Will! Will, no!

His screams echoed in my mind. Tears streamed down my face.

I fired my revolver until it was empty. Click, click, click, click.

Blood. So much fucking blood.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Adrenaline pumped through my body as I awoke. I was in an instant state of panic. My heart rate slowed a bit when I saw Judith sound asleep next to me. It picked up again when I noticed Carl wasn't in the car.

Tap, tap, tap.

I grabbed my knife and turned toward the driver's side window, ready to stab whoever—or whatever— was there.

"Carl!" I scolded through clenched teeth.

The kid held up his hands defensively before he waved me out. I quietly and slowly opened the door so I wouldn't disturb the sleeping baby.

Once I got the door closed, I slapped Carl in the arm. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry, Jo," he said. "I couldn't sleep and wanted to let you get some rest."

"I appreciate that but you shouldn't be out here by yourself." I stretched my limbs as I glanced around the area. The air was still cool and morning dew covered the car. "What were you doin' anyway?"

"I was trying to see if there was any sign of the others." Carl kicked a rock off the road. "Didn't find anything."

I nodded and placed my hands on my hips. "Start collecting some kindling. I'm sure one of them will see the smoke. Besides, we gotta eat too. Two birds, one stone."

As Carl did as I said, I got Judith up. I changed her diaper and put a little jacket on her. Then, I strapped on the baby bjorn. It was a bit of a tight squeeze to get her in it. She was growing like a weed everyday. I'm sure by tomorrow she won't even fit in it anymore.

When Carl got enough of the materials gathered, we worked together on assembling it. I let him light the fire because I knew he enjoyed it.

We cooked a can of beans and shared it. I mashed some up for Judy. Although there was more food in the car, I didn't want to eat it. I had no idea if they got the other cars away from the cabin. This could be the only food we had left.

I watched Carl as he took slow bites. He was staring off into the distance like his mind was elsewhere.

"What's goin' on?" I asked.

His spoon clinked against the can as he dropped it in. "Just feels like after the prison again," he muttered.

I scooted closer to the kid. Close enough that our shoulders touched. "That why you couldn't sleep?"

Carl nodded.

"Well, this isn't that time. No one is goin' to hurt you again, Carl. Not like that," I said in a low voice. "You know you can talk to me about it, right? I've gone through something a lot like what happened to you."

Carl turned his head away from me before silently shrugging. I put my arm around him.

"You don't have to now. But when or if you're ready, I'm here. I'll understand."

"Okay," he said, sniffling.

A twig snapped ahead of us. I instantly put a hand on my gun in its holster. A walker appeared from the woods across the road.

Although he tried to hide it, Carl wiped his face free of tears as stood. "I got it."

He pulled a knife out of his pocket before he kicked the walker in the leg. It fell to its knees and Carl brought the blade down on the top of its skull.

Then, a gunshot echoed from the direction the walker came. Before I could even blink, Carl bolted toward the sound.

"Carl!" I yelled but he was gone. "Fuck!"

I quickly kicked dirt onto the fire and ran after him as fast as I could with a baby strapped to me. With one hand on Judith and the other on my pistol, I jumped over a fallen log and weaved through the trees. I could only see glimpses of the Grimes boy ahead of me.

"Carl, slow down!" I pleaded.

Two more gunshots. Carl moved faster.

In the distance, I heard the unmistakable sound of a pack of walkers. They were all surrounding something that I couldn't make out yet.

Since I was too busy watching Carl and not my feet, I stumbled over a stone. Luckily, I caught myself on a tree trunk before I hit the ground. I gripped Judith harder. "Shit. Sorry, Judy," I said through heavy breaths.

The Grimes boy came to a stop a few yards ahead of me. He held up his gun and fired.

When I finally caught up to him, I saw at least a dozen walkers surrounded an elevated hunting blind. They funneled up the stairs and pressed against the door. I circled around to see what they were trying to get at. Time slowed as Rick Grimes appeared briefly in the little side window. He pushed back against the door to keep the walkers out. His clothing was covered in blood. He then disappeared from my view.

I wouldn't let Rick be torn apart. Those monsters would not get ahold of him. I couldn't repeat the past, but I could do something in the present.

