A groan escaped her broken throat. Brooks could feel her head on something soft, and her left leg slightly elevated, resting on somebody's lap. Her eyes flickered open, and was met with a golden darkness. Like a fire, or a torch in the night. As she reached down and grabbed onto where her leg was injured. She was met with cloth, she tried to slip her fingers underneath, but a hand grabbed her wrist. "Best let it set." Carl's voice had said.

Brooks turned her head to the left, and saw him smiling gently at her. She looked around and saw... Everyone. She saw three people that she definitely didn't recognise, but that one ginger man she couldn't help but find had a familiar face. She realised that she had a man's jacket zipped up over her, and instantly recognised it as Carl's; that's when she remembered Twitchy cutting off her shirt. Carl could've just buttoned up the flannel she had on, but he felt that was too thin for the cold nights, so sacrificed his black jacket. Brooks tried sitting up, but hands grabbed her biceps from behind, gentle and caring. One warm, one freezing, like metal. "You should rest." Cam's voice said.

She whizzed around as fast as she could in her state, and smiled warmly at him, before she hugged him tightly. He didn't hesitate to hug her back, nestling into her tightly as a warm smile pulled on his lips. It'd been his lap her head was resting on. "I missed you so much." She whispered to him. Her voice was hoarse, scratchy and sore... She'd done a lot of screaming.

"Missed you too, kid." Cam responded, trying to keep his voice strong, but was failing.

Brooks pulled back, and looked to Carl, smiling as she reached for his hand again. He didn't hesitate to hold her hand too, as he squeezed it. She smiled at him, before looking to who's lap her left leg was on. Michonne. A heavy and happy breath left Brooks. "I didn't... I didn't think you'd make it." Brooks admitted, painfully pulling her leg back and releasing Carl's hand so she could move forward. Michonne did most the work though, going as close as she could as soon as she realised what Brooks wanted.

A hug.

The two squeezed each other, tears in their eyes as they both remembered what happened to Marliya, barely a week ago. Brooks looked down, and pulled away, wiping her eyes to keep at bay any potential tears. She looked around her, and saw everyone... Even little Judith, who was the only one asleep. Brooks smiled at her innocent, sleeping face. Sophia stood up from beside Carol and walked over, pulling her best friend into a hug. "I was praying for you." Sophia whispered, holding her tightly. Tyreese watched Sophia with a smile, he'd grown very close with her the week it was just the two of them and Judith.

Brooks smiled. "I never doubted you were alive." She admitted, and it was true. The whole week she never once assumed her people were dead, because the last she heard about the bus was that it drove away. She didn't hear about its fail, and the way everyone split up.

Sophia pulled back, and wiped her tears before she smiled. "My mom's back, she's who saved us all." She moved to the side so Brooks could see Carol and Merle sitting side by side.

Brooks noticed that Merle's left wrist was covered in blood... And, what kind of looked like teeth scrapes? But, he wasn't bit, because he wouldn't have looked as well as he did. "Hell happened to your wrist?" She couldn't help but ask, because of how painful it looked.

Merle licked his lips, but smiled a tight lip smile. "One of them damn cannibals took a cheese grater to me."

She raised her eyebrows a little, and nodded. Brooks couldn't remember her final moments before blacking out. "Yea, anyone else find that shit weird? I mean that motherfucker wanted me to eat my own leg? I think I'm still in the oven."

A couple quiet chuckles travelled through the group of survivors as Brooks tried to make light of the situation. Brooks stared at Maggie, who was beside Glenn. She wet her lips, knowing she had to tell her about Hershel... But, she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to do it... So, she didn't. Instead, she looked around for Beth, but didn't see her. Tears stung her eyes as she licked the inside of her cheek. "Beth... She uh... She's not 'ere? She takin' a piss or somethin'?"

"Brookie..." Daryl started.

Brooks shook her head, pursing her lips. "Nah, don't say it. Don't- don't- you can't-"

"We don't know that she's dead. She could be alright, in fact, I believe she's alright." Maggie responded, quickly explaining. "She escaped with Daryl, but some people took her. He tried tracking the car, but..."

