looked at me, asking with his eyes if I was ok.

"I'm good... just got scared, is all. Don't want to let anything happen to them," I said as I slowed my breathing and smiled at him.

He nodded in response and then let go of my siblings, picking up his sledgehammer and walking into the clearing with another group of adults. I pulled my siblings close, and we all sat on the ground next to Lori and Carl. Jacqui knelt next to us and asked if we were ok, to which I nodded in response as she put her hand on my shoulder. I looked at Carl and smiled encouragingly as his mom kept him pulled close to her.

"We're ok; it didn't get us," I said as he slowly calmed down in his mom's arms. He nodded in response and pulled away from Lori slightly.

"Come on, kids, let's all go back to the RV. Y'all can keep playing over there. Stay away from the forest from now on," Lori instructed as she stood up and directed Carl towards the central vehicle. The other adults who had stayed with us agreed, and soon, we were all gathering back at the RV. I glanced back at the clearing as we went and saw a brief glimpse of Daryl talking with the rest of the adults. When I looked for my mom, I found her giving Dad a tight hug with her bow slung over her shoulder.

"Ry, are we safe?" Jas asked as we sat around a table, staring at the cards we had gotten out but hadn't started to play with yet. "I mean... that thing was... it was right there."

"We're safe. The adults took care of it," I answered as I ruffled his hair, then pulled his face up to look at me. "And I wouldn't have let you get hurt even if they hadn't gotten there when they did, ok? I will always keep you and Ruby safe."

He nodded in response and took a deep breath before grabbing the cards and shuffling them. "Go fish," he asked as he glanced between me and Ruby.

"Yes! My favorite!" Ruby shouted excitedly as she smiled widely at Jas.

"Yeah, let's do it," I answered, looking over at the other kids. "Any of y'all wanna play with us?"

Carl and Louis nodded and came to join us at the table while Sophia and Eliza started playing with some dolls, apparently deciding they didn't feel like playing Go Fish. Once he shuffled the cards, Jas dished them out to those of us playing, and we started the game. We were soon interrupted by a commotion outside.

"What is it now?" I asked as I stood up and looked out the window, seeing Daryl arguing with Rick and Shane.

Everyone stopped playing and looked out the windows at what was happening outside as Daryl tried to attack Rick. Shane tackled the angry man and then put him in a chokehold. After a few moments, the officer let the hunter go, and they spoke briefly before T-Dog joined.

"Whatcha think they're saying?" Carl asked as he scooted closer to me.

"I'm not sure... but it's obviously about Merle since Daryl is so angry," I answered with a shrug.

"To hell with all of you!" Daryl eventually shouted loudly enough for us to hear it inside the RV. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him!"

Lori shook her head from the chair she was sitting on in the RV, where she'd been watching us from before the commotion started.

"He'll show you," she said defeatedly as she stood in the doorway. "Isn't that right, Rick?"

The man in question nodded, causing Lori to scoff and come back into the RV.

"Keep playing, kids; everything is fine," she said as she sat down and glared at her husband.

"What's wrong with Dad?" Carl asked as he went over to his mom.

"He's being a selfless idiot, as usual," Lori muttered before ruffling my friend's hair. "He's going back to Atlanta for Merle."

][=][ Time Skip ][=][

"How was your hunt?" I asked as Mom gave me and my siblings hugs when she joined us in front of the RV.

"Well, it wasn't bad. Just sucks that we didn't manage to catch that deer in time," she answered as she leaned against the RV and let Jas and Ruby lean up against her while I stood next to her. "That thing woulda fed this camp for at least a week."

I nodded in response as she frowned in disappointment, thinking about the loss of the deer. We stood silently as we watched Daryl pace around the clearing in front of the RV. Soon, Rick and Shane approached from the Grimes family's tent, arguing as they went.

"Just tell me why, Rick," Shane insisted as they joined the hunter in the clearing. "Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey, choose your words more carefully," Daryl growled as he stared at the leader.

"Oh no, I did," Shane said as he looked at the hunter. "Douchebag's what I meant. Merle Dixon... the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"I don't care what he would or wouldn't do," Rick countered. "I can't let a man die of thirst. Thirst and exposure. We left him trapped like an animal. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So, you and Daryl? That's your whole plan?" Lori asked angrily.

In response, Rick turned towards Glenn, causing the man to sigh, "Oh, come on."

