Parker had never said anything bad about children- besides Lizzie- but when she heard Sam calling for his mother in the middle of the giant herd of walkers, she wanted to hand Judith to the nearest person and strangle that little bastard. Rick's hand tightened on her arm, dragging her after him, and they continued moving, barely breathing as they weaved through the ocean of walkers in single file. Judith, the little angel she is, remained silent as they walked, and Parker silently praised her niece for doing so. Rick pulled the group aside, waiting for those at the end of their line to appear.

"Alright, new plan. Flares from a few guns aren't enough. Too many walkers, too spread out. We're not going to the armory. We need our vehicles back at the quarry. All of us drive. We'll need to round 'em up. We leave, we come back."

"Okay," Jessie agreed, not having any experience with this. "But Judith..." Parker stared at her, challenging her to go on about the toddler who was doing better than her ten-year-old son. "..To the quarry and back, I.."

"I'll take her." Gabriel stepped forward. "Keep her safe in my church until you all lead the walkers away." Parker looked at the priest, not knowing if she could trust him after he had talked shit about them behind their backs to Deanna.

"Can you do it?" She glared at him.

"I'm supposed to do it," Gabriel said. "I have to do it... I'll do it."

"If even a hair on her head is out of place.." Parker ground out, handing Judith to him, keeping an eye on the passing walkers. "I'll find you and kill you. You better take care of her."

"I will," Gabriel promised.

"Take Sam," Jessie suddenly pushed her youngest son forward.

"No." He argued.

"Yes, Sam, it'll be safer," Jessie tried to convince him.

"I'm not leaving you," Sam insisted.

"Sam..."

"Mom, I'm not. I can keep going."

"Sam-" She tried again.

"I can keep going," Sam continued, not wanting to go. "Please. Please?"

"If you're staying, you are to be quiet, okay?" Parker hissed, tired of their back and forth. "Not a word." Sam nodded his head eagerly.

"Let's just go." Jessie looked at Rick to make sure he was okay with letting Sam stay but he looked away. 

"I'm going to keep her safe." The priest reassured Rick. Gabriel left with Judith and Parker caught her brother's gaze which seemed hesitant to leave his daughter with Gabriel.

"Hey, he's going to make it. I know he will." She assured him, watching as Gabriel disappeared amongst the walkers. Then they continued, slowly pushing through the dead, all of them trying their best to remain silent. The night took hold faster than anyone expected, and before they knew it, they were surrounded by darkness, and a lot of hungry dead people. In other words... a deadly combination. 

Sam stopped walking, paralyzed with fear, and no words from Rick or Jessie could get him moving again. "Sam?" Jessie whispered as the shuffling of walkers dragging limbs masked the sounds of her voice. "Come on. Come on." She held out her hand for him to take it. "Sweetheart? Sam?" 

"Sam, come on, I can protect you, okay?" Parker whispered, trying to sound as nice as possible, meanwhile, he looked like he was on the verge of tears. "Just take my hand." She reached out to him, wanting to get out of the herd as fast as possible.

"You can do it," Rick encouraged him. "Sam, come on." Rick shot his sister a worried glance, knowing their speaking was starting to draw the attention of walkers as they shuffled past.

"Sam.." Ron tried, but his little brother just shook his head, his chin quivering as he fought back tears that pooled in his eyes. "Hey, you can do this. Sam, just look at Mom."

"Honey, you can do it," Jessie's voice wavered as she said it.

"Rick," Parker managed to mutter almost silently as a walker knocked into her shoulder, its bottom jaw hanging on by some skin. She went as still as a statue as it growled in her ear, pushing her back with it. Rick undetectedly grabbed ahold of her hand, making sure she couldn't get dragged into the herd.

"Sam, honey, I need you to come with me." His mom crouched down to his height and he started crying, his whimpers only attracting the attention of more walkers. Parker tried to convince him once more, but he only started crying harder. 

"I want to," He squeaked out. 

"I need you to be strong," Jessie stated as a walker snarled, biting into his neck. Another came from behind him ripping skin from his forehead. It was in that very moment, with Sam's screams cutting through the walkers' growls, that Parker knew they were screwed. The walkers grabbed ahold of Sam and he screamed even more as they began to tear into his flesh. Jessie did what any mother would do and screamed her son's name.

