The next morning I woke up. I was in a bed not on the couch where I had thought I was last night. I got up and crawled out of bed and into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and my own reflection scared me. I had blood spread across my whole face, chest and arms. Except when the tears had left their own trails. It looked like a white river flowing through a blood soaked forest. I sighed and got into the show and when I got out a pile of clothes sat on the edge of the bed. It was all solid black in memory for the funeral I guess. I braided my hair into two long braids and dried off my body. I pulled on my black bra and panties and followed it with a black crop sweater that I had cut the sleeves off of. I pulled on my majorly ripped jeans and boots and made my way outside, the sun was just rising.

Once there I pulled out a cigarette from the pack that was with my stuff and lit it. I guess it was time for Dale's funeral since everyone was gathered up. I walked over to stand next to Lori after putting out my cigarette. Carl was in front of her and I leaned my head on her shoulder. At first she was surprised but she wrapped her arm around me in a comforting way and I wrapped my arm around Carl like hers was.

"Dale could...could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kid of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he's had." Rick went on and by now all the women were either crying or had tears threatening to fall. I was crying without sound onto Lori's shoulder.

"We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't alway read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us...the truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." Rick finished his speech and we all stood sad and in pain. But we all knew Rick was right. We had to honor Dale by being better. We all broke apart. I guess Hershel said that we could all stay in the house since what happened to Dale. I didn't really have a tent. I had been staying on their couch since I was shot basically. So all I had to do was move my bike over by the house facing the road. I placed mine next to Daryls. I just felt better about it being there.

I was inside helping Patricia set up the house for everyone to move on in. I helped them all move things up into the house one thing after another. I saw Daryl up on the roof of the shed he was boarding up the windows to keep the winter cold out.

"Hey." I said climbing up the ladder.

"Hey." Daryl said nailing more wood down.

"Look, um..." I started to get nervous. I always did when it was just us.

"You don't gotta say anything. No one could have done it with Carl there." Daryl said looking over at me. I nodded and just sat on the edge of the roof.

"You gonna actually stay in the house with us all? Or are you gonna go find a shake to hide far from us." I asked him as he kept working. He gave a slight huff and looked over at me.

"What's it matter to ya?" He asked, almost sounding angry that I bothered him.

"Nothing." I said getting off the roof and walking away. I didn't understand why he was so fucking rude to me. I could hear him calling after me and I just chose to ignore him. It was better that way.

"Hey Raven. You can share a room with me." Beth said, helping me with my bag.

"Thanks kiddo." I said and we took my stuff up to her room.

"It'll be like a girl's sleepover every night." Beth said and I laughed.

"Yeah. It will be too bad we can't get Maggie in on this." I said with actual cheer in my voice. We giggled like school girls and I heard Rick yell for me from downstairs.

"Thank Beth I can take the floor. I'll be back soon." I said running down the stairs.

"Hey where's Rick?" I asked T-dog who was in the living room. He pointed to the porch and I saw him and Daryl out there with a map.

"Raven, you're coming with us. We could use the extra hand." Rick said and I shook my head.

"Rick, I better stay here. I'm more useful." I said kicking rocks off the porch.

"Sorry, Raven. Not an option we could use your skills if we run into some trouble." Rick said and I gave him a look and sighed like a kid not wanting to leave the candy store.

"We'll take him out to senoia...hour there, hour back, give or take. We may lose the light, but we'll be half way home by then." Rick explained the plan.

"This little pain in the ass will be a distant memory. Good riddance." Daryl said, sitting on the rail of the porch.

"Carol's putting together some previsions for him, enough to last a few days." Rick said and we all looked out to see Shane pulling up.

"That thing you did last night." Rick said to Daryl.

"Ain't no reason you should do all the heavy lifting." Daryl told him and Rick nodded. Shane's car stopped.

"So are you good with all this?" Rick asked the both of us.

"You know I always got your back cowboy." I said punching his arm and Rick smiled at me.

"I don't see you and I trading haymakers on the side of the road. Nobody's win that fight." Daryl said and it made me giggle thinking about those two going at it. Shane started to walk up to us three and Daryl jumped up.

"I'm gonna take a piss." He said and he strutted into the house.

"Hey, man, you seen Carl lately?" Shane asked Rick.

"He's inside with his mother." Rick said and I just balanced myself on the rail, my back leaning against the wooden support beams.

"Look, he came to me. Okay, I wasn't supposed to say anything, but he was out in the swamps yesterday when he came across a walker stuck in the mud. He got scared, ran off." Shane explained.

"The same walker that killed Dale?" I asked from my seat.

"That's the one." Shane said nodding and biting his lip nervously.

"I'll have Lori talk to him." Rick said but Shane wasn't done talking.

"Look, I think...I think he wants to talk to his father." Shane said which sadly was a very good and valid point.

"Well, I need this Randall thing done already." Rick said to him a little irritated that Shane was giving him parenting advice.

"Man, that need to wait, okay?" Shane told Rick and Rick gave an irritated sigh.

"It's my call." Rick snapped at Shane.

