THE SMOKE HAD TURNED WHITE BY THE SECOND DAY.

They could still see it rising in the distance, no matter how far they got away from Terminus.

The group wasn't walking with a true purpose. They didn't know where to go. It reminded Vivian of the time after the farm, when they were wandering from town to town, looking for a place to make a home.

They stopped with only hours until sundown, to make camp in the woods. Vivian fished out the rest of the formula and put it into a bottle for Judith, handing it over to her older brother who had yet to let go of the baby.

Rick handed her some pecans that Carol kept in her bag and she watched him walk away before handing them to Liam.

Every once in a while she would feel his eyes on her, and sometimes she would meet his gaze. But that's all there was.

Longing stares.

It wasn't the time nor the place for anything more.

That night, Marcie sat on a log on the outskirts of the camp. She could still see the fire that most of them were gathered around, but she couldn't feel its' warmth.

"Ya can sleep, ya know." Daryl grunted as he sat down next to her,

Marice hummed, looking over and observing his face. His black eye was now turning into a lighter purple, and the cuts had scabbed over completely, now healing.

He had told her about what happened, before Terminus. He was with Beth, and he lost her. Then he joined some group of men, bad men. They had found Rick, Carl, and Michonne, and he turned on the men, who in return, beat him badly.

But they had survived in the end.

"Ya didn' sleep last night either," He commented,

"I don't want to close my eyes." Marcie mumbled, her attention turning to the knife in her hand,

"Why not?"

She bit her lip, contemplating before speaking, "I'm... I'm scared that when I wake up... you won't be there."

Marcie was scared she was dreaming. That she didn't find Daryl, or any the others. She's scared that she's still alone out in the woods.

Because despite getting her revenge, avenging her family, it doesn't change the fact that they're gone, dead.

Daryl reached over and grabbed her hand, their star tattoos pressing against one another.

"I ain't leavin' ya any time soon." He promised.

Marcie gave him a small smile, opening her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of a branch snapping. The two of them stood, weapons drawn. Daryl took a few steps forward, staring out into the darkness of the woods,

"Daryl...?" Marcie whispered, gaining his attention,

"It's nothin'." He mumbled, walking back over to her.

He sat down against the log this time, waiting for her to join him. The brunette sat down next to the hunter, curling up under his arm,

"I'll be here when you wake up." He promised, "Always."

She squeezed the hand that was around her waist before resting her head on his collarbone.

Marcie knew one day she'd wake up and he wouldn't be there. But she prayed it wouldn't be any day soon.

The next morning, once she woke up in the same position she went to sleep in, Daryl encouraged her to stay with the others while he went in search for what they heard last night.

The rest of the group set off, in search of some road or any other landmark. Rick led them, gripping his gun tightly.

Tyreese was walking behind his sister and Bob, carrying Liam on his shoulders. Vivian was behind them, walking next to Carl and Judith was strapped to her chest.

Marcie stayed near the back of the group with Glenn and Maggie, who were retelling their experience of what happened after the fall of the prison, how they found each other and the group.

A branch broke nearby and everyone raised their guns. Daryl stepped out from the brush, glancing at everyone's weapons before raising his hands, showing the squirrels he caught, "We surrender."

Marcie stared at the dead animals, looks like they were back on the rodent diet.

She moved up in the group, walking between the sheriff and the hunter, "No tracks. No nothing." Daryl muttered, not wanting everyone to hear,

"So whatever you heard last night..." Rick trailed off,

"It's more what I felt." Daryl continued, "If someone was watching us, there would have been something."

Rick turned to face the group while Daryl and Marcie kept walking. The hunter glanced over at her, the two making eye contact as he silently asked if she was okay.

She gave him a quick nod and a small smile, trying to reassure him. But nothing could stifle her fear of everyone disappearing, of her being left alone.

Rick urged everyone to stick close together, placing his hand gently on Vivian's back, checking on Judith before Abraham caught his attention,

"Ready to get some concrete under your feet?"

"I think it's time." Rick answered him,

"That is sweet music to my ears, Officer. Take the next road we come to, try to get back to going north till we find a vehicle." He planned out, "Good?"

Vivian glanced back at him, only to see him already looking at her, and he raised an eyebrow. The brunette gave a small nod, and he gave her one in return,

"Good."