"You know the way. You've been there before, in and out no problem, hundreds of times. You said so yourself," Rick said as he looked pleadingly at Glenn. "I know it's not fair of me to ask, but I'd feel a lot better with you along and I know they would too." He finished as he pointed to his wife and son.

"Well, that's just great; now you're gonna risk three men," Shane complained as he looked at Rick.

"Four," T-Dog jumped in, causing Daryl to scoff in annoyance.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" The hunter asked as he shook his head.

"You see anybody else stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language," T-Dog replied as he crossed his arms.

"Well, that's four then," Dale said as he gestured at the growing group of rescuers.

"No, it's not just four," Shane retorted as he looked around at everyone. "You are putting everyone in this camp at risk. Just know that, Rick. I mean, we all saw it. That walker was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities, which means we need every able body we've got here at camp to protect camp."

"No, what it seems you need here at camp is more guns," Rick countered as he glanced at Glenn.

"Right! The guns," Glenn said as he nodded in agreement.

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked as he looked between the two men, confused.

"Six shotguns, two rifles, over a dozen handguns," Rick answered confidently. "I cleared out the storage at the department before we came up this way. They're all on a bag, sitting in the middle of the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane asked, beginning to get on board with the whole idea now that it would mean more protection in the long run.

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted," Rick answered, making the leader look around in thought.

Lori scoffed before looking towards her husband, "You went through hell to find us. You just got here, and you're gonna turn around and leave?!"

"Dad... I... I don't want you to go," Carl muttered as he shook his head.

"I say, to hell with the guns. Shane is right," Lori said as she put her arm around her son. "Merle Dixon?! He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Just explain to me why exactly you have to do this! Help me understand!"

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his son. If they hadn't taken me in after I woke up, I would've died. It's because of them I made it back to y'all at all. They said they'd follow us to Atlanta. They'll fall into the same trap that almost killed me and Zuri. I have to warn them."

"So what's stopping you?" Lori asked.

"The walkie-talkie in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer," Rick answered.

"Why don't you just use the CB?" Andrea asked.

"If it's the set of walkies I think it is, then that wouldn't work. They don't connect to anything except each other," Shane answered before Rick could.

"Exactly," Rick stated as he glanced between Lori and Carl. "So I need that bag, ok?"

Lori just shook her head and turned away from her husband as he crouched in front of Carl, who nodded in acceptance of his father's reasoning.

"I don't understand why anyone has to go to get a radio. Glenn and I went and painted a warning on a couple of billboards along the highway after y'all got back. They tell people not to enter Atlanta and to instead stop and get directions to camp, which we left posted on the support beams holding the signs up," Mrs. Bryant stated as she crossed her arms and looked around at everyone.

"You just did it on the highway, though. What if they don't come that way? What if they don't see those warnings or directions?" Rick asked as he shrugged. "The only way we guarantee that your son and the people who took me in get here safely is if we can communicate with them."

Mrs. Bryant pursed her lips and crossed her arms before nodding in understanding. With the matter seemingly settled, everyone began splitting up to prepare for the trip to Atlanta or go about their business at Camp. I went over to Carl, who was watching his dad and the others get ready to go.

"Hey," I said as I sat down next to him. "You ok?"

He shrugged and leaned his head over on my shoulder, "I'm just thinking about what it is my dad's about to do... like Mom said, he just got found us, and now he's already running off again to save someone."

"Hey, look at it this way, he fought hard enough to find you guys, and he made it here. Now he's going to fight even harder to get back to you because he knows you're here waiting for him," I said as I leaned my head on top of his.

"I know. I'm not worried about it, just thinking," Carl responded.

][=][ Joshua Goldman's POV ][=][

The group of people getting ready to head to Atlanta was gathered around the truck. Shane and Rick talked at the back while Shane dug through his duffle bag. I went over to them and cleared my throat.

"I'm gonna join y'all," I stated as Rick looked over at me curiously. "You said you've got guns and a good bit of ammo, but there are a few places in Atlanta that I know about where we can get even more ammo. Seven hundred rounds isn't enough for how many people we've got here."

"Josh, come on, man... You know we're already risking things by sending as many people out as we are," Shane said as he looked up from his bag. "You really wanna risk yourself and your family's safety too?"

