We had a meeting the next morning. I didn't sleep again just to be safe, since I didn't know if I did have a concussion. "Everyone who survived the attack in cell block D. Sasha, Caleb, and now others." Hershel kept just updated on our new little pandemic.

"Jesus." Daryl said to add to the pain of everything.

"So what do we do?" Carol asked since we had no clue what we could do.

"First things first. Cell block A is isolation. We keep the sick people there like we tried with Karen and David." Hershel told us, coming up with a plan to control the sickness.

"What the hell are we gonna do about that?" Daryl asked referring to Karen and Davids cold blooded murder.

"Ask Rick to look into it. Try to make a timeline...whose where when. But, what are we gonna do to stop this?" Carol asked, Michonne and I just stood around and listened.

"There is no stopping it. You get it, you have to go through it." Hershel said that's when Michonne chimed in.

"But it just kills you?" She said not as much as a question.

"The illness doesn't. The symptoms do. We need antibiotics." Hershel added.

"We've been through every pharmacy nearby. And then some'' I said finally speaking from my corner of the room.

"That veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech, that's one place people may not have thought to raid for medication. The drugs for animals there are the same we need." Hershel said quickly like he had been thinking about this for a while.

"That's 50 miles. Too big a risk before. Ain't now. I'm gonna take a group out. Best not waste anymore time." Daryl said getting up.

"I'm in." Michonne added.

"Plus another." I said jumping from my window.

"Michonne, you haven't been exposed. Daryl and Raven have. You get in a car with them." Hershel was cut off.

"He's already given me fleas." We all laughed.

"I can lead the way. I know where everything is kept." Hershel said, I knew he wanted to get out of here for a while but our people needed his help here and I think Daryl knew that too.

"When we're out there, it's always the same. Sooner or later we run." Daryl said, letting him down easy.

"I can draw you a map." Hershel said and I walked over placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks." I said quietly.

"There are other precautions I feel we should take." Hershel added before we left.

"Like what?" Carol asked him.

"There's no telling how long it'll be before Daryl and his group return. Wouldn't it make sense for us to separate the most vulnerable? We can use the administration building. Separate office, separate room." Hershel suggested.

"Who is the most vulnerable?" Glenn asked, almost irritated by the suggestion. "The young." Hershel said with no other people after that.

"What about the old?" Glenn asked again. We agreed on sending the children over to the administrative building while Daryl and I gathered up a small group to go out for the run.

Daryl was over by the truck getting ready to head out. So far it was just Daryl, Michonne and myself. He was checking the oil in the truck we were going to take.

"Son of a bitch is about a quart low." Daryl said and Michonne walked over to him.

"You still keep it in the bottom of tower three?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"I'll go get one." Michonne said as I finished loading up our gear into the back of the truck.

"I'm glad you're here." Daryl told her after calling her back.

"Where else would I be?" Michonne asked and I peaked over the top of the truck.

"Chasing after a ghost." I told her half joking but half serious.

"Just, running off." Daryl added and she looked at us both.

"You know I'm not running off." She told us half trying to convince herself. Daryl and I didn't say anything we just kept getting ready to head out.

"So it's just gonna be us three like in the old days?" She asked us.

"Yeah and bob. Still, it feels like we could use another person." Daryl added and I closed the truck door.

"Who else isn't sick?" I asked since I wasn't keeping tabs on all the people that were sick.

"We don't ask Rick. He wants to stay here with Carl and Little Ass-Kicker. Keep them safe. Plus there's plenty of stuff he could do here." Daryl answered and we just looked at each other.

"So who else we got?" Michonne asked and I just shrugged and headed back inside to get my crossbow. I came back out and Michonne was at the truck.

"Where's Daryl?" I asked her.

"He went to get Tyreese. Hoping he will come with us." She said and I nodded.

"So, you and Daryl? What happened?" She asked her feet on the dashboard.