Vivian guessed there was a plan now. Head to Washington D.C.

She never been. When she was younger, the 7th grade class at her school had an annual trip out there to the nation's capital, but she wasn't able to afford it. The kids came back after the week with all their 'I heart DC' shirts and hats, and the history teacher shared the photos in a presentation, which made Vivian feel left out.

But Jillian stayed back with her, so she wasn't alone. They spent the week in the school library, reading magazines and stealing snacks from the vending machines.

She glanced over at Liam, who was close to falling asleep on Tyreese's shoulder. She just hoped DC wasn't a death sentence.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone screaming for help in the distance.

Carl turned to his father, "Dad, come on!" Rick stayed silent, contemplating on whether they should help the man or not, "Come on! Come on!"

The young Grimes ran off without his father's permission. Everyone followed behind, Marcie quickly catching up to the boy and running beside him as they jumped over logs and dodging branches,

They came a man on top of a boulder with four walkers reaching for him. He kicked at them while crying out, which didn't really help his case as it was attracting more of the undead.

Carl was quick to raise his gun and fire at one of the rotters, which drew their attention away from the man.

Marcie took out her butterfly knife and stabbed another walker in the eye. The others caught up and helped take out the other walkers.

Once they were all down, Rick ordered some of them to keep watch while he confronted the man,

"Come on down." Vivian watched as the man, who, upon closer inspection, seemed to be a priest, shook while climbed down from the large rock, "You okay?"

He seemed jumpy. Of course, Vivian didn't blame him. Moments ago, he was surrounded by the dead. And now... an unfamiliar group is addressing him.

The man puked and Rick stepped back and shared a look of disbelief with Vivian.

"Sorry." The man wiped the spit from his mouth before standing up straight, "Yes. Thank you. I'm Gabriel."

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asked him,

The priest chuckled and glanced around at everyone, but upon seeing everyone's stern expressions, he turned back to Rick, "Do I look like I would have any weapons?"

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like." Abraham commented,

"I have no weapons of any kind." Gabriel answered seriously, "The word of God is the only protection I need."

Marcie scoffed at his response, cleaning the blade of her knife on her jeans before tucking it into her waistband,

"Sure didn't look like it." Daryl spoke up.

Gabriel gave him a small smile, "I called for help. Help came." No one cracked a smile, "Do you have... have any food?" He asked Rick, "Whatever I-I had left, it just hit the ground." He glanced down at where he just puked,

Carl reached into the pocket of his shirt, "We've got some pecans."

The priest took them from his hands, "Thank you."

Liam began to squirm in Tyreese's arms and the man put the boy onto the ground. The toddler waddled over to Vivian, grabbing onto her leg. Vivian placed a comforting hand on the top of his head before Maggie handed her a bottle and sippy cup filled with water. The brunette then handed it off to the toddler, who snatched it up quickly and began to drink from it.

Judith cooed against her chest, pulling at her shirt and Vivian gave her the bottle, holding it for her.

"You have beautiful children." Gabriel commented,

"Thank you." Vivian mumbled, not knowing how else to respond.

The priest made eye contact with Rick, and grew even more nervous under his stare. He stared down at his shoes as he asked, "Do you have a camp?"

"No." Rick answered before taking a step forward, "Do you?"

He glanced around at the group once more before nodding, "I have a church."

Rick's eyes narrowed, "Hold your hands above your head." He ordered and Gabriel followed his command. Rick patted him down, searching for weapons, "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Not any, actually."

"Turn around." He forced the man to turn around and continued to pat him down, "How many people have you killed?"

"None."

Rick stepped back and allowed Gabriel to return to his original position, "Why?"

"Because the Lord abhors violence." He answered seriously,

The leader of their group stepped closer to the priest, squinting his eyes at him, "What have you done?" Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but avoiding eye contact with Rick, "We've all done something." He continued,

"I'm a sinner." The priest admitted, "I sin almost every day. But those sins, I confess them to God, not strangers."

"You said you had a church?" Michonne asked, breaking the awkward tension between the two,

Gabriel nodded and they set off, following him towards his church. It wasn't a permanent solution, but it was a roof and walls they could stay in for a night or two.