"You lost the trail." Brooks whispered, nodding. "You're a goddamn tracker, that's your thing, and you can't even follow a fuckin' car?" She asked. It was harsh, she knew that, she could see the heartbreak in Daryl's face at her words, and she immediately regretted it. However, Brooks' thoughts were taken up by Hershel. Maggie didn't know it yet, but Hershel was dead and buried, Brooks couldn't bare the thought of Beth being dead, too, or the thought of never seeing her again... Because she couldn't bare the thought of Maggie's pain.

"Brooks-" Cam started.

"No." She quickly interrupted, standing up. However, she found quickly that she couldn't put any weight on her injured left leg. "I'ma take a walk."

"You ain't goin' out there alone in the dark." Merle ordered.

Brooks scoffed. "Watch me." She began hobbling into the forest, when Carl stood up. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She fell into him, but he supported her, and helped her stand up straight again. "Hell you doin', Grimes?"

"You're not going out there by yourself, there are walkers, probably cannibals, it's dark and you're injured. You wanna sulk? Fine. You do it over there." He pointed to where there was the least amount of people, down by Maggie and Glenn, and the people she didn't know. "You don't do it in the woods where you get yourself killed."

Brooks clenched her jaw, but stared up at him. His fiery, steel glare, made her look down and nod. She pulled her arm from his grasp and hobbled over to sit down beside Glenn. He stood to help her, but she swatted his hands away. "I'm fine." She hissed in pain as she sat, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.

Glenn nodded, sitting back down. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

Brooks shook her head, looking down as tears pricked her eyes. "No." She admitted. She sniffed back her emotions, as she kept talking. "You didn't have to carry me out. You didn't owe me that."

"I did." Glenn responded. "You were willing to die, to save my life, back there. Me and you haven't really spoken in a while, we haven't always been on the best of terms... And, I never apologised for how I treated you. Yet, you were still gonna die to save my life... Why, Brooks?"

She wet her lips, and shrugged, leaning her head back against the bark of the tree. "Don't take it personal, Glenn. I would've done it for anyone."

"But, you didn't. You did it for me." He insisted.

"The things I've seen..." She trailed off. "Over the past week, it... Glenn, I've killed people. So many people, and I just... I don't think I deserve to live anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Glenn asked, eyebrows furrowed in worry.

Brooks sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I think I'm still delusional from all the blood I lost. Anyways, who're these new people? I feel bad not knowing their names."

Rosita smiled a little, hearing the girl's last words. "I'm Rosita, mi amor. You were very brave today, I couldn't have handled that wound as well as you did."

"Pretty sure I screamed so loud I brought the dead down on us, but thanks, ma'am." Brooks grinned. 

"These are Abraham, Eugene and Tara." Rosita continued. "Eugene's a scientist, and-"

Maggie interrupted. "Let's save that till she has a little more blood in her."

Rosita smiled and nodded. "Sorry."

"I knew a girl named Tara once." Brooks admitted. "She was in the grade above me... Bless her though, she lost seven teeth at one time and spoke like a windmill for a month." A small laugh escaped her lips. "Actually, it was really funny."

Tara smiled, but it soon faded as she spoke. "I should probably be candid with you, since everyone else here knows..." The woman trailed off.

"Tara, are you sure? Marliya was Brooks' mother." Glenn stated.

Brooks furrowed her eyebrows, feeling a pit in her chest. "What's this 'bout ma?"

Tara briefly shut her eyes, and wet her lips, before she spoke. "I was... With the Governor... When he attacked."

Brooks cocked her head to the side slightly, as she stared at the woman. She could hear Glenn saying words, spilling out a couple defences because he knew what Brooks was like, but she wasn't listening. All Brooks could do was imagine the way the Governor used Michonne's sword to behead Marliya.

Before anyone could do anything, Brooks was taking the gun from Glenn's side, and lifting it to the woman. Glenn instantly grabbed Brooks' arm, and shoved it down as the gun went off. Brooks was going to kill Tara without any hesitation. "Brooks!" Rick shouted, jumping up and walking over.

Glenn took the gun from her hand, and stood up, backing a way a little. Brooks stood up, shaking and wobbling a bit so she held onto the tree. "Do none of y'all remember what he did?" She yelled out. "He beheaded my mother, with that fuckin' katana!" Brooks shouted, pointing at where it was, beside Michonne. The woman looked down to hide her grief, and away from the katana. "And she was with 'im and now we're all meant to be campfire buddies? What the fuck is wrong with you people?" She yelled... It was a bit of a pathetic yell though, from the way her voice was still hoarse.