"Nothing. At least not anymore." I said getting in the back seat.

"What do you mean?" She asked looking back at me.

"Since Daryl lost his brother he just pushed me out of his life. When I asked to talk to him about us. He said there wasn't anything to talk about." I said picking at my nails.

"Just give him time. He'll come around." Michonne tried to comfort me. I just put on a fake smile and nodded.

"I waited years to find someone like him but, I just don't know how much longer I can wait." I told her and just then Daryl walked up.

"Wait for what?" Daryl asked and I tried my best to keep my ice cold demeanor.

"For your slow ass." I said quickly. He rolled his eyes at me and finished up with getting the car ready.

Tyreese agreed to go with us and we took Zack's car since it was the fastest car we had. Once we all loaded up Daryl took off and we raced to the school. I was crammed into the back seat between Tyreese and Bob. I would kill for some music at that moment.

"Hey, I know you weren't running off. The thing is, that trail went cold. You know that, right?" Daryl started to speak and I knew he was talking to Michonne about her relentless hunt for the Governor.

"If it was any different, I'd be right out there with you." Daryl continued and Michonne just looked over at him and turned her attention back to the road. We all stayed silent for a moment before Dary turned on the radio and scanned the channels.

"Would you hand me one of them CD's right there?" He asked Michonne after finding nothing on the radio other than static. Michonne pulled out a black case of CD's and she started to scan through them. Then a voice came over the radio.

"Find Sanctuary..." It said before static filled in again.

"Was that a voice?" I asked, leaning forward closer to the radio.

"Shh..." Daryl hushed me as the voice came back.

"...determined to survive..." The voice cut again and more static as Daryl tried to find the right station.

"...Keep alive." The voice came back and we all just looked at eachother then I looked up from the radio.

"Look out!" I yelled at Daryl expertly swerved around the walkers we almost hit and hit the brakes bringing us to a complete stop.

"Fuck..." I cursed in a low voice before leaning more forward. For as far as we could see it was the biggest horde of walkers we had ever seen. Almost triple the amount that had taken over the farm. Daryl looked around then threw the car into reverse.

"Grab something!" He yelled and the screeching of the tires sounded as he backed up the car running over walkers.

"Go to the left." Michonne said as we came to a stop and Daryl put the car in drive but the tires just spun.

"We're jammed up." Daryl said as the car refused to move.

"Make a run for the gaps right there. You three, you make a run for the woods and you don't stop for nothing, you hear me?" Daryl pointed to the right side of the car. We all nodded.

"NOW!" Daryl yelled as he busted through the sunroof and I jumped out with Bob and Michonne. I already loaded my crossbow and I shot a walker to my left then reloaded. Michonne was taking out walkers left and right as Daryl was taking out the walkers by the car. I made a run for the woods taking out walkers by hand with my bolts and dodging some here and there. I looked back to see Tyreese was still in the car.

"TYREESE!" I yelled at him and it was like he couldn't hear me. We made it to the edge of the forest and Ty told us to run and leave him. Despite our better judgement Daryl grabbed my arm and dragged me into the forest. Tyreese was gone or as far as we knew. The rest of us were running through the woods killing walkers that we came up on. I followed right behind Michonne as we got to a small clearing. I heard something behind me and Daryl must have too.

"Hold up." He said loading up his crossbow and I did the same aiming it into the woods Daryl doing the same as me. Two walkers walked out and just as Daryl and I were about to take them out one of them fell dead and Ty stumbled out of the woods.

"Ty." I said taking out a walker and running over to him. Daryl followed, grabbing him as we turned around and kept running off into the woods further.

It was like we couldn't escape the walkers no matter how far we got. The groans and gnashing of their teeth was so loud. Like a sick echo that wouldn't dissipate. We took a breather for a moment to catch our breaths before we continued running. We stayed out there overnight, we took turns sleeping. It was Daryl and I's turn to keep watch.

"What are we going to do about the school?" I asked him, trying to make some sort of conversation.

