When Rick, Glenn, and Maggie got to the prison gates, Carol and Carl were there waiting for them, opening the gates and running to the car. Rick stepped out telling Glenn to drive ahead, wanting to get Parker back to the prison as fast as possible. 

"Thank god." Rick wrapped Carl up in a hug who was quick to hug him back before noticing the blood that covered Rick's arms and clothes. "Where's Hershel?" Carl watched the car speed down the gravel path, before looking back at his father.

"He's in the cell block. Where's Aunt Parker?" Rick hesitated to respond, looking down at his hands that were stained in her blood.

"She got shot. We need Hershel to check up on her." Rick finally said before Carol broke up the conversation, a worried look on her face.

"Where's Daryl?" Rick put a hand up to try and calm her down. 

"It's alright. He's alive." Everyone looked at the fence as a walker slammed against it, growling at them. "We ran into his brother. They went off." He explained, Carol stood there silently trying to see if he was lying or not.

"They left?" She asked, her voice quiet, Rick simply nodded, looking down at his feet, he wanted to be back in the cellblock with his sister. He didn't want to lose another person he cared about. Let alone not be there if it happened. "Daryl left? W- he.. he's gone?" She stuttered not able to comprehend it, how he could just up and leave them without saying anything. "Is he coming back? Wh- what about Parker?" Rick put a comforting hand on her shoulder when she started to cry and she pulled away, taking a few steps back.

"Hey.."

"Gone?" Carol repeated, her voice breaking, Rick walked over, putting his arm over her shoulder, and walked her back to the prison, making sure Carl was behind them.

"And Oscar?" Carl asked once he caught up, just now realizing he didn't see him in the car when they had pulled up.

"No." Rick shook his head, his voice low as he and Carl closed the gate. They walked up the road leading to the prison in silence, Carol breaking away once they got to the yard, the Greenes were all hugging by the door. "Hershel!" Rick called out to him, jogging over. "Have you seen her? Is Parker alright?" Rick instantly bombarded him with questions.

"Maggie was just telling me what happened. From what I hear, all I need to do is clean the wound and stitch her up." Hershel cut him off, explaining to Rick what he needed to do. "Maggie, can you go prepare my stuff, please?" Hershel asked her and she nodded, leading Beth into the prison. Carol and Carl followed behind. "Sounds like we have a new problem on our hands," Hershel commented once they knew they were alone. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"He had Daryl, Parker, and Merle pitted against each other. She could barely keep herself up, bleeding from an open wound. A crowd cheering for them to fight to the death. What kind of a sick mind does that?" Rick listed off, the need to put a bullet through the Governor's head growing more and more.

"The kind this world creates," Hershel answered, adjusting his hold on his crutches. "Now let's go patch up your sister." Hershel nodded his head in the direction of the door and Rick opened the door, both heading to the cell where Maggie, Glenn, and Carl were.

"We tried to stop the bleeding with bandages on the road." Maggie began as Hershel moved past them and over to the bed she was on. "I don't think it hit anything major. Bullet went clean through." Hershel, used a knife, cutting the bandages that were soaked with blood, using some water to rinse off the opening of the bullet hole. Carl pulled his dad aside and told him about Tyreese and his group and that was all it took to set him off towards where they were holding them.

"Not exactly a chatterbox, is he?" One man said, looking over his shoulder at his group to see if any of them found it funny.

"Be patient." The biggest one told them, staring at Carl who was sitting on a table, his arms crossed in front of him, his pistol laid across his lap, Rick walking through the door. "When he's ready, let me do the talking." Carl's head whipped up at the sound of the door opening, Rick, Maggie, Glenn, Beth and Judith, and Carol. "I'm Tyreese." He introduced himself, both groups met in the middle of the room.

"Sasha, Allen, Ben." Beth named, pointing to each one as she said their name. Rick rocked on his feet, a blank, dead stare on his face as he looked between the three.

"How'd you get in?"

"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison," Tyreese answered almost instantly. "Wall's down."

"That side is completely overrun by walkers," Rick stated, not believing that four people had managed to get through it. "How'd you get this far?" 

"We didn't. We lost our friend Donna." Tyreese responded sadly, nodding his head at the guy in the back picking at the skin on his hands.

"They were lost in the tombs," Carl told his father, Rick turned his head, anger filling his eyes.

"And you brought 'em here?!"