"She didn't know-" Maggie started.

"I don't give a fuck what she did and didn't know!" Brooks responded, backing up a few steps, away from the group. Tears were in her eyes, that she couldn't stop. "I barely got any time with 'er! She was my mother, and now she's gone! I had about a year with 'er! A year where we actually spoke, and hung out, and told each other shit... A year of finally having a woman I could turn to for anythin', I never had that before! And now she's dead! She's dead and it's all 'is fault, and we're just gonna welcome one of 'is people in like it never happened! Like she never even fuckin' existed!" Brooks couldn't help but yell and scream. Sure her voice was weak, and broken, but her anger and grief still came out crystal clear.

Her eyes leaked with salty drops of tears that slipped down her cheeks. Her whole weight was on her right leg, but even that was shaking. She'd lost too much blood. Carl came over, just as she was about to fall down, and he grabbed her. He was about to help her to the ground when she shoved him away, wiping at her face as she leaned against the tree. She began heading into the forest. "Brooks, you-"

"I'm goin' for a piss, Carl, calm yourself." She complained, not even looking over her shoulder as she headed into the darkness of the forest. 

"That girl." She heard Maggie sigh, and shake her head.

Brooks limped away until she couldn't hear them anymore, until she couldn't see the flickering of the fire. It was hard to walk, trying her best to keep all of her weight off of her left leg, but she had too. She had to get out of there. She had to be by herself, even if just for a moment. So, she found a tree on the edge of a small clearing, and allowed herself to fall to the ground. Brooks let out a relieved sigh as her she sat down, leaning her back against the bark.

She rung her hands together, and looked up to the sky, where the green leaves left enough of a gap for her to see the full moon, surrounded by stars. All she wanted was Sebastian. Brooks wasn't depressed like he was, but she believed that he could help her, give her advice. He was always good at advice, he was a good friend, and she just wanted him back. She wanted to hug him, and talk to him, but she'd never hear his voice again.

Just as she was looking up to the sky, she saw a shooting star go past. And instantly she sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth to prevent herself from crying. She wanted to be done crying. She was sick of it. It only hurt her more, and made her weak. She'd done too much crying in the past week, Brooks truly believed that she couldn't handle anymore tears. She just had to turn it off.

"Seb-" She began, but cut herself off as she stared at the moon. "It's- it's been a couple days now. And, I hoped the pain would go away by now, but- but it hasn't. I mean, just over a week ago I had my mom, and a home, and you... I had everything... But, now it's all gone? It went by so fast, too fast for me to keep up. And, you know how much I hate change... It's weird, not having you here. It doesn't just hurt, but it's weird. Not having my house wife by my side... I don't know how to tell them that you're dead. That Hershel's dead, that Mrs Kingston, Nancy, Lizzie and Mika you're- you're all dead, and I'm the only one left. That means that I have to tell them... But, how do you do that? I don't want to do that, Seb, I- I just don't want too. Cause, if I talk about to them? Then it's real, and if it's real... Then you're really dead. Even though I shot your walker and buried your corpse... It still hasn't hit me that I'll never be your husband again. That I'll never hear your voice, or your laugh, or see your face. What if I begin to forget? What if I forget what you looked like? Or what you sounded like? I hadn't heard your laugh in so long already, I-" She cut herself off, trying to concentrate. "I can't remember what your laugh sounds like."

And that's when she had to stop using the moon as her confessional, because her eyes burned with tears, and she refused to let a single one drop. So, instead, she silently stared up at the moon. She tried her best to picture his face covered in chocolate at Woodbury, or the way he told her that he loved her... And, she just didn't say it back. She didn't tell him that she loved him, what if he died not knowing? Same with Hershel, he told her that he loved her - she didn't say it back, why didn't she just say it back?

"Brooks?" Her voice came from Carl's voice soon enough. She looked up to him, and saw Sophia by his side, she offered them a sad smile, before turning away from the both of them. Carl let out a breath, before leaning against the tree next to her. "You're not taking a piss." He acknowledged, as Sophia sat on the ground opposite Brooks, tracing her features for any sign of bereavement. 

She couldn't help but laugh sadly. "No, no I'm not."