"I don't know." He said quickly. I scoffed getting up from the tree I was leaning against.

"Where are you going?" Daryl asked me and I just picked up my crossbow and threw it over my shoulder.

"Raven." He said as he grabbed my arm to prevent me from walking into the woods.

"What, Dixon?" I spat at him.

"I asked ya a question." He said with a still firm grip on my arm.

"Okay, I don't feel the need to tell you shit." I said aggressively, pulling my arm from his grip.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Daryl said his voice was rough like he was trying not to yell.

"What's wrong with me? What is wrong with you, Dixon? We had a good fucking thing then, over night it all changed like you didn't want me anymore." I scolded him. I was hurt and I guess now was the best time to have this conversation.

"Raven..." Daryl started and I cut him off.

"No, Dixon. You get to just shut up and fucking listen. I gave you the space you needed. Especially after Merel. I understood that. I know you're a closed off person and you just needed your space but, I didn't think you would walk away completely. I mean, you avoid me like I'm a disease. When I do try to talk to you, you barely say a word or no words at all just huffs and grunts. Then all of a sudden you and Carol were getting super close. And you moved your cell closer to her and away from me. When I asked you what I did wrong you didn't say anything! You just walked away. All I want is to know what I did wrong? Is that too much to ask for." I took a deep breath to continue on my rant but, I was pushed up against a tree Daryl's hand on my hip.

"You talk too much." He said before I could even say a word back his lips were on mine. It was like the spark I was missing all these months was back. I melted into him dropping my crossbow and running my hands up his large arms to tangle in his hair.

We probably would have kept going if it wasn't for the sound of movement in the forest. Daryl took a step away from me, his hand leaving my hip, a sense of cold rushed my body from that place. I picked up my crossbow and readied it looking out into the woods.. We didn't see anything but, Ty and Bob both walked up to us and took over their shift of look out. Daryl leaned against a tree and I did the same falling asleep for only a moment.

The next morning we gathered up to make a plan. "This is Turner Creek, so Barnesville must be a few miles downstream." Michonne said, looking at the map we had.

"Sounds like our best chance at finding a new ride." Bob added.

"Yo, Ty. Come on, let's go." Daryl said and Ty nodded, ringing out his bloodied shirt.

"Vamonos, Ty." I said pulling my backpack on and walking with Michonne and Daryl. Bob and Ty caught up to us quickly as we made our way downstream to the nearby town. We were hoping to find a car so that way we could get the medicine and take it back as fast as possible. Daryl stopped walking and Michonne and I stopped looking down at him.

"Is that Jasper?" Michonne asked him as he cleaned off a stone he found nodding.

"It's a good color. Brings out your eyes." I said winking at him. Michonne and I smiled as we kept girlish giggles in.

"When Miss Richards went into A block, we were leaving. Asked me to keep a lookout. I'm gonna use it for her old man's marker." Daryl finished and I smiled as we kept walking.

"You know all of them back there?" Michonne asked as the three of us walked side by side.

"You stay in one place for more than a couple hours, you'd be surprised what you pick up." He said and Michonne fell back leaving Daryl and I in the lead.

"You know, you don't have to be so hard on her." I told him as we kept walking. "Well, she needs to learn that it ain't good to keep looking for a ghost." Daryl told me, stuffing the rock in his pocket.

"She just needs time, like you did." I kicked some rocks, taking a glips back to see they were still there.

"Yeah well she's had plenty." Daryl snapped and I rolled my eyes. We kept walking till we found a run down gas station. Daryl stopped walking for a moment.

"You see something?" Bob asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe." He said as he started to pull at the ivy that was covering a car. I smiled and we got to work taking all the ivy off as Daryl tried to hotwire the car. He got out as closed the door.

"We got to find us a new battery." He said and I sighed. Daryl spotted a window and went to wipe it off when a walker slammed against it.