"Sam! No! No!" She cried out, and then the walkers got her too. Her grip on Carl's hand tightened as walkers piled up onto the two of them, and she refused to let go.

"No..." Rick muttered as he watched.

"Dad!" Carl whispered, trying to free his hand. "Aunt Parker." Rick was paralyzed with horror, and Parker took notice of the broken look in his eyes. He wasn't listening to them, nor was he in a position to rescue his son. Parker lunged forward, grabbing Rick's axe from his belt before slamming it down onto Jessie's arm repeatedly. The half of her arm fell to the ground and Carl stumbled back as her hold on him was released and he hit the ground with a thud. As Parker handed the axe back to Rick, Carl stood up and dusted himself off. Parker looked at her brother, raising her hand to gently brush some of the hair out of his face.

"Rick? You with me?" She lightly hit his cheek, trying to gain his attention. "I'm gonna need you to come back to me." She whispered, glancing back to make sure none of the walkers took notice.

"Parker.." Rick's voice trembled, his eyes locked on the mound of walkers feasting on Sam and Jessie's bodies. "J-Jessie.."

"I know." She nodded, turning his face away. "And I am so sorry. But we need to go." Then she heard the safety of a gun click off. She and Rick turned to find Ron pointing a gun directly at them, and Parker's eyes widened as she reached for Carl's sleeve, pulling him towards them. Ron's face was contorted with anger, fear, and pain as he saw his entire family get torn apart, and the gun in his hand shook with barely contained rage.

"You." He blinked back tears that clouded his vision. "You." Michonne stabbed him from behind with her katana and his arms fell to his sides as the gun went off. Michonne let his body slowly drop to the ground and Parker flinched when it happened, thankful that no one had fallen to the ground besides him. But then Carl turned towards them slowly, blood covering the right side of his face. The bullet had gone through his eye socket and out the side of his head. His one good eye danced between his father and his aunt.

"Dad...?" He dropped to the ground and Parker gasped, snapping out of her shock before falling to her knees next to her nephew.

"No. Carl, no. Carl... Carl!" The walkers now swarmed them, the remaining three of them giving up on trying to sneak through.

"Parker, Michonne, clear the way!" Rick shouted, taking Carl into his arms. In her panic, Parker barely heard him. She was terrified that Carl was going to die because of a grieving child. But more importantly... she was angry. She pulled out her knife as she rose to her feet, she and Michonne running ahead of Rick, clearing him a path. Parker killed any of the walkers that stood in her way, she was crying, tears blinding her vision as the walkers' blood splattered across her face. 

It was like she was invincible, her rage protecting her as she cut down the walkers like they were nothing. None were able to even come close to biting them because she and Michonne worked as a team. They were both unstoppable, both fueled by the fear of losing Carl and the knowledge that if they stopped for even a second, they would die. They made their way to the infirmary, the door opened as they ran towards the porch, letting them in where some of the survivors were hiding

"This is a gunshot?" Denise asked. The new doctor. She had taken Pete's place. She instantly met them at the door while other people were prepping supplies.

"Handgun, close range," Michonne informed her.

"You need- save him! Please!" Parker cried, feeling bile rise in her throat as she struggled to regain her breath.

"Please save him," Rick whispered. "Please." Parker turned around and managed to reach the sink before vomiting, hunched over the sink as she did so. She dropped to the floor as she looked at her red-stained hands. The blood unfortunately not just being walker blood. Her body was shaking from quiet sobs. The voices of her family were distant, faint echoes in her ears as she fought to pull off the bed sheet she was wearing. Someone put a hand on her shoulder and asked if she was okay, but she didn't pay any mind to who it was as she struggled to pull herself back up to her feet. Looking out the window at the walkers, Parker felt another wave of rage and saw Rick heading for the door.

"Rick, wait." She called after him, walking forward with determined steps.

"What?"

