—  THE NEXT MORNING, ZOE COULD BARELY get out of bed, but she knew she had to, as Dale's funeral was being held, and they were going to bury him. The Grimes girl had spent the night with Carl, with him not wanting to leave her side, and she laid in bed wide awake all night, listening to her brothers soft snores. Carl had cried himself to sleep. And for the first time in her life, Zoe couldn't help him; with her being heartbroken herself, the two cried together, one from guilt, and the other from complete sadness. Zoe couldn't even begin to imagine how she looked. She hadn't got an ounce of sleep, and the fact that she had been crying all night, and had made her eyes swollen and red.
She didn't even want to face Nate when she knew she looked like complete shit, but she was going to have to, whether she liked it or not.. When her mom made her way inside of her ten, Zoe knew that it was time to get up. "Morning." She whispered, not wanting to wake up Carl, who was buried deep into Zoe's arm, fast asleep. Zoe smiled at the sight of her little brother, before giving her mom a welcoming smile, noticing that she also had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. "Thanks for letting him sleep with you." Lori told her daughter, thankful that she was doing such a good job at looking after Carl.

"It's no problem." Zoe answered, stroking the hairs out of Carl's face as he slept, looking down at him with a soft smile. She wished that the world hadn't gone to shit - it had taken Carl's childhood away from in, and she hated it. "He's really shaken by last night." She told her mom, remembering how Carl had cried more than her, it was like something was bothering him, like he had a secret that was eating him alive.

"Dale was family to all of us." Lori sighed, crouching down at the side of the bed to get a look at her son. She stroked the side of his face with a sad smile, thinking the same as Zoe, where his childhood had been ripped away from him. Knowing that they had to get up for the funeral, Lori gently shook Carl awake, "Carl, baby. We've got to get up." She told him softly, as he stirred awake.

Carl moaned in protest, attempting to snuggle further into Zoe, who smiled at the sight, "Come on, bud. Time to get up." Zoe told him, moving so he couldn't stay asleep. Carl groaned as he opened his eyes and rubbed them roughly, still tired, and looked towards his mom and sister with an annoyed look.. He didn't want to wake up. Zoe exchanged a look with her mom, and Zoe knew that Lori wanted to talk to Carl on her own, so with a nod, she carefully climbed over Carl, grabbing her jacket on the way out, before she stepped out of the tent and into the morning light.

It took her a second to realise that Nate was standing in front of her at the campfire, due to her eyes focusing from the sudden light of the sun. With a sad smile, she limped towards him, gaining his attention. "Hey." He cooed, instantly bringing her in for a hug, noticing how her eyes were dark and swollen from crying and lack of sleep. He wanted nothing but to look after her last night, but he couldn't get in the way of her and Carl, so he simply went back to his own tent and got a good nights sleep. Zoe mumbled something incoherent in response, still exhausted from the lack of sleep that consumed her. "You didn't sleep, did you?" Nate asked, instantly knowing why she was so groggy.

Zoe shook her head in response, "He died being ashamed of us all." She eventually spoke, quietly. She remembered the look he gave her back in the house when they were holding the vote, and she remembered how betrayed he looked when she hadn't backed him up with not killing Randall. She felt awful, but she couldn't help how she felt.. She didn't think that he should be apart of the group, which is what Dale wanted..

"Dale was just upset." Nate reassured her, not wanting her believing that Dale's last thought of the group was ill intended. Sure, he may have been mad that the group didn't want to keep Randall alive, but he never hated any of them for it. The man just didn't want to believe that the world had changed, and it wasn't ever going to be like it was before the outbreak. Maybe it was best that he was now at peace, this new world wasn't for him, or anyone, for that matter. "He wasn't ashamed, Zo." He said. Nate had seen how Dale looked at Zoe when she didn't back him up, and it broke his heart that the girl had that look stuck in her head. She didn't deserve that..

Zoe simply shook her head, not believing his words one bit, "I don't want to loose anyone else." She practically whimpered, breaking Nate's heart. He instantly put his hand behind the girls head and pulled it to his chest, stroking her as she whimpered - there wasn't much he could do, but give her some comfort. In this world, the only time that Zoe ever felt completely safe, was in his arms..

——

Dale's funeral had been upsetting, but nice to be able to say goodbye; to yet another member of the group. In this world, it was normal to loose people you loved, but Zoe didn't think that she would ever get used to it. Rick's words were nice, with the group finding peace in what he said, everyone remembering Dale for the wonderful man he was. After his funeral, some of the group members did a sweep of the outside area of the farm, finding multiple dead cattle from walkers, and it didn't look good for them. So, the decision was made to move everyone into the house, where everyone would be safe and away from any walker that just so happened to wander onto the property. It was going to be a tight squeeze, with fifteen people in one house, but they were just going to have to make it work. It was too dangerous out there, now, and they needed to act quickly.