"We got some friends inside." Daryl said and I walked around to the front of the store. The ivy really had taken this place over.

"Let's clear a path, see how many we got." Daryl said as he walked up next to me. We started pulling away at the fallen tree and hacking off the ivy. I looked over and saw Ty just hacking away at the greenery. Daryl must have noticed too.

"Hey man, take it easy. We don't know what we're dealing with." Daryl told him but he ignored us and kept going. Ty found a large piece that was stuck on something so he pulled at it. I could hear a door rattle so I took a step back and got my crossbow ready just in case.

I always had good instincts about this stuff. And I'm glad I did because Ty pulled some wire out of the ivy and a moment later a walker grabbed at Daryl. Michonne cut off the arm holding Daryl and a walker popped out grabbing Bob. I turned loose my bolt at it and hit the walker right in the head and I slumped over dead. Another walker reached out for Ty but he wouldn't let the walker go.

"Ty." Daryl said as he killed his walker.

"Tyreese, let it go." I said as Michonne got ready to kill the walker. Ty pulled the walker out of the ivy and I landed right on his chest. We acted quickly, Daryl grabbed the walker and pulled it off of Tyreese before Bob shot it in the head. I walked over to Daryl.

"Are you okay? No scratches?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"Nah, but what's up with him?" Daryl asked, gesturing to Tyreese.

"He lost everyone he loved and now his sister might die. I honestly don't think bringing him was a good idea. He might have a death wish." I said and Daryl nodded.

We finished clearing a path and made our way into the building. Daryl went first and I followed with Bob. "Come on." Daryl said after we made sure it was clear.

"Here we go." Daryl said as we walked into the garage. We left Michonne and Ty outside to finish clearing off the car.

"Cell's look pretty dry." Bob said and I nodded.

"A little distilled water will clear that up." I said quickly walking back into the shopping area and looking for stuff we could use. Daryl followed.

"Hey I found puke." I said shining my flashlight on it as Daryl and Bob walked over. The puke led to a bottle of antifreeze and a red solo cup.

"Those douchebags in the vines took themselves out. Holding hands. Kumbaya style." Daryl said as he came to my side Bob was on my other side as Daryl's hand slipped around my hip. It was comforting. I had to keep myself from sighing out loud.

"They wanted to go out together, same as they lived. Does that make them douchebags?" Bob said as we walked around the small fixture.

"It does if they could have gotten out." I responded walking behind Daryl.

"Everybody makes it till they don't. People nowadays are dominoes. What they did, maybe it's about not having to watch them fall." Bob told us, I mean it was poetic to go out with your loved ones but why give up when humans were meant to fight.

"Righ." Daryl said sarcastically, this caused me to chuckle and we kept walking around till I heard a raspy breath. I looked down an aisle.

"Over here." I spoke, Bob and Daryl came to my side as I shined my flashlight on a walker that was stuck under the caved in roof. It had an extension cord wrapped around its neck and arm as we approached it. I shook my head before walking away from the walker leaving Bob with it.

We gathered everything we needed and headed out. I was leaning against the car watching Daryl work on the battery. We both had a cigarette that we were sharing since he was out and I was down to my last pack. "So, you never told us about the group you were with before." Daryl said, breaking our long silence turning to Bob.

"Which one?" Bob asked back as he smoked his own cigarette that I had given him.

"You know when you found me out on that road, I almost kept walking." Bob continued.

"Why's that?" I asked him, handing Daryl a wrench.

"Cause I was done being a witness. Two times, two different groups. I was the last one standing. Like I was supposed to see it happen over and over, like it's some kind of curse. But, when it's just you out there with the quiet... Used to be, I'd drink a bottle of anything just so I could shut my eyes at night. Figured the prison, the people, thought it'd be easier. The run to the big spot, I did it for me." Bob explained pausing for a moment.

"You gotta keep busy." Daryl told him, taking a drink of some water we had found.

"No, I did it so I could get me a bottle. