VIVIAN WAS GRATEFUL THAT SHE RAN CROSS COUNTRY IN HIGH SCHOOL.

She could run for long distances without needing to stop. Not much could be said for the others. She could hear the others behind her, panting heavily.

The sun was low in the mountains as they made it to the canyons. It wouldn't be long until they reached the camp.

Vivian could only imagine what Merle would do if he showed up to camp and Daryl wasn't there.

If they were lucky, he passed out behind the wheel. And they would have more time.

She had to get back to Jillian and Liam. 

Screams pierced the air and they all paused. Gunshots followed, "Go! Go!" 

Vivian gripped the gun in her hands as she sped up her pace and sprinted towards the camp, the others quickly behind her.

"Jillian!" Vivian screamed, bursting through the trees.

She aimed her gun and shot at anything that growled or stumbled as she searched for her best friend.

But it was too much. The screams, the smell of blood in the air. It was dark and she couldn't find them.

Marcella gripped her hunting knife, adrenaline running through her veins. She ran to the closest walker, pulling it off the camper it was chewing on and stabbing it through the head.

Someone bumped into her and she went flying to the ground. Her knife flew from her hand, getting buried in the dirt.

"Shit!" Marcie began searching for it quickly as more walkers approached.

A hand grabbed her ankle and she spun around on her ass, kicking the walker away. She back away until her back hit a tree.

The walker crawled towards her and Marcie lifted her foot and brought it down on the walker's head multiple times until it stopped moving.

She blew a strand of hair away from her face and stood in time for another walker to come towards her. 

Marcie tripped the walker and kneeled above it, grabbing a large rock from the ground and slammed it against the walker's skull.

Another body collapsed next to her, a bolt through its' brain. She dropped the rock and turned to see Daryl reloading his crossbow.

He gave her a nod before turning and taking out more biters.

Vivian ran out of bullets and reached for her crowbar. She swung and took out anything that came near her.

She kept calling out for Jillian, but her voice was drowned out by the screams.

It was a massacre. Vivian wasn't even sure who was alive at this point. For all she knew, she could've been the last one left.

"Make your way to the Winnebago!" Rick's voice called out into the darkness.

Vivian beat another biter to the dirt. If Jillian was anywhere, it would be there. She weaved through the tents, going towards the lights that were coming from the RV. 

The gunshots and screams seized. All that was left was the sobs of the living.

"Oh, my god." Marcie whispered, staring at all the death and destruction that was left behind.

Daryl glanced over at her, "God had nothin' ta do with it."

The cry of a baby pierced the air and Vivian gripped her crowbar tighter as she followed the sound.

Vivian ran towards her friend's tent, stepping over the bodies of the campers and biters as she went.

She came upon the blue tent and gasped, "No." 

Jillian's blonde hair was stained red with the blood that leaked from a bite mark on her neck. A few feet away from the tent was Trevor's body, his torso torn open and his insides laying in the dirt.

She continued to hear the muffled baby's cries and Vivian gently shifted her friend's body to see Liam underneath, "Oh, Liam." She quickly checked his body for bites before lifting him up into her arms,

Vivian cried, rocking him back and forth, "I know, baby, I know."

No one slept for the rest of the night. Vivian sat by the smouldering fire, clutching a sleeping Liam in her arms. She was afraid if she loosened her hold, he'd slip away. Just like his parents did.

Everyone else kept busy. Once the sun had begun to rise, they started moving the bodies of both the walkers and the people.

The quarry wasn't safe anymore. They were going to have to move. Where? They didn't know.

Marcie approached Rick, who was crouched in the long grass, staring at the sun that was beginning to rise over the skyline of Atlanta.

"Do not enter the city. It belongs to the dead now." He spoke into the radio, "We're camped a few miles northwest, up by a big abandoned rock quarry. You can see it on a map. I hope you come find us. But be careful. Last night walkers came out of the woods. We lost people. Watch yourself, Morgan. Take care of your boy. I'll try you again tomorrow at dawn."

"Did he answer?" Marcie asked, her voice hoarse,

Rick stood and turned to look at her before shaking his head.

"Do you think he's okay? Him and Duane?"

"I hope so." He stated before walking back towards the camp,

Marcella sighed, staring at the sunrise. She didn't know if she should stick around or not. She needed to find her parents. They weren't in Atlanta, but she didn't know where else to go.

She made her way back to the camp and looked around. Carol, Sophia, and Lori were sat by the fire pit, watching Andrea closely.

Amy had been one of the victims in last night's attack. And Andrea had yet to move away from her now cold, pale body.

Marcie understood. And no one wanted to pressure Andrea to leave her remaining family's body. 

But any moment now, Amy was bound to come back. But not in the way anyone wants.

She watched as Daryl walked by, pickaxe in his hand as he went to each body and drove the sharp metal into the skulls. T-Dog and Glenn followed behind him, moving the bodies that he was done with,

"She still won't move?" Rick asked the women, everyone watching Amy and Andrea's movement,

"She won't even talk to us. She's been there all night." Lori sighed, looking up at her husband, "What do we do?"

"Can't just leave Amy like that." Shane commented, "We need to deal with it same as the others."

Rick nodded, "I'll tell her how it is." 

Everyone who was by the campfire watched as Rick approached Andrea. He went to crouch beside her and Andrea pulled her gun out, "I know how the safety works."

The group stood, waiting to see if she'd pull the trigger. Vivian stayed in her seat, Liam still in her arms. She knew Andrea wouldn't shoot Rick, she was mourning but she wouldn't do anything rash.

