We had just left the C.D.C. It was leveled down to nothing. We lost another person Jacqui. We had been on the road for 2 days. We were now headed to Fort Benning next. We had stopped the RV, out of gas and the others were down to barely any gas. I let them siphon the gas out of my truck and so did Daryl. That left us on our bikes. I made my heart hurt to leave my big girl on the road like that. They helped me put her somewhere no one could find her but, if I was ever out this way again I could get her back. I locked her up, kissed the hood and hopped on my bike. Daryl and I took the lead of the caravan as we made stops here and there to siphon more gas for the vehicles. We were down to 2 cars now and 2 motorcycles. Daryl and I rode side by side. It was nice till we hit a highway that was full of cars. It was like a goldmine for scavengers and that sadly was us.

Daryl and I took a look ahead to see if there was a path.

"See a way through?" I heard Dale ask Daryl. Daryl looked at me and I nodded at him and he nodded at Dale. Daryl and I led the group through the mess of cars. There were still people locked in their cars. Dead. We kept going till we heard an engine sputter. We knew it was the RV. Dale had been saying for weeks that it was going to give out. But it was just a matter of time. And I guess now was the time. The RV stopped and Daryl and I rode back up to the RV.

"I said it didn't I. A thousand times. Dead in the water." Dale said, walking to the front of the RV.

"Problem Dale?" Shane said.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere. With no hope of..." I was leaning against a car and Daryl was going through the trunk.

"Okay, that was dumb." Dale said, causing me to laugh out loud. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Daryl smile at me.

"It's okay Dale, sometimes you gotta see the glass half full and not half empty." I said, patting him on the shoulder.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane said to Dale.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl said from next to me.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-dog said, getting all excited.

"Maybe some water." Carol added.

"Or food." Glenn said, looking around at the cars.

"This is a graveyard." Lori said.

"No, it's a gold mine." I said looking in the same trunk as Daryl. Everyone looked at me funny and then back at Lori.

"I don't know how I feel about this." Lori said, finishing her thought.

"Come on, y'all. Look around, gather what you can." Shane said and everyone scattered.

"Hey Daryl. Wanna help me check out those trucks we saw up ahead?" I said, trying to act discreet.

"Sure." He said in his usual manner. And we walked off quite far from the group. Truth is Daryl and I hadn't done anything or really been alone since that night at the C.D.C. I was still avoiding Shane like the plague. Once we got far enough that I couldn't hear any one I grabbed Daryl's hand and he stopped.

"What is it?" He said thinking something was wrong. We were all still wearing the same clothes and didn't really get a chance to shower or change since we had been driving this whole time.

"Nothing. Well not nothing. Oh fuck it." I said and I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He was surprised at first but then he kissed me back. It started to get heated and Daryl lifted me up and slammed me against a nearby car. I let out a light moan into the kiss.

"Careful Raven. You keep making those sounds and I won't be able to hold back." Daryl said as he kissed, nipped, and sucked on my neck.

"Maybe I don't want you to hold back." I said taking very deep breaths. Daryl put me down and I whimpered.

"Come on, we gotta find some stuff. We can continue this later I promise." Daryl said, kissing my forehead. I frowned and started looking through some cars.

I leaned over in the backseat of a car and I felt someone slap my ass.

"Daryl stop, you can't tease me like that." I said getting out and slamming right into the only person I didn't want to talk to.

"Shane." I said looking at him.

"So you and Daryl. I thought we had something. After what happened in the rec room." I pushed him away.

"Oh you mean when you raped me!" I whisper yelled at him. He pushed me against the car I was looking in.

"When we fucked you mean. I thought you were having fun." I looked at him and tears began to swell in my eyes.

"Leave me alone Shane. Or I swear to god I'll put a bullet between your eyes." I said, trying to escape him. But for some reason my body felt weak.

"No, I don't think so. You belong to me now Raven. Lori I can't touch her anymore since Ranger Rick is back. But you, I own you after that night." I pushed him hard and he wouldn't let me go.

"Shane, stop. Please." I begged and he started to run his hand through my hair.

"Call me daddy." He growled in my ear. I physically gagged at the though of calling him anything other than dead or son of a bitch.

"No Shane, stop fuck off !" I yelled, finding my strength again. I shoved him and he stumbled back just as Daryl came around the corner.

"What's goin' on here?" He said walking towards me. He saw the tears on my cheeks.

"Nothing man, just talking to Raven. That's all. We'll finish this later." Shane said with a smirk on his face and walked away. I hadn't noticed that I wasn't breathing until Shane left and I broke down. Daryl rushed to my side and wrapped his arm around me.

"Hey shh. Come here baby. You're okay I got you." Daryl said. I took a few deep breaths composing myself.

"What the hell happened? Did he touch you?" I looked at Daryl as he asked. I wanted to scream at him and tell him all about what had happened at the C.D.C. I wanted Daryl to rip Shane's head off. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't find it in me to tell him.

"No he. He's just being my rude ass brother like always." I managed to say.

"Raven. You're a bad liar."

"Please Daryl I don't want to talk about it." He sighed.

