THE COTTAGE HAD EVERYTHING THEY WOULD EVER NEED.

Water, fire, food. Even oil lamps and gas, they could use the stove and the oven. A crib for Judith, toys for the girls. Even Liam enjoyed the dolls.

Soon after starting a fire in the fireplace, Vivian was resting on the couch, with Liam snuggled into her side.

"We should live here." Mika stated,

Vivian hummed, her fingers playing with Liam's hair. Would it be so bad, to leave Terminus behind and live in this little cottage?

What were the chances they would find their group? Probably slim to none. Why waste all that time when they could live out their days here?

The next morning, Vivian was sitting in the living room, braiding Mika's hair while Liam played with the toys on the floor.

"You're really good at this." Mika smiled, staring at the braid in the mirror she held up, "Did you have any sisters?"

"Mhmm." Vivian hummed, "A younger sister and three younger brothers."

"Wow." Mika gasped, "I bet you're a great older sister."

Vivian stayed silent as she continued to braid Mika's hair. The girl reminded her of her sister, Debbie. She tried to keep her sister as innocent as she could, tried to keep her from growing up. She was the baby of the family, and she was so sweet. Too sweet for their neighbourhood.

Too sweet for this world.

"Done." Vivian smiled as she tied off Mika's hair with her red scrunchie.

The kettle was going off in the kitchen and Tyreese went to go check on it. Marcie walked in with Judith on her hip, "Look at that! All clean and changed."

"Look at you, pretty girl." Vivian smiled as Marcie placed the baby on her lap.

Carol and Marcie took Mika out to hunt while Tyreese and Vivian stayed behind to watch the younger children.

Lizzie went out to the barn to look around, and Vivian didn't want to bother her. She couldn't figure out how to bond with the girl. Mika was easy, she was a smart young girl, but Lizzie was different.

Strange, even.

She didn't trust her. Not around Liam and Judith.

Once the others got back, Tyreese, Marcie and Carol went to get water from the well. Liam and Judith went down for their naps, but Vivian didn't want to leave them with the girls, so she let them go play.

She didn't think they were going to leave the yard.

Marcie stood next to Carol as Tyreese was pumping water from the well, looking around for any rotters.

Tyreese sat down and looked up at them, "Maybe we don't need to go to Terminus."

The younger girl furrowed her brows, "What?"

"I've been thinking. Mika's right. We can stay here. We can live here. I know Lizzie and Mika. I know Judith. I know Liam. I know Vivian. I know the both of you. And I trust you. And I don't know if I can get that anywhere else. We could stay. We can live here."

Marcie shook her head, "But... what about the others? Sasha, Daryl, Rick, all of them."

Their family was still out there. And Marcie wasn't going to give up on them.

"There's no guarantee that they're out there." Tyreese stated,

"We won't know until we look." She argued,

"We can talk about this later, as a group." Carol stated, "C'mon, let's get back."

Vivian had just put the pecans in the oven when she heard the screams coming from the back yard. She sprinted out of the cottage to see Lizzie and Mika crawling through the fence, with at least half a dozen walkers behind them.

Mika's tights got caught on the barbed wire and she screamed for her sister's help.

Vivian got her gun out and fired the first shot, taking out the walker that had grabbed onto Mika's boot.

The other's appeared and Vivian pushed the younger girls behind her as the four of them took out the walkers quickly.

These walkers looked different. Their skin was burnt, their clothes singed off. And the smell that came from them, the smell of cooked flesh, made Vivian want to puke. They came from wherever that fire was, that's for sure.

More rotters appeared and the younger girls got their own guns out and began to help.

"You did it." Carol embraced Lizzie after the last walker fell.

Vivian patted Mika's back before they headed inside, where the younger children were woken by the sounds of shots.

That night, they were all gathered in the living room. Tyreese had fallen asleep on the chair, while Mika and Liam played on the floor in front of the fire. Vivian sat on the couch, rocking Judith in her arms while she fed her the last bottle of the night.

Marcie and Carol were sitting at the small table, cracking the pecans open, with Lizzie sitting with them, staring off into the distance, "I had to help stop them." She mumbled,

"Do you understand what they are now?" Carol asked her,

"I know... I know what I have to do now." Lizzie moved her gaze to meet Carol's, "I know."

"It's ugly and it's scary and it does change you." The older woman told her, "That's how we get to be here. That's the cost. That's growing up now."

"I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be mean." Mika said from her place on the floor,

"You have to be sometimes. But just sometimes." Lizzie told her,

Tyreese began mumbling in his sleep and everyone's attention turned towards him. Marcie knew what his nightmares were about. The prison, Karen.