I remained far away enough so the walkers wouldn't immediately come after me. I had more than myself to think of. Judith was quiet for now, which I was thankful for. She had grown accustomed to loud, sudden noises.

Carl and I both shot at the walkers on the stairs. One by one they fell limp. We had made a pretty good dent when the ones not on the blind turned their attention on us.

There were five walkers left. Two on the stairs and three coming right at Carl and I. My last bullet released the barrel and went through one of the walker's eyes.

"You got any ammo left?" I asked Carl.

He shook his head nervously."No."

"Let's do this the old fashioned way, then." I got my blade ready. "Don't worry about Judy and I. Keep yourself alive."

With that, I kicked a walker square in the stomach. It was on the frail side so it went down hard. I kicked it again in the chest when it started standing up. I squatted down and held Judith close to me as I killed the monster. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Carl got the other one.

"Jo!"

I swiftly turned toward Rick. From the window, he tossed out his gun. With my free hand I caught it. I was surprised with myself for a moment because I wasn't known for being an amazing catch.

After clicking off the safety, I fired two perfect shots at the remaining walkers.

Rick emerged from the hunting blind. He stepped over the walkers that littered the step carefully. His son ran up to him and embraced him as soon as he hit solid ground.

A huge smile spread across my face as Rick parted from Carl and walked over to me. He brushed Judith's head before his eyes met mine.

"Thank you," he said, a genuine relief in his voice.

"Somebody had to save your ass," I joked.

Rick chuckled. "Not just for that. But for keepin' them safe too."

"I'd do anything for them." I held his upper arm. "For you. You know that."

"I know."

Rick smiled back at me. It was a different smile than I think I'd ever seen from him.

"I'm glad you're okay," I said.

Carl cleared his throat which prompted Rick and I to create more space between us.

"Where's everyone else?" the kid asked his father. "Did they get away?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure they did," he answered before turning to me again. "Where's the car?"

"'Bout half a mile west," I said.

"Thought so. Saw the smoke and was headed that way before I ran into trouble."

"I knew you'd find us." I gave Carl a toothless smile. "We should head back and see if the others saw my signal too." I elbowed Rick gently. "And to get you new clothes."

Rick looked down at himself as if he forgot he was a bloody mess. "Yeah, that couldn't hurt."

On the walk, Rick explained to us that Tara, Rosita, Eugene, and Noah got away from the cabin in another car. They must have went the opposite direction I went. Everyone else fought their way through the walkers and scattered throughout the forest. He had no idea where they were.

When we got back to the SUV, I had Carl start the fire again since I taught him how to do it. I started putting Judith down for another nap while Rick opened the trunk and looked for fresh clothes.

I took off the baby bjorn and rubbed my shoulders. My breath hitched in my throat as I glanced over from my self massage to see a shirtless Rick undoing his belt.

Although we lacked food, Rick was still lean and muscular. His bicep bulged as he pulled the belt out from the loops in his jeans. Sweat dripped down his chest onto his toned stomach.

Rick was just about to pull down his pants when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. My nerves settled for a moment as I shut the passenger door: Then I turned, ready to come up with some explanation for Carl. But it wasn't Carl.

"Daryl!" I said before hugging him.

In my ear, the man whispered, "You bein' a peepin' Tom, Hawk?"

I shoved Daryl away from me. He had a small but mischievous smile on his face. "Shut up."

The trunk closed and Rick walked around the vehicle as he finished putting on a dark brown t-shirt. I avoided looking too long at his torso. The last thing I needed was Daryl saying something in front of him.

The men gripped each other's forearms.

"You good?" Rick asked Daryl.

"I'm good," he responded with a nod.

Now that Daryl was here, I knew we'd be able to find everyone else. Or they'd find us. Either ways this was the first time I wasn't worried about ending up alone or not being with my family anymore. We'd been separated by a lot worse and found each other.

"Ya'll should grab some food and water," I suggested to the two men. "Then we can talk business."

"Yes, ma'am," Rick said in a more pronounced southern drawl.

I laughed as I joined Carl by the fire. He scooted closer to me without a second thought. My heart warmed at the gesture. It burned even brighter when Rick sat down on the other side of me, just as close.