"He had no choice." Carol defended, her voice barely above a whisper. Rick nodded his head, trying to convince himself they were right before turning back to Tyreese.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Rick apologized, not even an ounce of sympathy in his voice. "We know what that's like."

"That guy, Hershel, he said you could use some extra hands. And we're no stranger to hard work." Tyreese chuckled a bit, facing his group who agreed with his statement. "We'll go out, get our own food. Stay outta your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that too." Tyreese bargained, trying to win Rick over by letting them stay. "Anything to contribute."

"No," Rick said after a second of thinking, his group behind him all upset with his decision.

"Please," Sasha pleaded with him, desperate. "It's like '10 Little Indians' out there. It's just us now." Rick looked down at them, his face still emotionless.

"No."

"Let's talk about this." Glenn stepped forward, "We can't just keep.."

"We've been through this." Rick cut off, not feeling the need to defend his decision. "With Thomas, Andrew. Look what happened." He waved his hand around the room. Everyone looked down at their feet, knowing what he was talking about.

"Axel and Oscar weren't like them." Carol pointed out, hiding in the shadows of the room.

"And where's Oscar now!?" Rick lashed out, locking eyes with each person from his group. "I can't be responsible." He finally said to Tyreese.

"You turn us out, you are responsible," Tyreese argued back, trying not to seem like a threat. Maggie, placed a hand on Rick's shoulder and pulled Rick aside, whatever she'd said seemed to have changed his mind before he looked up at the upper level. His face contorted with a haunted expression.

"No, no, no, no." He repeated, pacing the room, all eyes on him. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?" He asked no one in particular.

"Dad?" Carl asked, worried about him.

"Why are you... no.." He stuttered, still looking up at the upper level, his breathing speeding up. "I can't help you! Get out!" He spun around, facing Tyreese and his group.

Hershel was using a pair of tweezers to pick out small rocks and pieces of leaves from Parker's bullet wound when she shifted a bit, her eyes blinking open at the sound of shouting. "Easy now. I was just about to start stitching you up." Hershel explained to her as she tried to figure out where she was, her eyes frantically searching the room.

"Is that Rick?" She weakly tried to push herself up, wanting to go to her brother's aid thinking he was in trouble. Hershel gently pushed her back down, trying to explain to her that Rick was fine and dealing with another group.

"You aren't in any condition to get up right now. I need you to calm down, Parker." Hershel tried to tell her, but her panic itself was enough to make her pass back out. Going back to work, Rick eventually walked in still covered in blood. "Rick, why don't you go get cleaned up? By the time you're done, I should be finished."

"Is she gonna be okay?" His eyes trailed over to Parker, her body still pale but she was slowly getting color back.

"That remains to be seen."

When Parker woke up, she first noticed the bunk bed above her head, and when she turned her head, she saw Rick sitting next to her. She then looked down, panic washing over her for a moment when she saw that a thick bandage was wrapped around her stomach. It took a while for her to remember she had been shot, and then fractured memories of what happened came flooding back to her. The sand, the arena, the walkers, the amount of blood on her shirt, Merle being alive, Woodbury...

"Rick," Parker whispered, her voice hoarse. When he didn't respond, she reached out, wincing slightly. She shook his knee, "Rick?" Rick woke up looking around frantically before his eyes settled on Parker.

"Hey," Rick said, brushing the hair out of her face with his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot."

"Well, you got shot, so I'm not surprised you feel that way," Rick said with a light laugh. "Hershel stitched you up."

"How long was I out for?"

"A day," Rick answered her, relief laced in his voice.

"We did it?" Parker asked. "Everyone..?"

"We lost Oscar," Rick informed her, almost silently.

"They shot him, didn't they? I remember that. I.. I heard him scream when it happened."

"Yeah," Rick whispered in confirmation. "But the rest of us made it."

"Hey, I fit in with you guys now. All the Grimes have been shot. Except for Little ass-kicker, knock on wood." Rick looked at the bandage on her stomach, squeezing her hand.

"Let's not jinx it. I don't need my daughter getting shot."

"Where's Daryl?" Parker asked, and the moment those words left her lips, Rick felt a sense of dread course through his veins like cold water dripping down his back.

"He.."

"Where's Merle?" Parker added, looking around in agitation. "Is he here?"

"No," Rick assured her. "No, he's not. He left, and Daryl... Daryl went with him." It took her a moment to process what Rick had said. 