"I'm thinking of it like an investment. Investments are risky, but if we get extra ammo, we can teach more people here how to shoot. I can teach my younger kids the same way I taught Ryan, and they'll be able to protect themselves and this place once they know how. But if we don't have enough ammunition, we can't teach them or anyone else because we have to be careful about how many bullets we use."

Shane sighed deeply and shook his head before looking back into his bag. He then pulled a handful of bullets out.

"Well, look what we've got here," he said as he faced Rick. "Five rounds to go with five men. Let's hope five is your lucky number."

I took that as him agreeing to me going, and I put my hammer into the back of the truck, "Let me go tell Karia and the kids I'm going, then we can head out."

Rick nodded and shook my hand before climbing into the truck and talking to the others. I went off and quickly found Ry sitting with Carl.

"Hey, bud," I said as I knelt in front of the two boys. "I'm going with Rick and the others into the city to help them get some extra ammo."

"I figured that's what you were gonna tell me when I saw you talking to them over there," Ryan said as he nodded. "Be safe, Dad."

"I will, kiddo," I replied as I ruffled his hair, stood up, and pulled my sidearm from its holster on my hip. "You remember how to use this?

Carl's eyes widened as he looked from me holding the gun out to Ryan to Ryan nodding and reaching to take the weapon from me.

"Good," I stated as he took the pistol and tucked it in the back of his pants. "Only use it if you have to, but don't be afraid to use it."

He nodded confidently and then looked over at his shocked friend sitting beside him.

"What?" He asked as he chuckled at the surprised look on the boy's face.

I chuckled before ruffling Ryan's hair again and leaving to find Karia and the other kids. They were still leaning against the RV where they had been before.

"Hey, I'm going into the city with them. Gonna try to find extra ammo on top of what Rick said is in the bag," I said as I reached them, giving my wife a quick kiss on the cheek and each of the kids kisses on the tops of their heads.

"Be careful, hun," Karia said as she frowned slightly. "Seems like they had a pretty rough time when they were there last."

"I know," I replied with a nod. "You know I'll be careful, though."

She replied with a nod and a quick kiss.

"Keep things in order here while I'm gone," I said as I tickled Jas and Ruby, making them laugh. "We know how crazy these ones can get."

When I stopped tickling them, I gave them a big hug before standing up and hugging my wife.

"I gave Ry my sidearm while I'm gone so he can help if anything happens. That walker is here made me nervous," I whispered into her ear as I hugged her. "Just keep an eye on him. I know he knows how to use it, but it never hurts to keep an extra eye anyway."

"I will, go on. They're waiting for you," Karia responded as she pulled out of the hug and pointed towards the truck where Daryl was slamming his foot on the horn, trying to get me to hurry.

I rolled my eyes and ran over to the truck, hopping in and shutting the door behind me. Once I was in, we headed towards the city.

"Ok, let's make a plan for what to do when we get there. Which way are we going in?" I asked as I sat next to Glenn.

][=][ Zhen Bryant's POV ][=][

Duane and I had been staying with Jaime and Billy for a few days now. There had been no word from Officer Kendal, and we were running low on supplies. I was starting to think it was time to leave.

"Zhen, all we got left is half a case of water bottles and a few cans of beans and veggies," Duane said as he finished taking stock of the food and water supplies I had asked him to while I took stock of our weapons and ammo. Jaime was outside clearing walkers from the traps, and Billy was picking the meager amount of fresh vegetables growing in the small backyard home garden.

"Ok, thanks, Duane," I said as I wrote down the numbers he'd given me. "Luckily, we've kept a pretty good lid on our ammo by using other weapons instead of our guns. I'll go check on Billy and see what he's got from the garden. Can you go help Jaime out with the traps?"

Duane nodded and went outside to find the girl while I headed out back to find the younger boy. He was down on his knees collecting what little food was grown and still good.

"Hey, Billy, how much you got so far?" I asked as I sat down next to him.

"Not much. Just a couple of tomatoes and a cucumber. It looks like we've got some animals around that have been eating it," he said as he gestured to the small pile of veggies that had been nibbled on by animals and insects and wouldn't be safe for us to eat.

"Well, we'll take what we can," I said as I sighed, looking at our tiny pile of good veggies. "Come on inside. We all need to talk about what we're gonna do next."