"How about I ride out with Daryl? Be good for us to speak a little time together." Shane said and I rolled my eyes.

"You, Daryl and Raven. Alone. Nah, I need you here." Rick told him.

"Wait since when was Raven going." Shane said, looking at me.

"Well that's not you fucking business now is it Shane." I said with anger in my voice but my face was basically calm.

"You're still my sister Raven." Shane said and I reached over and grabbed him by his collar pulling him close enough for only him to hear me and maybe just maybe Rick if he was listening close enough.

"I stopped being your sister when you raped me at the CDC." I said with nothing but pure malice and contempt in my voice. I let him go and got up.

"I'm gonna grab my crossbow." I said to Rick heading inside to Beth's room to grab it. When I came back out I could see Rick and Carl in the lookout in the barn. I smiled as I watched them talk about who knows what. I loved that man, and I loved that kid. They meant the world to me and so did Daryl. And this whole camp. All I wanted was to keep them safe. To keep everyone safe.

Daryl and I were loading up the truck when Rick came over.

"Ready?" He asked us and I nodded.

"Yeah." Daryl said as he grabbed his crossbow.

"I'll get the package." T-dog said and Rick thanked him and he was off to grab Randall's pain in the ass. Daryl opened the car door and looked at me.

"Come on Raven. You're riding the hump." I laughed at him and shook my head.

"Nope sorry Randall is. I'm riding in the trunk." I said tossing my crossbow in the back of the truck and Rick just shook his head and walked over to me.

"You're always so stubborn." I smiled and winked at me.

"You wouldn't love me if I wasn't." Rick gave me a soft smile and we started to get into the car.

"Rick! Daryl!" T-dog yelled at us.

"T-dog what's going on?" I asked him.

"Randall, he's gone." T-dog said and we all ran to the shed.

"What the fuck!?" I yelled and I looked over at the cuffs.

"Look, this blood is fresh. We must have just missed him." Rick said, looking over at me.

"No.No somethings not right about this. T-dog you said it was locked when you came over here." I asked him looking off into the woods.

"Yeah. I had to do the code and everything." He explained and I shook my head.

"See, why would he take the time to lock the door and change the numbers. There's only one way out and someone let him out." I said just then Shane emerged from the woods, blood flowing from his face.

"Rick! Rick!" Shane yelled coming up to the rest of the group.

"He's armed! He's got my gun." Shane explained now he was getting ready to tell whatever bullshit story he came up with and me. I could see right through his blatant lies.

"Are you okay?" Carl asked.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." Shane said and Rick jumped into action.

"Hershel, T-dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, Raven, come with us." I nodded and Daryl and I loaded our crossbows.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane said walking over to him.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol said and I looked at her.

"No, the plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." I finished and the five of us were off.

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen." Carol begged and we just ignored her.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick said and we all dashed off into the woods.

"I saw him head up through the trees that wash before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long." Shane said pointing off to our Right up a hill.

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted." Rick said and Glenn cut in.

"And armed."

"So are we." I said, giving him some reassurance.

"Can you track him?" Rick asked Daryl.

"No, I don't see nothing." Daryl said, studying the ground.

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tacking him, okay? He went that way so we just needed to pair up. We spread out, we just chased him down. That's it." Shane said and I turned to look at him.

"The kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. And you're trying to tell us that he got the jump on you? How is that Shane?" I asked him, taking apart his story right in front of everyone.

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane said with a calm voice, he was always right on it correcting his story where it needed to be.

"Alright, knock it off. Daryl, you and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Raven, Shane and I will take the left." Rick said and Shane was right there to change the plan.

"We don't need Raven, Rick. Make her go with those two just in case Glenn freezes up again." I looked at Shane before Glenn could say anything.

"Nope. You think I'm gonna leave you two alone for five minutes after what happened last time. You're crazy." I finished and Rick nodded.

"Remember Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other." Rick added and with that we split off. Rick led the way right behind him and Shane next to Rick.

"It's getting late. How much farther do you think he could have gotten." I said in a low whisper. They shrugged and Rick turned his attention to Shane.

"Looks like it's busted pretty bad." Rick said, referring to Shane's fucked up nose. And we were back to the age old game of ignoring Raven's presence unless someone is hurt, dying, or needs help.

"It's fine, man. Don't worry about me." Shane said and we all kept our eyes out for Randall or walkers. Shane started to lead us off into one direction and Rick and I just followed him.

Something about Shane's story just didn't add up to me. First, why was he anywhere near Randall. Second, why would Randall take the time to re-lock the shed. And third, how the fuck did he of all fucking people sneak up on Shane. I knew Shane and there was no way in hell you could sneak up on him. Not to mention Shane was a fighter he wasn't just gonna go down with a rock to the fucking face. And by the way Rick looked at me and then Shane. He was thinking the same thing too. We kept walking and Rick had a trained eye on the back of Shane's head we both did. But, then Shane stopped. Probably because he could feel the two of us burning holes into his head. Shane looked back at us with an almost worried look on his face but, then he just kept walking.