Zoe helped to the best she could by bringing belongings to the truck in order to bring it all to the house, but she couldn't do as much as everyone else due to her ankle, so she had the job packing things up while she attempted to stay off of her ankle. She would rather do something, than watch the others do all of the work. Nate had been out on guarding duty with his brother, so he and Zoe hadn't been able to spend as much time together than they usually would, but if it meant keeping the farm and everyone in it safe, they didn't mind. So, while Nate got assigned to guarding the perimeter, Zoe had the job of sorting the house out and making sure that everyone had their makeshift beds and belongings, writing a checklist so they didn't forget anything. It was going to feel weird, sleeping in an actual house, as the group hadn't really done that since the CDC, and that.. Zoe just wanted to forget. Being told that there was no cure had really given her an idea of the world as it is..

Zoe was also happy that her father had decided to cut Randall loose. After loosing Dale, the group had realised that he was partly right; they weren't murderers. Of course, Shane wasn't happy about this decision one bit, and had made that painfully clear, but there was nothing he could do. It was like now, Rick had taken Daryl in as his wingman. She sat on the couch as she checked a few things off of the list, making sure that they didn't forget anything important down at the camp, like food, ammo, and medical supplies, when she heard Glenn refuse to bring his things into Maggie's room, causing the Greene girl to walk off in a huff. "What was that about?" She couldn't help but ask Glenn, as he put all of his belongings into the corner, where he had claimed his sleeping area.

Glenn looked up, surprised, as he hadn't expected Zoe to comment on it. "I don't know." He admitted, not exactly knowing what was up.

"Why don't you go and take your things into Maggie's room?" Zoe asked, unsure as to why he refused the girls offer.

"Why isn't your things next to Nate's?" Glenn shot back, knowing that she wouldn't put her bed right next Nate's as her mom and dad would be in the same room. It wasn't like the two of them didn't approve of whatever Zoe and Nate were, they just didn't exactly want to see it. Zoe simply rolled her eyes playfully at Glenn, realising that the two hadn't been speaking as much as they used to, not with moving to the farm and all of the stress with Sophia, the barn and now Dale. She missed him.

Glenn chuckled at the girls reaction, putting his things down on the floor, when Zoe spoke up again. "How're you doing?" She asked, knowing that Glenn had been close with Dale. The two had always been together since the camp back outside of Atlanta.. Dale had been worried the whole time that Glenn left the camp, the old man thought of him as a son, and Zoe could definitely see that.

Glenn didn't exactly know how to reply to her. He wasn't doing well, but he was doing as well as he could considering that he had lost someone close to him. It felt like loosing his parents over again, and it hurt. "Honestly, I don't exactly know." He told his friend, slouching down on the piano chair. "I feel like I should be more sad.. But at this point, I feel like I'm used to loosing people, you know?" He told Zoe, causing the girl to nod at his words. She hadn't exactly lost anyone she loved, except for Amy and Dale, but it did hurt, they may not have been blood related, but they were both family. Loosing Sophia had also been an eye opener - you never know what could happen, and what could be waiting around the corner.

While the group were happily living on the farm, Zoe couldn't help but think about all of the possibilities of what could happen - their safe home could be torn from them at any moment now, and at this point, it was just a waiting game.
"I know what you mean." Zoe told him truthfully, "I guess that's just how the world is now, huh?" She asked. She was about to comment on the Maggie situation once more, as she had realised that Glenn had completely changed the subject to get out of talking about it. The two hadn't exactly had time to talk about these things, and Zoe wanted to know how the Greene girl and him were doing; that was, until they were interrupted by someone.

"Randall's missing!" The two heard, as they turned around to see T-Dog, sweaty and panicked, "Where's your dad?" He then asked, directing the question at Zoe.

Zoe shook her head quickly, not knowing where he was, feeling overwhelmed at the fact that Randall had escaped - what if he managed to get to Carl, or her parents? Or Nate? "I don't know, I haven't seen him for most of the day." She told T-Dog quickly, before he nodded and rushed back out the house in order to find their leader. Zoe grabbed her walking stick as Glenn rushed to the door and held it open for Zoe, before the two ran out to see what was going on, Zoe slightly behind due to her ankle still being in pain. She just wanted it to heal already, it wasn't doing her any justice when she actually needed to do something. If she were to get attacked by a walker without anyone around, she would be screwed.