They made it to a trail and began to walk down in. Vivian handed Judith off to her brother while she held Liam's hand and allowed him to walk for a few minutes before he was too slow and she had to pick him up,

"Hey, earlier, were you watching us?" Rick asked the priest.

"I keep to myself." He answered, "Nowadays, people are just as dangerous as the dead, don't you think?"

"No, people are worse." Rick replied, glancing at Daryl and Marcie,

"Well, I wasn't watching you. I haven't been beyond the stream near my church more than a few times since it all started. That was the furthest I've gone before today." Gabriel explained, glancing back at Rick, "Or maybe I'm lying. Maybe I'm lying about everything and there's no church ahead at all. Maybe I'm leading you into a trap so I can steal all your squirrels."

Marcie stared at him with a raised brow at Gabriel's small laugh, which quickly faded when he noticed no one was amused by his statement, "Members of my flock had often told me that my sense of humor leaves much to be desired."

"Yeah, it does." Daryl commented,

After a few more minutes of walking, they made it to a clearing, which had a small church right in the middle. Gabriel went right up to the front doors and Rick stopped him,

"Hold up. Can we take a look around first?" He walked up the stairs and held out his hand for the keys, "We just want to hold on to our squirrels."

Vivian stayed next to the St. Sarah's sign with the kids while the others searched the inside and around the property. Once they deemed it clear, everyone stood outside the front doors, waiting with the priest.

Rick let out a whistle, signalling it was safe before he came to join everyone outside,

"I spent months here without stepping out the front door. If you found someone inside, well, it would have been surprising." Gabriel stated,

Rick stared at him, not responding.

"Thanks for this." Carl told him, bouncing his sister in his arms,

"We found a short bus out back." Abraham informed the leader, "It don't run, but I bet we could fix that in less than a day or two. Father here says he doesn't want it. Looks like we found ourselves some transport." Rick reached out and smoothed out his daughter's hair while he contemplated Abraham's words, "You understand what's at stake here, right?"

"Yes, I do."

"Now that we can take a breath-"

The redheaded man interrupted the samurai, "We take a breath, we slow down, shit inevitably goes down."

"We need supplies no matter what we do next." Michonne finished her thought,

"That's right." Rick agreed as they began to walk inside, "Water, food, ammunition."

"Short bus ain't going nowhere." Daryl stated, "Bring you back some baked beans."

Marcie helped Vivian with Liam, the two women holding the toddler's hand and lifting him in the air, swinging him between them as they went up the stairs. He giggled loudly and the others smiled as the sound of the child's laughter.

Vivian let Liam claim a pew, taking the diaper bag from Maggie and following after the toddler.

Marcie sat in the last pew, near the door. It was nice to rest their legs, to sit in an actual seat, out of the sun. There was walls, and a roof. They couldn't be ambushed, not easily at least.

Daryl sat down next to her, their thighs touching. It kept Marcie from thinking it was all a dream.

"How'd you survive here for so long?" Rick asked, walking down the aisle with Judith on his hip, "Where did your supplies come from?"

"Luck." Gabriel answered as Rick came to a stop next to him, "Our annual canned food drive. Things fell apart right after we finished it. It was just me. The food lasted a long time. And then I started scavenging. I've cleaned out every place nearby. Except for one."

"What kept you from it?" Vivian asked as Judith reached for her and Rick let her take his daughter,

"It's overrun." The priest answered,

"How many?" Their leader asked,

"A dozen or so. Maybe more."

Rick nodded, "We can handle a dozen."

Sasha walked over and stopped between Rick and Bob, "Bob and I will go with you. Tyreese should stay here, help keep Judith and Liam safe."

"That'll be okay?" Rick asked the larger man,

He nodded, "Sure." He glanced over to Vivian, who was still standing next to Rick with Judith in her arms while Liam played with his stuffed animal in the pew next to her, "You ever need me to watch them, need anything for them I'm right here."

She gave Tyreese a kind smile as she bounced the baby slightly, "It takes a village." She commented, her gaze moving over to Rick, who squeezed her arm,

"I'm grateful for it." He told Tyreese, "And everything else."

"I'll draw you a map." Gabriel spoke up,

"You don't need to." Rick stopped him, "You're coming with us."

Gabriel gave him a nervous smile, "I'm not gonna be of any help. You saw me. I'm no good around those things."

"You're coming with us."