Rick stood back up, "All right. Okay." He nodded, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Daryl walked over, his eyes narrowing at Andrea and Amy, "Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."

Rick pinched the bridge of his nose, "What do you suggest?"

The redneck turned towards him, "Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"It's a good thing she's not a turkey." Vivian stated and they all turned to her, "For God's sakes, leave her be, Daryl. Andrea isn't stupid, she'll take care of it when the time comes."

Daryl glared at her before walking away, "Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do." He told the other man who was standing aimlessly, staring up at the sky,

He went over to Morales, who was struggling to carry the body of one of the campers before being stopped by Glenn, "What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He pointed to another pile of bodies off to the side,

"What's the difference?" Daryl mumbled as they continued to drag the body towards the burning walkers, "They're all infected."

Marcie walked over to the men, "Woah, what's going on?"

She saw the tears in Glenn's eyes, "Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them."

Marcie turned to Daryl, "If it came down to it, would you rather be burned or buried?"

Daryl shrugged, "Don't matter."

"Yes, it does. If one of these bodies were yours or Merle's, would you rather be burned or buried?" Daryl hesitated and she spoke again, "Or left to rot?"

He stared down at her, sweat running down his forehead before sighing and reaching for the body again.  He and Morales began to drag the body past the RV where the others were, "You reap what you sow." Daryl grunted,

"You know what? Shut up, man." Morales scoffed,

Daryl dropped the body, "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!" He spat before stomping away.

Marcie shook her head, "Drama queen." She muttered before turning to Glenn, "You okay?"

Glenn took off his hat and wiped at his sweaty forehead with the back of his arm, "Yeah. It's just... none of these people deserved this."

She squeezed his arm, "I know."

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" Jacqui yelled, drawing everyone's attention,

Everyone surrounded the poor man. Marcie could see the panic and fear in his eyes. Some of the men held weapons as they approached Jim and she knew it wasn't going to end well,

"Show it to us. Show it to us." Daryl ordered,

Jim picked up a shovel, prepared to swing at anyone who got too close. Vivian stood and stayed behind the crowd, holding Liam close. She wasn't going to let anyone hurt him, not even Jim.

T-Dog ran up behind the man and grabbed his arms, pulling it back. Daryl went over and lifted Jim's shirt, revealing the bite mark on his torso,

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim repeated and T-Dog let him go.

Marcie walked over to him, gently putting her hand on his arm, "It's hot out, Jim. Let's go sit down."

She led him over to behind the RV and sat him down on a bucket, handing him a water bottle. The others gathered by the fire pit and Marcie went over,

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl stated,

"Would you put the fucking pickaxe down?" Marcie glared, "Going around looking like Jason or some shit." She mumbled,

She was really sick of having to calm him down. She didn't want to know how the group dealt with him and Merle together.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked the younger Dixon,

He nodded, "Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

"I hate to say it..." Dale spoke up, "I never thought I would... but maybe Daryl's right."

The group stared at Dale in shock. Not many people agreed with Daryl. Especially someone as opinionated and wise as Dale.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick stated,

"I'm not suggesting-"

"He's sick. A sick man." Rick continued, interrupting the older man, "We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl answered,

"Like it or not, he's still human. We can't just shoot him. That's murder. And I know modern society has gone to shit lately, but doesn't mean we can screw our morals and go around killing people." Marcie stated, "Even if they are bit."

"What if we can get him help?" Rick questioned, "I heard the C.D.C. was working on a cure."

Shane shook his head, "I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What if the C.D.C. is still up and running?"

"Man, that is a stretch right there." He replied,

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they?" Rick reasoned,

"He's right." Vivian voiced, "The CDC would be the one place that has the potential to end this thing."

Rick gave her a nod in thanks for the support, "I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection..." He listed off,

"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning." Shane stated,

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori commented,

He nodded in confirmation, "That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

Vivian shook her head, "That's a big, fat 'if', Shane."

"They're both a big, fat 'if'." Marcie replied, 

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance." Rick said,

Daryl nodded, gripping the pickaxe tighter, "You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" He began to run towards Jim, his weapon raised,

Before Daryl could bring the pickaxe down on Jim, Rick ran up behind him and cocked his Python at the redneck's head, "We don't kill the living."

Shane moved to stand between Jim and Daryl while the Dixon turned to glare at Rick, "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down." Shane stated, "Go on."

Daryl shoved the pickaxe into the gravel before stomping away once more.

The commotion woke baby Liam up and he began to cry. While Rick went to take Jim into the RV for protection, Vivian brought the kid towards her own tent.

She tried feeding him, changing him, nothing calmed him down, "I miss her, too." Vivian whispered, rocking him in her arms,

Tears fell down her cheeks. She didn't know how to be a parent. She can babysit, sure, but taking care of him 24/7? She's not ready for that.

She's not his mom.

Eventually, he fell asleep on her cot. She stacked the pillow and blanket around him so he wouldn't fall off. 

Vivian sat on the floor, going through all the things that she grabbed from Jillian's tent. She was taking inventory on the diapers, cream, and clothes that he would soon grow out of.

How do you raise a baby in this world?

"You okay?" Rick asked, standing in the doorway of the tent.

"I'm supposed to be the cool, fun aunt. Someone he could go to for advice. Someone he could go to if he needed the morning after pill or to vent about how strict his parents are." Vivian stared at the baby in front of her, who was still sleeping, "I'm not ready to become a mom." She whispered,

"You know, a lot of people aren't ready to be parents, but they have children anyway." He walked in and crouched beside her, "They trusted you to keep him safe. That's all you have to do."

She looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes, "It takes a village."

Rick nodded, "It takes a village."