He nodded and gathered the vegetables in his shirt, using it as a sack and making him look like he was trying to be a kangaroo. We entered the house and found Jaime and Duane sitting in the living room. Billy put the food into a small container and then the two of us joined the others.

"Ok, we don't have much of anything left right now. Barely any food and only enough water to last us a few days. We haven't seen or heard from anyone else since Duane and I joined y'all," I started as I glanced around the small group. "We have to leave. If we don't leave, we'll die of either dehydration or starvation. We have enough to last us until we get to Atlanta. The refugee center will take us in, and we'll be fine. We just have to make it there."

"But... we can't leave, what about Officer Kendal? And Duane's dad?" Billy countered as he looked up at me, fear and caution clear on his face.

"Billy, if we haven't seen or heard from them at this point," I said as I glanced over at Duane, who was staring at the floor, knowing what I was about to say and not wanting to think about his dad being dead. "If we haven't heard from them, then they're... they're gone."

"He's right... we stay here, we die too," Jaime said as she frowned and put her arm around her brother's shoulders. "We have to leave."

][=][ Time Skip ][=][

We had been slowly making our way towards Atlanta for the past few hours now. The sun was beating down on us, and we frequently stopped to sit in the shade of trees and other shelters to avoid getting too hot. Luckily, we hadn't seen many walkers since we left, so we've had an easy enough time traveling except for the weather.

"How much farther is Atlanta?" Billy asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Still quite a ways away, man," I said as I shook my head. "I know it's hot, and you're tired... we just gotta keep moving and take breaks as needed. We'll get there as soon as we can."

"You think they'll have ice cream at the refugee center?" Duane asked curiously. "Because I could really go for some ice cream right now."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see, won't we?" I responded as I chuckled.

After another half hour or so of walking, it started to get dark. I could hear someone in our small group's stomach rumbling, and I glanced around us, looking for somewhere we could stop for the night and eat. I saw a house that I guessed was about a mile ahead of us on the right side of the road. A car stopped in the middle of the road in front of it.

"Let's make it to that house over there. We'll eat when we get there, and then we can rest until the morning," I stated as I pointed towards the building.

There were jumbles of agreement from the other three. We kept walking until we reached the car. A King County police car. The same one that Rick and my sister had left in when we split up.

"Duane, that's... that's the car that Rick and Zuri left in," I said as I glanced at the boy behind me and to my right, receiving a nod in response.

I opened the passenger side door and looked around the empty vehicle.

"They must've broken down... or run out of gas... do you think they just walked the rest of the way?" I asked as I once again looked at my friend.

"I'm not sure, Zhen... only way to know for sure is to get to Atlanta and ask what happened when we see them."

I sighed in response, worrying about what had happened to the officer and my sister... wondering if they ever made it to the city at all.

"Zhen, let's go check the house out since we're the ones with guns," Jaime said as she drew her weapon with one hand and grabbed my shoulder with the other.

I nodded and then let her gently pull me away from the car and towards the building. I kept my axe in one hand and drew my pistol with the other as we went up the stairs to the door. The girl went to a window and looked inside while I gently tapped on the door with my axe.

"You see anything?" I asked as I tried to look through the dusty windows in the top half of the door.

"No, not really. Don't hear anything either," she responded as she shook her head.

I pursed my lips, then tapped harder with the axe, trying to get anyone or anything's attention from inside the structure. When nothing happened, I shrugged and tried to open the door but found it locked. I holstered my gun and held the axe with both hands, readying myself to bust through one of the windows so I could reach through and unlock the door from the inside. I smashed the glass and then waited for a short time to make sure nothing was attracted to the shattering glass. When nothing but a horrible stench appeared from inside, I gagged and put my hand over my nose and mouth, then reached through the opening with my other hand and unlatched the door, allowing us to open it. Jaime covered her nose and mouth as well, and we entered the building cautiously.

"Go check through that side," I instructed, pointing towards a small hallway with my axe. "I'll go this way. Make sure nothing can hurt us, and see if you can find out what's making it smell so bad."

The girl nodded and went down the hall with her gun aimed in front of her. I turned towards what I assumed would lead to the kitchen and living room and immediately found the source of the stench.