"Okay. But I'm still gonna kill him if he did anything to ya'." I smiled and went back to searching through cars. I found a few good things that we could have used. Daryl went to help T-dog with siphoning fuel. I got up on a truck to see what the rest of the group was doing. I saw Dale on top of the RV and I waved to him. I saw him wave back and I smiled. I looked around and saw Shane bathing in water. We weren't out there for very long till I noticed Rick loading up his rifle. I had left mine on my bike all I had was my crossbow. It was hard to ride with a gun strapped to my thigh. I saw Dale slowly get down on the roof of the RV. Rick was running towards us.

"Raven! Get the fuck down." Rick yelled at me. That's when I saw the hoard. I jumped off the car and went to look for Daryl and T-dog. I stayed low to keep from being seen. I saw the kids get under a car and I tried to keep my eye on them but also not be seen by the walkers. I walked around the cars.

"Daryl. T-dog." I whispered. I heard someone grunt.

"Daryl. T-dog." I called out again. I saw the hoard get closer to me.

"Shit." I said and I ducked behind a car. That's when I spotted T-dog leaning against a car. He was bleeding and bad. I walked over to him

"T-dog!" I called out and watched Daryl sneak up and kill the walker that was heading right for him. There was another walker coming and I jumped on it stabbing it with one of my bolts.

"SHH!" Daryl said to T-dog and I. Then Daryl grabbed T-dog and laid him down putting the walker he just killed on top of him. He then grabbed me, pulled me to the ground, grabbed the walker I had killed and put it on top of me, its blood spilling all over my face.

"Oh god." I said looking at Daryl who was laying right next to me with a corpse from a car on top of him. He put his finger to his mouth telling me to shut the fuck up. I closed my eyes and felt his fingers intertwined with mine. I heard the walkers walking right past us. I was absolutely horrified by the thought of being ripped apart by one of those things.

After a bit it got quiet and Daryl and I got up and rushed over to T-dog who was bleeding out. I heard a scream and got up to see Sophia running into the woods 2 walkers chasing her.

"Shit." I jumped over the car and chased after her and I noticed Rick running right with me.

"Rick we need to draw them away." I said running after her.

"I know." We ran and caught up with her. Rick cut her off to the left and I took the right. I watched her trip and Rick and I both ran right to her. She screamed but Rick covered her mouth.

"Shh. Are you alright? Are you okay?" Rick said, holding her and she kept reaching for his gun.

"Shoot them!" She said to Rick.

"Sophia no." I said kneeling with Rick.

"We can't, those walkers on the road would hear it." Rick explained to her.

"There wouldn't be just two of them. It would be hundreds." Rick finished. Then we heard a branch snap.

"Come on we gotta go." I said standing up. Rick grabbed Sophia's bridal style and we ran through the woods. We hit a little creek and Rick sat her down. I jumped into the water looking for somewhere to hide her just till we got rid of the walkers.

"Rick there's a spot right here. Bring her down." I whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"You stay there. Wait." Rick jumped down and motioned for Sophia to jump to him.

"Come on." She jumped down into his arms. I pointed to a little carved out part of the river bank. It was covered by vines so the walkers wouldn't see her.

"Sophia, you have to do exactly as I say." Rick said to her, putting her in the little cover.

"Rick hurry I hear them." I said looking out for the walkers.

"Hide in there. Squeeze in tight. Raven and I will draw them away from you." He said.

"No no, don't leave me." I walked over to her.

"Sophia honey we won't make it unless we take out those walkers, listen to Rick please. You know your mom would want you too." She nodded and I backed up looking for the walkers.

"Listen, They don't get winded. I do. we can only deal with one each since we can't shoot them. Okay? We both wouldn't be able to protect you. This is how we all survive. You understand?" Rick said to her, being his normal dad figure. She nodded that she understood.

"Go." He told her and she crawled into the little spot.

"If I or Raven don't make it back, Run back to the highway. Back to the others straight the way we came. Keep the sun on your left shoulder." Rick said as I spotted the walkers.

"Rick walkers. We gotta go." He nodded and started walking backwards. We both started splashing the water.

"Come on!" Rick said.

"Over here you ugly son of a bitch!" I yelled as I walked a bit up stream. One walked and jumped into the water the other stayed on land.

"Rick, you take the one in the water. I'll take care of the one up there." I said he nodded and we kept yelling at them making them follow us. I saw Rick trip and fall into the water.

"Rick!" I yelled and he got up and kept running. We got pretty far from Sophia.

I ducked behind a tree and pulled out my crossbow. I heard the walker walking towards me.

"Okay Raven. You got this." I came out and he was right in front of me. I shot him and hit him in the head. He fell to the ground and I walked over and pulled the bolt out.

"Too easy." I said to myself and went the way Rick went.

"Rick!" I yelled and then I heard grunts. I followed them and found Rick beating a walker's skull in with a rock. It was definitely dead but he kept going. I pulled him off the walker.

"Rick come on we gotta go get Sophia!" We ran back to the spot we left her and she wasn't there.

"Sophia!" I yelled pretty loudly and Rick covered my mouth.

"Raven! Have you lost it? Walkers could be out here, we don't need a whole hoard on our asses."

