BLOOD COVERED VIVIAN'S TORSO AS SHE WATCHED RICK BURY TYREESE'S BODY,

He had gotten bit at Noah's house, by his brother, and they cut his arm off to save him from infection. But the shock and the blood loss had gotten to him.

They tried getting him back to Sasha, back to all the others. But he passed quietly in the truck.

In her right hand, she held a toy airplane that the man had grabbed for Liam.

They had lost three people in a matter of days.

Vivian tried not to cry. They needed to be strong, for Sasha. For Daryl, for Maggie.

It had gone the way it had to... the way it was always going to.

The trucks had run out of gas and without a goal in sight, they wandered aimlessly around the woods of Virginia.

And it wasn't long before they ran out of water.

Vivian preserved hers for the kids, making her weaker a lot faster than the others. Rick forced her to drink some of his own, needing her to keep up.

They made frequent stops, some members separating to search for water or food.

Marcie would watch Daryl go, but didn't follow him as she usually did. He was beginning to lose hope like the others. And he needed time to himself.

It was early afternoon when they reconnected with no luck. The group continued on, walking on the pavement with the sun beating above them.

Carl walked next to Vivian, who was holding Liam's hand while Marcie carried Judith up ahead next to Daryl. She heard something coming from behind the group and turned to see a small herd heading towards them,

"We're not at our strongest. We'll get 'em when it's best." Rick responded, following her gaze, "High ground, something like that. They're not going anywhere." The leader turned to look at the hunter, "It's been three weeks since Atlanta. I know you lost something back there."

Judith made began to whimper in Marcie's arms, "She's hungry." Marcie mumbled, knowing Daryl didn't want to talk about Atlanta,

"She's okay." Rick took her from her arms, "She's going to be okay."

"We need to find water, food." Daryl grumbled,

"We'll hit something in the road." Rick looked up towards the blue sky, "It's gonna rain sooner or later."

"I'm gonna head out." Daryl handed Marcie her rifle back before heading towards the trees, "See what I can find."

"Hey, don't be too long." Rick warned him,

"I'll go with you." Marcie offered,

"Nah, you stay here." Daryl grunted, not bothering to look at her,

Carol stepped forward, squeezing Marcie's arm, "I'll look after him."

The brunette nodded, watching the older woman follow after Daryl into the woods. She didn't move until she felt a small hand reach for hers. Marcie looked down to see Liam gripping her hand and she gave him a small smile before continuing with the group,

Vivian watched from behind as Liam walked with Marcie. Even with all the things they're going through, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, the little boy didn't complain. He only wanted to be carried a few times.

Carl reached into his bag and held out a yellow and pink box towards Maggie, "Found this when we were looking for water."

"What is it?" Maggie asked as she opened it to reveal a mirror and a small ballerina inside,

"I think it used to play music." He explained, "It's broken."

Vivian smiled at the sweet gesture as Maggie thanked him,

"I thought you might like it."

As the southern girl was putting the music box into her own bag, she caught Gabriel's eye, who was adjusting his collar in the heat but still refusing to remove it,

"I used to joke these things were leftovers from the days of hair shirts. The church actually made... shirts out of hair. So if you wore it, you could atone just a little for your sins."

Vivian appreciated that he was trying to stay positive and light hearted despited the circumstances. But she wasn't sure that Maggie was the one to be joking with. Not even Glenn was trying to be positive.

"I know what a hair shirt is." Maggie mumbled, "My daddy was religious. I used to be."

Vivian squeezed Maggie's hand. She had lost her entire blood family in the matter of days. Her and Sasha had lost so much, Vivian was surprised they could still carry on like they were.

"If you ever want to talk about your father or about Beth..." Gabriel began,

"Please, stop." Maggie begged,

"Whenever you're ready, I'm here."

"You never even met them." 

"I know you're in pain."

"You don't know shit." Maggie snapped, stopping to speak to him, "You had a job. You were there to save your flock, right? But you didn't. You hid. Don't act like that didn't happen." She walked away and they watched her go,

"She didn't mean it." Vivian sighed, glancing at the priest, "She's going through a lot."

The rotters were getting closer. Rick came to a stop by a bridge and they waited for the herd to reach them. They didn't want to waste the ammo on the walkers, and wanted to go hand to hand with them.

Vivian and Carl stood on the other side of the bridge with Judith and Liam. Gabriel, Noah, Tara, Rosita, and Eugene joined them as the two men weren't the strongest of fighters and the two women decided to help protect them.

Marcie stood between Rick and Glenn, waiting for the rotters. Rick threw the first one down the cliff, where it wouldn't be easy for them to climb back up.

The rest of them followed suit, trying not to use too much energy. Marcie did have her hand on her knife just in case she needed it.

Sasha stepped up, grabbing a walker by the collar of its' shirt. But she didn't put it down right away,

"Sasha." Michonne hissed, urging her to end it.

She stabbed the walker and shoved it to the ground.

Rick unsheathed his machete and approached the her, "Stay in line. Flank her. Keep it controlled."

"Plan just got dicked." Abraham muttered,

Now, instead of waiting for the walkers to come to them, they were going to the walkers. It was gonna cost more energy, energy that they didn't have.

And that was dangerous.

Daryl eventually jumped in, saving Rick from getting a bite. He pulled the walker away from their leader and Marcie used her knife to put it down.

Once they were all dead, the group headed back across the bridge to meet up with the others.

They continued down the road. Marcie wasn't sure how much walking she could do.

She looked over at Carol, who was staring at Daryl, "Is he okay?"