"Oh... fuck," I muttered as I took in the horrible scene in front of me. There were skeletons of two children lying in one corner, tattered clothes and decaying flesh barely hanging onto the bones. Two more corpses were in the room as well, leaning against the couch and, tragically, holding hands in between them. Each of them also had a hand on rifles that were sitting between their legs, the barrels in what used to be their mouths. Their heads had clearly been destroyed by bullets flying through them at the close range of being literally inside their mouths. After putting together what I assumed had happened here, I turned around and went to find Jaime.

"Jaime!" I shouted as I went down the hall.

"In here!" She responded from a room down the hall.

I followed where her voice had come from and found her looking through a closet in what I assumed was a young girl's room.

"I... I found what was making the smell," I said as I sat on the bed and watched her pull out some clothes.

"What was it?"

"Um... well... an entire family of decaying corpses in the living room," I stated as I pictured the horrific scene I had found. "I guess the parents didn't want themselves or their kids to have to survive in a world like this... they shot their kids and then killed themselves."

She stepped away from the closet, her face paling as she looked at me, "Oh... that's... wow."

I nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should stay outside somewhere instead of in here... that smell won't go away any time soon, and I don't think we should expose Duane and Billy to what I saw in there," I said as I looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Let's get out of here," she said as she dropped the shirt she had been holding on the ground and turned towards the door.

We left the room, and as we went to the front door, I saw a set of car keys sitting on a table next to the entrance to the house. I grabbed them and then held the door for Jaime, following her out after she had exited. We joined the others out by the police car.

"So, we staying here or what?" Duane asked as he looked between us.

"Not in the house," I responded, shaking my head. "I found some car keys, maybe we don't even need to stay. We can take the car and make it to Atlanta tonight. Help me look for the car, and we can see if it runs and go from there.

The three of them nodded, and we all split up to look around for whatever car these people had.

"Over here!" Billy shouted from one side of the building.

Soon, the rest of us joined him in front of an old truck that had definitely seen better days but still looked like it should run.

"Well, I guess I just give it a go and see if it works," I said as I sat in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition.

I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers as I attempted to turn the car on. It sounded like it was trying to activate but was having trouble. I stopped and let it rest before trying again. This time, the old truck came to life.

"Yes!"

"Ok, now we have a car... but can you drive?"

"Yeah, my parents started teaching me early. I know my way around a car. One of you can sit up here in the cab with me. Everyone else hop in the back. Lay some of the blankets we brought with us out in the bed to make it a bit more comfy," I said as I put my bag in a small space behind the driver's seat in the cab.

Duane and Billy hopped in the back and did as I had recommended, laying blankets out as some cushioning in the bed of the truck. Jaime tossed her bag behind her seat just like I had with mine and then sat down, closing her door behind her. I climbed in the driver's seat and then slowly made my way out to the road, glancing at our gas meter as I pulled out off the property of the decaying family.

"Well, we've got about half a tank. Hopefully, that'll get us to Atlanta, but if not, at least it will have gotten us a hell of a lot closer," I said as I glanced over at Jaime, who nodded in response.

][=][ Author's Note ][=][

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Like I said at the top, let me know how you feel about I get chapters like the last one and this one. Are they too long? Should I cut them in half in the future and make them multiple shorter chapters, or are they ok being this length?

Now into the questions related to the actual content of the chapter!

1. Who do you think the corpse that the walkers were eating is since you already know it wasn't Morgan?

2. If you read the old MTB, are you glad I kept Jaime and Billy around for the new version? If you didn't read the old MTB do you know who these two characters are?

3. What do you think about Mai being a teacher and the person who gave the kids at the camp the homework we see them working on in the show?

4. What do you think about Ruby's questioning about why homework was important?

5. Do y'all always get emotional watching the initial Grimes family reunion like I do?

6. Any thoughts on Ry and Mai both noticing the weird reactions Shane and Lori had to seeing Rick for the first time after leaving King County?

7. Do you feel sorry for Glenn since he didn't get to drive the car again, even though it was driven one more time before it got scrapped for parts and supplies?

8. What do you think will happen since Mai confronted Shane about sleeping with Lori?

9. How do we feel about protective Ry?

10. Were you expecting Joshua to join the group going to Atlanta?

11. Were you expecting Joshua to give Ry a gun this early on?

12. Do you like Zhen taking on a leadership role in the small group of kids?

13. Do you think Zhen's group will reach the camp before shit hits the fan and they have to leave to head to the CDC?

][=][ THANKS FOR READING ][=][