"What're you doing all the way out here by yourself?" Sophia asked, shuffling forward to rest a comforting hand on Brooks' knee.

The thirteen year old wet her lips and shrugged. "I don't... I don't really know." She admitted, truthfully. "I'm happy to see everyone again, I missed you all, but... There are others I miss, too. People which aren't here."

Carl grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. He didn't say anything, but he held her hand to let her know that he was there for her, whether she wanted it or not, he was there. Sophia spoke, sensing the need for positivity. "We'll see them again, one day. This world can't be all there is, I believe in an afterlife. I believe that all the people that we lost are up there, waiting for us."

"Soph, your mom came back." Brooks whispered, voice full of hurt. "Mine isn't."

Sophia nodded, saddened by Brooks' grief. "I know, which is why, for a change? We're here for you. Instead of it being the other way around."

Brooks smiled, shrugging. "You've always been there for me. Whether you knew it or not, just by being my first friend you helped me so much. Sophia, you were the first hint to the realisation I didn't have to put up with abuse to be loved. I doubt without your love that I would be the person that I am now."

"Awh, Brooks." Sophia let out, shuffling to sit beside her, and pulling her best friend into her, hugging her tightly. "I love you."

Brooks' chest tightened. She didn't say it back to Sebastian or Hershel, and then they both died. They were dead and buried and she never got to tell them. All she wanted was them back, to hold them and tell them how much she loves them. She wants them to know that the heartless, cold Brooks Dixon is capable of love. So, squeezing Carl's hand tighter with her right hand, and wrapping her left around Sophia's legs which were pulled up to her chest, she responded. "I love you, too, Soph."

/----------\

Morning came by like a curse.

Brooks and Judith were the only ones to sleep that night. Brooks was only asleep because she was so weak, and emotionally exhausted. Judith slept, because she was only two. When Brooks did wake up, to find herself wrapped up with Carl, she cringed backwards. "Morning, Sunshine." Carl smiled.

She rubbed her eyes, and yawned in the hot morning sun. "What happened?" Brooks mumbled.

"You fell asleep." Carl said, like it was obvious. She remembered that they came back from the forest, and Brooks had slept against a tree with Carl beside her. In her slumber, her head landed on his shoulder, and he refused to move the entire night. He didn't go to the bathroom, or stretch his legs; he just sat there, making sure she got her sleep.

Brooks scoffed, laughing a little. "Right..." She trailed off, looking to the group who was now mostly standing up, ready to leave. That's when Brooks made eye contact with Tara, who was staring guiltily at the child. "Shit, that bit wasn't a nightmare, huh?"

"Afraid not." Tara said, as Carl helped Brooks to her feet. "Look, kid, if you want me to leave-"

"She doesn't." Sophia interrupted, walking over with Judith on her hip. "Brooks isn't like that."

The girl in question bit down on her bottom lip, and smiled at little Judith who reached out for Brooks to take her. "Maybe in a couple days, Judith. Brooks is still a little ill right now." Carl said, before Brooks could even raise her arms to take the child. Brooks was leaning into Carl, his right arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Auntie Books." Judith said, sadly, leaning into Sophia.

"She'll give you a cuddle when we rest, sweetheart." The Peletier said, kissing the toddler's head, which made her smile.

Brooks looked back to Tara. "You know what he was like? What he was gonna do? What he did?"

Tara shook her head. "My niece and sister died because of him."

"Lots of people died because of 'im." Brooks countered.

The woman sighed, and nodded. "If I could go back then I never would've trusted him. I lost everything because of him."

Brooks flickered her eyes down, but sighed out. She guiltily ran a hand down her face, before she looked back up to the woman. "Look, I get it. I trusted 'im once, too. Admittedly, I was ten and he never suggested overthrowing a group while I was there, but... Anyways. I won't throw a fuss 'bout you bein' 'ere, but I ain't gonna trust ya. You do somethin' to us? To get someone 'ere hurt or killed?... I'll be the one to put a bullet in your head."

Tara smiled a little, knowing that she'd never do something to get a good person killed. "I can take that action... And, for what it's worth? I'm sorry, about your mother."

She sniffed, and held onto Carl a little tighter. "Yea. Sorry, 'bout your niece 'n' sister. Sucks."

A sad smile tugged at Tara's lips. "Yea."