There was nothing but the sound of leaves crunching under our feet and crickets. The further we walked the more worried I got. "Does this way feel right?" Rick finally asked Shane and this caused us all to stop dead in our tracks.

"As right as any." Shane said and I just kept my eye out for walkers. I knew Randall wasn't up here and me being her kind of put a damper on any of Shane's plans.

"Snatched your gun, huh?" Rick asked him now he was slowly taking apart Shane's story and piecing it together the right way.

"Yeah. It's my favorite piece too. Gonna wish he'd... wish he killed me when I find his sorry ass." Shane said, taking a step closer to Rick.

"Go on." Shane said, telling Rick to lead the way. I started walking again slowly behind Shane. We left the forest and we were back on the farm just a few miles away from the house.

"You say he got you with a rock?" Rick asked him, his voice was dry like he knew something was going to happen.

"That's what I said." Shane said now he was behind me and Rick. I didn't know how he did that but, it made me uncomfortable to have him not in my line of sight.

"Inside the shed?" Rick asked and it was quiet.

"Cause that door was shut when T-dog rolled up." Rick said a look of worry was painted across his face.

"I saw that too. Must've slipped through the rafters in the roof." Shane answered Rick and I heard someone stop walking. I looked to my left and Rick was coming to a stop too. I placed my hand on my gun that was hooked to my thigh. It was quiet and Rick holstered his gun.

"So this is where you planned to do it?" Rick asked and I knew he meant that Shane was gonna kill him.

"It's as good a place as any. Granted Raven wasn't supposed to be here but, I'll make do." Shane said and my heart dropped.

"At least have the balls to call this what it is." Rick started to say and I heard the cock of not one but two guns.

"Murder." Rick finished as he and I turned to face Shane.

"You really believe if you walk onto that farm no me, no raven, no Randall." Rick started to say as he circled Shane.

"I want you to hush up." Shane said one gun trained on my every move and the other down to his side.

"You really believe they're gonna buy whatever bullshit story you cook up?" I said placing my crossbow on the ground and putting my hands up.

"That's just it. It ain't no story. I saw that prisoner shoot you down. I saw Raven shoot a bolt at him but only got him in the arm causing him to shoot her down too. I ran after him. I snapped his neck. It's ain't gonna be easy. But Lori and Carl, they'll get over you. They've done it before. And as for Raven, no one really cares about her so it won't be too hard. They're just gonna have to get over you two." Shane raised his gun at Rick so now both of us had a gun aimed right for our heads.

"Why?" Rick took a step closer.

"Rick, wait." I said and I took a step but Shane snapped his head in my direction and placed a finger on the trigger.

"Why now?" Rick asked him again.

"I thought we worked this all out." Rick said with pain in his face and Shane just laughed.

"We tried to kill each other, man. Hell I would have killed Raven right then too if I had gotten you. What you think. We just gonna forget about it all? We're gonna ride off into the sunset together. The three musketeers." Shane said with a sinister smile on his face.

"So, you're gonna kill me in cold blood. Screw my wife? Have my children...my children call you daddy? Is that what you want? That life won't be worth a damn. I know you. You won't be able to live with this." Rick explained and I watched Shane as he lowered both guns in frustration.

"What do you know about what I can live with? You got no idea what I can live with, what I live with! You wanna talk about what I can do Rick? How about what you can do? Here I am." Shane yelled at Rick and then he put his guns in the front of his pants and held up his arms as I went to stand next to Rick.

"Come on, man. Raise your gun." Shane said, taunting Rick.

"No. No I will not." Rick spoke, shaking his head and looking at me to tell me not to raise my gun either.

"What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore. Ain't that what you said? Even right here right now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? I'm a better father than you, Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's because I'm a better man than you, Rick. 'Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it. You come back here and you just destroy everything! You got a broken woman, you got a weak boy. You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it. Raise your gun." Shane said he was just saying anything to piss Rick off and make him mad enough to raise his gun but, Rick did good he kept his composure and didn't raise his gun.

"You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man." Rick told Shane and he pulled out his other gun and aimed it at me.

"Come on Raven. Raise your gun. I know you want to. After everything I did to you." Shane said, looking at me and I shook my head. Yes, I would love to have put a bullet through his head at that moment but, I would be damned if I let him kill me just because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rick and I both slowly reached for our guns.

"Watch our hands. Nice and easy." We both grabbed our guns and held them out in front of us.

"Now listen to me, Shane. There is still a way back from this. Nothing has happened here. We're gonna lay down our guns and we're gonna walk back to the farm together. Back to Lori. Back to Carl. We can put this all behind us." Rick said, trying to console Shane.

Shane walked closer grabbing both of our guns but little did he know I still had my knife. When Shane stood in front of me and grabbed my gun I quickly grabbed my knife and stabbed him in the chest and I heard a gunshot.

"Raven!" Rick yelled, worried I got shot again. I gently laid Shane on the ground.

"Shh. Shh brother." I cried tears falling from my face to Shane's.

"Damn you for making me do this, Shane. This was you not me! You did this to us! You could have walked away!" I cried as Shane reached for my face.