"I'm coming with you." She said coldly, stealing a machete that was leaned up against the wall, and with that, they walked out of the infirmary, closing the door behind them. The walkers were everywhere, and Parker was still filled with fear for what may happen to Carl. But her anger towards Sam was overriding any other thoughts knowing that he had gotten three people killed, including himself. Maybe even four if Carl didn't make it. Parker had her knife on her belt just in case, but she swung the machete with deadly precision, stopping the walkers before they could even get close to her or her brother. The walkers continued to circle around them, backing Rick and Parker into a tight circle. As they fought, more people joined them, Aaron, Michonne, Heath, and Spencer, all with their weapons drawn.

"Knock them away! Drive them down!" Rick shouted. "We can beat 'em! We can beat them!" More people joined in, helping to take down the walkers that threatened the safety of their town. Parker could feel the blood covering her face, arms, hands, clothes, and anything else, but she didn't care. When a walker was anywhere near their circle, it died. They were defending themselves. They were eliminating the threat. This was what they had to do. They had to fight for their home and kill all the walkers that stood in their way. This was something that people would talk about for a long time. 

Rosita, Carol, Eugene, Morgan, and Tara made their way over to the group, and they made room in their defenses for them. Everyone was still fighting, and Parker was among them. She wasn't going to die today. She wouldn't let any more of her people die, not after losing so many. But they were being cornered against the back wall, and that's when the pond caught fire. Parker had no idea how it had caught fire or who had lit it on fire, but it was a good enough distraction. The walkers began to move towards the flames instead of trying to get to them. 

Everyone was filled with new hope, moving forward to kill the rest of the walkers. While the majority headed to the pond, only to be met with their second death, being burnt to a crisp, Parker killed any of the walkers who continued to come for them. It seemed like everyone had banded together to fight this threat, and Parker didn't hesitate to protect the people who had decided to join in the fight. They had finally become a community. The fighting went on all night, but when dawn broke and the town was only darkened by the smoke from the fire, the streets were filled with bodies of the dead. Fortunately, there were none of Parker's friends among them. When the last walker fell and she saw who had killed it, she dropped the machete from her hand and let out a sob. Daryl saw her through the sea of dead walkers and without thinking, ran towards her, jumping over the corpses to reach her. When they collided, he spun her around as she wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing his name into his shoulder.

"Oh my god," She cried. "You're here. You're alive." Daryl didn't let go of Parker as he closed his eyes to try and hide the fact that he was crying.

"I'm here.. I'm here." When he took a step back, he finally saw that she was covered head to toe in walker blood, her upper and lower lips had stitches in them, and her left arm. And as much as he wanted to tell her off for putting herself and the baby in danger, he knew now was not the time. He didn't dare do it, because as much as he wanted her to be safe, she could take care of herself. One of the things she had proved that night. Parker raised her hands, cupping his face.

"I thought you were dead." She whispered, looking into his eyes.

"I'm okay," He promised her. "I'm alright. I ran into some trouble, but I got back." She sobbed again, hugging Daryl as she cried.

"It was horrible. First, we got attacked by those people with the 'W's' on their foreheads, and then the clock tower fell which took down the wall. Then all those walkers got in and it went from hell to a shit storm. And then Carl- oh my god, Carl!"

"What happened to Carl?" Daryl asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Ron. He shot him," Parker explained to him in a hurry. "We have to go!" She grabbed his hand, practically dragging him to the infirmary. Parker, Daryl, and Rick were at the front of a large portion of people who walked back to the infirmary. All waiting for the news, whether it be good or bad.  When Denise assured them all that Carl would be fine, Parker cried tears of relief, her entire body relaxing at the news. She instantly walked over to Rick and pulled him into a hug. Denise stitched up the wound on Daryl's shoulder and Carl was sleeping in the next room, so Parker felt like she could breathe again. Daryl reached up and brushed his thumb over Parker's cheek as his eyes roamed over her face.

"You're beautiful." He admired her, and she looked at him confused.

"What?" She chuckled, motioning towards herself. "Covered in walker blood?"

"Yeah," Daryl replied with a nod.

"Well, I'm glad you think that," She said with a laugh. "I'm so glad you're here. I really thought you weren't coming back this time."

"I'll always come back to you," Daryl stated as she sat beside him. "Always."