The two instantly made it over to the barn, where all of the others were checking the area in which Randall had escaped, just as Rick came over to see if he could get some idea of what was going on. It wasn't long after that, did Nate come rushing over with his brother, after hearing the news. His first thought went to Zoe, and if she was safe; this Randall guy was out there, and there was no telling what he would do to any of them, especially after they locked him up and tortured him for days on end. He hadn't seen his girl for most of day, and the fact that the first time he would see her, was after finding out the son of a bitch escaped, just annoyed him. As he approached her, she instinctively reached out to grab his hand, something she did often when he came over to her. "You okay?" He asked Zoe, out of breath due to the speed him and his brother had ran over here. They were checking the perimeter, when Andrea had approached them to let them know what was going on..

Zoe nodded, gripping his hand to give it a squeeze, insuring him that she was okay, as all of the others spoke amongst themselves to find out where Randall was. Nate thought that it seemed pretty suspicious that Shane wasn't anywhere to be seen, but didn't point it out, as he knew that no one else felt the same way about the man.. Everyone except Hershel. Daryl simply didn't want to get involved, so whenever Nate tried to bring it up, he would change the subject. Daryl was one of them people that believed everyone got their own, and in no time, Shane would get his.. "Rick!" They heard a shout come from the woods, and when everyone turned, they saw Shane approaching them, with a busted up nose and blood all over his face, perfect timing for everyone finding out Randall was gone.

"What happened?" Lori shouted, upon seeing Shane. She gripped Carl in front of her, not wanting him to go anywhere.

"He's armed! He's got my gun!" Shane told the group.

Zoe's blood ran cold at this information, hating the fact that Randall was running around the farm with Shane's gun - he could be anywhere by now, what stops him from shooting anyone that even came near him? "Are you okay?" Zoe asked him, noticing that his face looked pretty banged up. Nate, on the other hand, simply looked at him in suspicion, not being able to shake the feeling of doubt when Shane told them anything. The man made him uneasy ever since he found out that he had killed Otis; he just didn't like the fact that Zoe was still so friendly with him. Obviously he would never tell Zoe this, as it would eat her alive, so right now, he was the only one who knew - and he had a feeling that Dale knew too, before he died.

"Yeah. Little bastard just snuck up on me, clocked me in the face." Shane answered, rushing up to the others.

Rick was quick to act, "Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house, Glenn, Daryl and Nate, come with us." He ordered, as Zoe held tighter onto Nate, afraid to see him go. She felt like the time where they had gone to town to pick up Hershel - she was terrified that Nate, Glenn and her dad wouldn't come back, and right now, she felt that same fear begin to eat her alive. What if one of them got shot? If Randall managed to get an upper hand on Shane? Then surely he is more dangerous than they thought. When Zoe looked towards Maggie, she saw that the girl had the same look as her, fear that the person she loved wouldn't come back, and that's when Zoe realised.. She loved Nate, and she had loved him for a long time, she has just never had the guts to say it.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise." Nate whispered to her, when he tried to move away from her, only to find that she had a death grip on his hand, making it so he couldn't move. He noticed the fear on her face, and he didn't exactly know what else he could say to her. He just knew one thing, he wasn't going to let this Randall guy ruin his life.. When Zoe didn't say anything, but still gazing into the distance with a death grip on him, he gave Maggie a pleading look, knowing that the girl could help him out.

Maggie noticed this, and nodded, coming over to Zoe and putting her hands on her shoulders, "Come on, lets go back to the house." She tried to persuade her. She hadn't exactly spoken to Zoe at all since their group moved onto her farm, but she knew that she was good friends with Glenn, so she would do anything to help her out. Zoe looked up at Maggie with a tired expression, tired of Nate always rushing off, and tired of this life in general. "The boys'll be okay. Come on." She spoke again, this time, taking Zoe's hand and gently pulling her off of Nate, who looked at Maggie gratefully.

Nate places his hands on both sides of Zoe's face, leaning in to give her a kiss, before pulling away and leaning his forehead against hers, "I love you, okay? I'll be back soon." He told her, before instantly rushing off with the others, leaving her in shock at what he had just said..
He loved her. Nate Dixon loved her.

"Come on." Maggie said softly, smiling at the scene in front of her, but quickly removed it as she had to get Zoe into the house quickly, along with the others to await the men to do their job.

Zoe was quick to react, and allowed Maggie to help her to the house, still feeling dread in her stomach as she glanced back at the boys and watched as the five of them rush off into the woods, she didn't know how they could all be so fearless, when there was a man out there with a gun, and a vengeance to kill, no doubt from revenge at keeping him locked up in the barn for days.
And what bugged her the most, was that she didn't get to say it back..