"Then where the fuck would she go!" I whisper yelled at him.

"Back to the highway." He said and we ran to the highway part way there we ran into Daryl, Shane, and Glenn.

"Where's Sophia." Daryl asked Rick and I.

"I don't know I put her somewhere safe and now she's not there." Rick said winded.

"Show me." Was all Daryl said. We took them to the spot we left her.

"Are you sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked us.

"We left her right here. Then we drew the walkers off in that direction up the creek." Rick said to him pointing in the direction we went.

"Without a paddle...seems where we've landed." Daryl said,

"She was gone by the time we got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder."

"Hey, Short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail." Daryl said to Glenn.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane said looking off into the direction of the highway.

"She knew what we were saying to her, Shane." I was pissed off that he would even say that.

"Kid's tired and scared. She had her close call with two walkers. Gotta wonder how much of what either of you said stuck." Shane said in response. I wanted to go up there and deck him right in his smug face. My hand balled up into a fist and Rick saw it. He placed his hand on my shoulder and shook his head.

"I got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway." Daryl said looking at Rick and I. I sighed in relief.

"Let's spread out, make our way back." Daryl said.

"She couldn't have gone far." I said looking at Rick. We got out of the stream Shane helped Rick out and they left me to get my own fat ass out of the stream.

"Hey, we're gonna find her. She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere." Shane said to Rick as I pulled myself out of the stream covering myself in mud.

We followed Daryl who followed Sophia's tracks back to the highway.

"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way." Daryl said, pointing to the right of the highway.

"Why would she do that?" Glenn said.

"Probably got spooked by something." I said from the back of the group.

"I agree with Raven. She could have seen something that made her run off." Shane said looking back at me.

"A walker?" Glenn asked and Daryl shook his head.

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers." He said looking around the ground.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked.

"No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking." Rick said to Shane. Shane got up and nodded.

"Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm." Rick finished.

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied." Shane said and motioned to Glenn so they could leave. Rick and I followed Daryl off towards where Sophia ran too. We stayed quiet Daryl and I had our crossbows ready to go and Rick had his gun. We kept going. I could tell her track was getting fewer and fewer the further we followed it.

"Tracks are gone." Rick said to Daryl.

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone. She came through here." Daryl said, still following some sort of trail.

"How can you tell? I don't see anything. Dirt, grass." Rick asked him.

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl said, still looking at the ground. I laughed and nudged Rick.

"Just let the man do his thing. Kay?" I said following Daryl. Rick smiled and nodded and followed right alongside me.

We got to a small clearing when we heard some leaves rustle. All three of us hit the deck quickly.

"What was that?" I asked since I was behind the taller men. We suck up closer and get a view of a walker. Daryl looked at Rick and I. He pointed at Rick to head around the left side, me to take right in front of him and Daryl would take the right side. All of this said without words. We nodded in agreement and moved in on the walker. I was following right behind the walker as Rick ran right to his side and whistled at the Walker making him face Rick as Daryl shot him in the head. I was just there to make sure there were no more walkers. The walker fell to the ground and the three of us gathered around it. Daryl pulled his bolt out of its head.

"Sophia!" He yelled for her. Rick pulled on some gloves and got down looking at its teeth.

"What are you looking for?" Daryl asked him.

"Skin under the fingernails." Rick said. He rolled the walker over and looked in his mouth.

"It fed recently. There's flesh caught in it's teeth." Rick said, pulling some out of its mouth.

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Daryl asked. I pulled out my big Bowie knife out of my belt

"Only one way to find out. Back up boys." I said ripping the buttons on the walkers shirt and getting over him.

"Wow, You know what you're doing?" Daryl asked.

"One of the foster families went hunting all the time. They taught me how to skin well, basically anything, and that also included removing organs. So yeah I know what I'm doing." I said to Daryl who just took a step back from me. I drove my knife through the walkers stomach and cracked him open. We all gagged at the smell but that didn't stop me. I had already pulled my gloves on.

"Now comes the bad part." I said right before I started digging around pulling shit out. Then I found its stomach.

"Oh yeah, he had a big meal not that long ago. I can feel it." I pulled out his gut bag and placed it on the ground.

"There's the gut bag." I said try not to puke. Rick cut it open and I pulled out a skull.

"Hmm, woodchuck." I said holding it up. I got off the walker and ripped my gloves off tossing them in the woods. Like hell I was going to wear those ever again.

"At least we know." Rick said, pulling off his gloves.

"At least we know." Daryl repeated. And then we made our way back to the highway.

It was getting dark and there was no use tracking her when we couldn't see.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"We will go out first thing in the morning." Daryl said. I nodded and we kept walking.

"You didn't find her?" Carol said now freaking the fuck out.

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick told her as he climbed over the guardrail.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." Carol said.

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be trippin' over ourselves. More people get lost." Daryl said to her trying to comfort her. They had always been close since the day I showed up at camp.

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" Carol cried.

"Carol honey, look I know this is hard but, we are doing the best we can. I promise we will be out there tomorrow looking for your little girl." I said to her placing my hand on her crossed arms. She looked over at Rick.

"Carol we need you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick said

"We tracked her for a while." Daryl added.