"Are any of us?" The older woman responded,

No, Marcie guessed not. Some were worse than others, like Abraham, Sasha, and Maggie. But no one was at one hundred. Some were trying more than others.

They came across a wreck in the middle of the road and the group paused,

"I'm gonna head into the woods, circle back." Daryl stated,

"May I come with?" Carol asked,

"Nah. Nah, just me." Daryl snapped before he headed into the woods.

Marcie watched him go once more and Carol squeezed her arm gently, "Just give him time."

"It's been three weeks." She sighed, "How much more time does he need?"

After searching the cars and finding nothing useful, the group sat on the side of the road for some much needed rest. They stayed in the shade, wanting to escape the hot sun.

Vivian sat against a tree, with Liam in her lap. Next to her, Abraham took a bottle of alcohol from his bag,

"So all we found was booze?" Tara questioned,

"Yeah." Rosita mumbled her response,

"It's not gonna help." Tara stated,

"He knows that."

"It's gonna make it worse."

"Yes, it is." Rosita confirmed,

"He's a grown man. And I truly do not know if things can get worse." Eugene commented,

"They can." Vivian sighed, "They always can."

The brush across the street rustled and everyone reached for their weapons. Four dogs, ranging from Dobermans to German Shepherds, came out from the bushes and growled at them.

"Doggies." Liam squealed and Vivian pulled him closer into her torso,

The dogs began to growl and Liam buried his face in her shirt. Before the animals could attack, Sasha fired her gun. Vivian gasped, keeping Liam from witnessing the sight of the dogs being killed.

Rick stood, breaking some branches while Daryl went to start skinning the animals.

It made Vivian sick to her stomach. But they needed it to survive.

It didn't seem to help anyone's mood, having their stomachs full. They were now at their lowest, and it didn't look like their situation was going to change any time soon.

Marcie held her water bottle out towards Daryl, who she hadn't seen much in the past few days, "You should drink."

"Nah."

"Daryl, please." She stopped in front of him.

Marcie attempted to make eye contact, but instead he stared down on the asphalt. She reached up and forced him to look at her, "Hey, we can make it together. But we can only make it together."

Daryl pulled away, "Tell them I went looking for water." He mumbled before heading back into the woods.

She sighed not knowing what else to do but watch him leave. He was trying to pull away, and she wanted to know why. Was it because of what happened at her house? Did she push him too far?

Or was it all because of what happened in Atlanta?

They walked for another few miles, getting weaker with each step. Vivian was carrying Liam, but he got too heavy for her and Glenn took him for her.

They reached the top of the hill before Rick came to a stop. 

In the middle of the road was a bunch water bottles and multiple jugs filled with what looked like clean water. On top was a note, 'From a friend'.

Vivian handed the paper over to Rick just as Daryl stumbled out of the woods. He went over to the hunter and showed him the note which caused him to grab his crossbow in case of attack,

"What else are we gonna do?" Tara asked as everyone circled around the water and stared.

It had been so long since they've been able to drink more than just a sip of water.

"Not this." Rick responded, "We don't know who left it."

"If that's a trap, we already happen to be in it." Eugene stated, "But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend."

"What if it isn't? They put something in it?" Carol questioned, 

Eugene grabbed a water bottle and began opening it, 

"What are you doing, dude?"

"Quality assurance." Before he could take a sip, Abraham stepped forward and slapped the bottle from his hand.

"We can't." Rick stated,

Thunder clapped above them and Liam ran over to Vivian in fear. She lifted the toddler into her arms just in time for the clouds to open and rain began to pour.

It brought smiles to most of their faces. Vivian set Liam's and Judith's bottles out to fill with water while Tara and Rosita went to lay on the asphalt.

Marcie reached over for Daryl's hand as he stared at the ground, their star tattoos pressing against each other, "Don't pull away. Not now." She begged him quietly,

"Everybody get the bags. Anything you can find." Rick ordered.

They began setting out their own bottles and Judith cried as the thunder got louder. The clouds were moving in fast, and it wasn't looking good.

"We need to find shelter." Vivian told Rick as Liam buried his face into her shoulder,

Marcie dug into her bag and grabbed Daryl's poncho, placing it over the toddler to keep him warm. They didn't need a sick toddler on top of their current situation.

"Let's keep moving." He demanded,

Daryl broke away from Marcie and went over to their leader, "There's a barn."

"Where?"

They followed Daryl through the woods, nearly blinded by the rain, until they reached the old barn. Rick went in first, checking it for any dangers before they all wandered inside.

They started a fire with the hay and whatever sticks they could find inside the barn. Daryl had gone out to collect more firewood, but it was too wet.

Vivian sat against the wall, Liam asleep in her arms while Carl had his head in her lap, with Judith on his chest.

She noticed Rick staring at his son, and she reached down to brush the hair from the teenager's forehead, "He's gonna be okay. He bounces back more than any of us do." She told him,

His eyes met hers, "I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now. In this. But I think I got it wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them."

"This isn't the world." Michonne spoke up, "This isn't it."

"It might be." Glenn commented and they all looked over at him, "It might."

"That's giving up."

"It's reality."

"Until we see otherwise, this is what we have to live with." Rick settled it, "When I was a kid... I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown-up stuff, so... so I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him. But he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day he woke up and told himself, 'Rest in peace. Now get up and go to war'. And then after a few years of pretending he was dead... he made it out alive. That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do and then we get to live. But no matter what we find in DC, I know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves... that we are the walking dead."

Daryl looked over at him, "We ain't them." He looked down at the branches he snapped and tossed into the fire,

"We're not them." Rick tried to get the hunter to look at them, "Hey. We're not."

He stood, staring down at their leader,

"We ain't them."