Once she recovered from the shock of seeing her brother alive, and he left the tent he would share with Lori and Carl, Parker decided to move her things somewhere else. She never spent more than one night with Rick and Lori before all this, because she knew they needed their own time and she wouldn't want to intrude. Of course, she was happy to take care of Carl for as long as they needed, but this first night of having Rick back seemed like it was going to be personal. And then she moved her things to Shane's tent because he was the only one with enough space to fit another human. Glenn was already sharing with T-Dog, otherwise, Parker would have stayed with him. Setting her things down, Parker looked at Shane, who was sitting in his sleeping bag looking worried.

"How dare you?" Parker asked quietly. "How dare you tell me that my brother was dead!?"

"I had to get them out of there, Parker," Shane answered. "It was the only way, and I swear I thought he was dead."

"You left him there!" Parker snapped. "You saw us cry even though you didn't actually see him die! What kind of person does that?"

"The kind of person who's trying to keep you all safe," Shane said standing up. He put his hands on her cheeks, but Parker slapped them away. "I did this for you. For you, for Lori, and for Carl. You three are my family, and I... I have to keep you safe." Parker wasn't convinced. And there was a very slim chance that she would ever believe a word that came out of his mouth again.

"You abandoned him. You left him there. He's supposed to be your family too!" Her voice broke near the end, tears filling her eyes.

"I did it because I had to! To keep them safe!" Shane shouted. "Parker, you wouldn't have gone if you thought there was a chance Rick would wake up!"

"Yeah, now look at us!" Parker yelled back, pointing to the tents. "Is this what you wanted when you dragged us all away from our house?" Shane massaged his jaw, a smirk on his face. "Look at me, Shane! Look at me!" She shoved him backwards causing him to stumble a bit.

"At least we're safe."

"Safe?" Parker asked, laughing angrily. "Shane, Carl wakes up most nights terrified of what's in the woods. Every day I wonder if this will be the last one. I wonder if maybe a pack of those things will come and kill us all."

"Do you want to go?" Shane asked her. "You're welcome to do it."

"I just got my brother back," Parker responded, coldly. "And I worry about my nephew. I won't leave them."

"There you go," Shane said as if Parker had made her point.

"I'd rather die knowing what happened to my family than to live knowing that I abandoned them," Parker said. "Maybe you should think about that." She walked out of Shane's tent and walked over to Glenn before sitting down next to him. When he saw who it was, he smiled.

"Hey, how are you?" He noticed the expression on Parker's face, a combination of sadness and betrayal, and she sighed.

"Nothing. Just... Shane told me he saw Rick die. And he lied."

"What?" Glenn asked. "Why would he do that?"

"To get us out," Parker responded, leaning on her elbows. "To get us here. Am I crazy for being angry?"

"No," Glenn instantly dismissed the question, shaking his head. "I think that's perfectly reasonable considering how things have been. He told you your brother was dead."

"But he isn't.."

"No," Glenn replied. "But you didn't tell me your brother was so tough. Why aren't you more like him?" Parker gently pushed Glenn's shoulder.

"Hey!" Glenn laughed.

"I'm kidding. I've seen you. You're just as tough as your brother."

"That's what I thought," Parker replied smugly. She wondered when Daryl would return and who would have to tell him the news about Merle. She knew Daryl was unpredictable and sometimes lashed out and let his temper get the better of him, so she felt sorry for the poor souls who would have to tell him that his brother had been abandoned. Since joining the camp, she and Daryl had only spoken a few times. It is true that when they first arrived at the camp they had the intention of robbing them, but when Parker greeted them as if they were old friends, Daryl and Merle chose to stay for a while. 

Daryl kept to himself, but on the rare occasions when they were in the same place or both headed into the woods, they always shared a small conversation. Late that night, Daryl still had not returned, and the Grimes family sat by the fire with the rest of the group. Parker was sitting next to Rick, with Carl curled up in her lap, leaning over his aunt and father. Lori sat on the other side of Rick, and his arms were around his sister and his wife. Someone asked him how he felt when he woke up, and it took Rick a while to find an answer. "Disoriented. Fear, confusion, all those things but... disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things," Dale spoke, setting down his mug. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I had been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else," Rick explained to the group. "For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream. Something I might not wake up from ever." Carl looked at Rick.

"Mom and Aunt Parker said you died."

"They had every reason to believe that," Rick responded. "Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta... and it never happened," Lori said to her husband. Parker stared at the fire trying not to remember the last hospital visit.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell," Rick said. "And from the looks of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive," Shane spoke. "I barely got them out. You know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane," Rick told him. "I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again," Dale said with a smile. "Paltry things." A crack made everyone turn their heads as they saw Ed Peletier, Carol's husband, had put another log on the fire. Sparks flew through the air and Parker knew what would come next. Shane's eyes darkened in the firelight.

"Hey, Ed," Shane sat up, All heads turning to look at him. "Do you want to rethink that log?"

"It's cold, man," Ed replied, sitting back in his chair.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane asked, glaring in his direction.

"Rules?" Rick whispered to Parker.

"We have to keep the fires down." Parker gave him a brief rundown of the rules quietly.

"Keep are fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane reminded him.

"I said it's cold," Ed replied. "You should mind your own business for once." Shane stood up and Parker saw T-Dog reach out to stop him, but he thought better of it and pulled his hand back. They saw Shane walk towards Ed and Parker shared a look with Lori and Rick.

"Hey, Ed, are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane stood over him. Ed clearly didn't want to have that conversation.

"Go on," Ed said, scratching his neck. "Put the damn thing out, go on!" Carol stood up nervously and removed the log from the fire. When she placed it on the ground, Shane extinguished the flame that had crawled on the wood before crouching in front of Carol and Sophia.

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asked.

"Fine. We're just fine," Carol replied. "I'm sorry about the fire."

"No, no, no." Shane interrupted. "No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" As Carol murmured a small thank you, Shane stood up. "I appreciate the cooperation." When everyone sat back down, Dale looked around. 

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy that his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him." T-Dog offered. "I dropped the key, it's on me.."

"I cuffed him," Rick added. "That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn said. "I don't want to bring race into this, but it would sound better coming from a white guy."

"I did what I did," T-Dog defended. "To hell if I'm going to hide from him."

"We could lie," Amy suggested.

"No, lying is not an option," Parker said immediately stomping on the idea. "The moment we start lying is when things go wrong."

"Or tell the truth," Andrea responded with a sigh, looking at her sister. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he could have gotten us killed." She looked at Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle was left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we're going to tell Daryl?" Dale asked, "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Dale looked around, "Word to the wise. We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from this hunt."

"I was scared and I ran, " T-Dog said. "I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared," Andrea agreed. "We all ran. What's your point"

"And no one blames you, T-Dog," Parker told him. "Merle deserved it, he's never been even an ounce of good around others."

"I stopped long enough to chain that door," T-Dog said. "The staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze in against it, all at once. It's not enough to break through there. Not with that chain, not with that padlock. What I'm saying is that Dixon is alive. He's still there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

"I think Parker should tell him," Glenn announced, volunteering his best friend. "He seems to get along well with you."

"Barely," Parker mumbled.

"You were the one who brought him here." Glenn pointed out. "And he talks to you a lot more than he talks to us."

"Again, barely," Parker added, gazing into the fire. "And what are you saying? I brought him here, yes, but we're not friends."

"I'm just saying he knows you better than he knows us," Glenn explained to her. "And it probably sounds better coming from you instead of Rick and T-Dog." Parker sighed, knowing that Glenn was probably right.

"Fine. I'll tell him."