"Wh- what do you mean? Will he.. is he coming back?" Rick shook his head slightly. 

"I don't think so."

"He left?" Parker pieced together slowly, her voice getting caught in her throat. "He just left? He left us? Me?"

"I'm so sorry, Parker," Rick whispered, trying to comfort her. Parker blinked quickly and Rick noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks. 

"He didn't even say goodbye."

"I know," Rick said. "He said it was better this way. That you'd understand."

"What am I supposed to understand?" Parker asked. "That he left us, good people, for his brother who did nothing but bully him his entire life? How am I supposed to understand that?"

"I don't know," Rick replied. "I just know that you're not alone, okay?"

"He left," Parker angrily wiped the tears off her face. "He's really gone? After all of that? He left for that piece of shit."

"He could come back," Rick said, sounding hopeful. Parker let out a humorless laugh. 

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"I don't know," Rick told her, shaking his head. "But hey, you gotta have some faith that he'll come back."

"Having faith in people hasn't helped us at all. Faith can go fuck itself."

"It has done us some good," Rick continued, trying to find some way to lighten the moment.

"And bad," Parker countered before her bottom lip trembled slightly. "This is worse than getting shot, and I would know." Rick brushed Parker's hair hack out of her face. 

"I know, P. It sucks."

"You know, I loved him," Parker whispered so quietly that Rick wondered if she was afraid to say the words out loud. "I just... I never told him. I was waiting for him to say it first, but I guess I know how it feels now." Rick didn't know what to say, so he just squeezed Parker's hand as he tried to find the words. 

"Parker.."

"You don't have to say anything," Parker said softly. "I know you probably don't know what to say, but I just had to tell someone. I had to make it real, you know? And now that it is... I can at least try to leave him behind. I mean he didn't have trouble leaving me." Rick could hear the pain in her voice, he noticed how she continued to angrily wipe off the tears from her face, he knew she didn't want to move on from Daryl.

"Hey, don't say that," Rick cut in. "He might come back." Parker shook her head, sniffling. 

"I don't believe that. He found his brother. If it were me and someone made me choose, I wouldn't think about it for a second, I'd go with you. I just didn't think he'd leave without saying goodbye at least."

"He probably just didn't know how," Rick spoke up, thinking back to the fight on the road about Merle. "You were unconscious."

"Still," Parker responded. "Did he say anything? Tell you guys to tell me something?"

"Just that you would understand. That you would understand why he chose Merle."

"I guess I do," Parker sighed, feeling like she'd been stabbed in the heart. "I just... I was at least expecting a goodbye from him. That's what hurts the most." Rick sighed, knowing how she felt. 

"I'm sorry, Parker."

"Can I be alone? Please?" Rick nodded and stood up. 

"I'll be here if you need me. Just holler." Parker smiled at Rick before rolling to her other side, facing the wall. She thought being shot was painful enough, but now all she could feel was a numbness that spread through her entire body, blocking out everything around her. She was confined to bed rest for a few days because Hershel didn't want the stitches open, and she didn't have the energy to argue. Carl and Beth kept her company, staying with her when she was alone, and trying to get her to talk while they ate. Parker felt completely helpless, but with Hershel watching her every move like a hawk, she knew she needed to give her body a chance to heal.

And she did exactly that. She stayed in bed and barely talked to anyone as she thought about Daryl. She knew he'd choose Merle if it came to it, but she didn't think he'd just abandon them. He was a critical member of the group, Rick's right-hand man now that Shane was gone, and now that Daryl was gone too, Rick had sunk into his grieving delirium, seeing the ghosts of his dead wife around the prison.

Glenn wasn't any better. He only thought about the war, eager to shed blood for what the Governor did to him and Maggie. He was calmed down by Hershel, but that didn't stop him from preparing the prison for a potential attack. They fortified the hallways, made sure everyone had a weapon, and were constantly on high alert for an attack.

Parker wanted to help, but they told her they could handle it. And they did, surviving exactly till the day before the counterattack was launched, forcing Parker to forget about herself. Her pain, her anger, and the betrayal she felt, it was time for her to put her friends first. When she heard the gunshots outside the prison, she wasted no time in getting up, knowing that Hershel would reprimand her later for leaving her bed. But no matter what he said, Parker headed in the direction of the gunfire. The war was on.