"Now we have a lot of pecans here." Carol changed the subject,

"A ton." Lizzie smiled,

"You getting sick of them yet?" Marcie asked,

"Nope." Mika grinned,

Vivian put Liam to bed while Carol and Marcie gathered the girls into the kitchen. She watched the girls as they smiled and helped Carol make the candied pecans.

Little did she know it was their last night of peace.

The next morning, Carol and Tyreese went out hunting in the morning. The women stayed back and made a little picnic for everyone. They went into the backyard, laying out blankets and the basket.

They were all laughing, playing, snacking on the pecans that the girl's made the night before.

It was the calm before the storm.

Liam was wandering too close to the fences and Vivian stood, rushing over to him, "Mama, look at the flowers."

"Want to pick some flowers for Carol and Tyreese?" She asked the toddler and he nodded.

They went onto the other side of the fences and began picking the flowers. She found pretty little purple flowers and smiled, picking at them, "These were your mom's favourite." She told Liam, kneeling next to him and gently handing him the stem.

Jillian's house always smelled like lavender. Those flowers were at her wedding, at her baby shower. It always reminded Vivian of her best friend.

It reminded of her now, it was a sign.

"She's watching over us, buddy." Vivian whispered, kissing the top of his head.

Marcie held Judith's hands as the baby stood on the blanket, helping her balance. She sniffed the air and cringed, "I think someone needs a diaper change."

The brunette stood, taking the baby with her, "Behave, you two. I'll be back in a minute." She told the sisters before wandering inside the cottage.

She went into the nursery and grabbed the diaper from the drawer. They were lucky, in a way, that the family before also had a small child. They had diapers that fit Judith.

"Look at you, clean girl." Marcie smiled at the baby, tickling her slightly.

Judith giggled, looking up at Marcie with her big blue eyes.

Carl's blue eyes.

Marcie's heard dropped slightly and she picked the baby back up. She bounced her around a bit on her hip before heading towards the back door,

"Alright, who wants to play-"

Marcie let out a scream as she spotted the blood that covered Mika's still body. Lizzie stood there, a proud look on her face.

Her hands were covered in blood. And so was the knife in her hand.

Vivian heard the scream and quickly scooped up Liam before rushing back towards the house. She spotted Carol and Tyreese by the fence, rushing towards the sound of the scream.

They all stopped at the same time.

They all saw the same thing.

Lizzie standing over her sister's body.

"Don't worry. She'll come back. I didn't hurt her brain."

Marcie clutched Judith close to her torso, not leaving the back porch. She saw the smile on Lizzie's face.

She just murdered her sister... and she's smiling.

Carol reached for Lizzie's knife and the girl grabbed her gun, "No, no, no! We have to wait. I need to show you. You'll see. You'll finally get it. We have to wait."

"Lizzie, put the gun down." Tyreese stated softly.

With laboured breaths, Vivian placed Liam behind her and grabbed her own gun, hiding it behind her back so Lizzie wouldn't see.

If she aimed her gun at anyone, Vivian wouldn't hesitate.

"I just want us to wait." Lizzie begged,

"We can wait. We can wait." Marcie could hear Carol holding back tears, "You just give me the gun. We can wait, I swear." She held out her hand, "We'll go back to the house and we'll have lunch. And I'll just tie Mika up. You know, just so she won't go anywhere."

Vivian wasn't going to let her go anywhere near Judith or Liam.

"Promise that's what you'll do?"

Carol nodded, "Mm-hmm. I promise. I'll use her shoelaces."

Marcie shook as Tyreese and Lizzie approached her on the porch. She stepped aside, letting Lizzie walk through.

Tyreese offered to take Judith, "I'll protect her." He glanced back towards Carol, "She shouldn't be alone."

Marcie nodded, handing the baby off to him. She looked over at Vivian, who was still standing there, staring at Mika. She walked over to them, "I can't... I can't let her be in the same house as Liam." Vivian muttered,

"Tyreese will keep her separated. Go." Marcie encouraged them to go back to the house.

Marcie watched as Carol broke down. She slammed her gun and Lizzie's to the ground and bent over, trying to catch her breath.

The younger woman rushed over as wrapped her arms around Carol, "I shouldn't have left them alone, I'm so sorry." Marcie whispered,

"She's been waiting." Carol hiccuped, "She's been waiting for this moment. Waiting for the opportunity to strike."

Marcie let Carol cry into her shoulder for a few minutes. She needed to compose herself for when they approach Lizzie.

She reached for the knife in Carol's hand, "It doesn't have to be you."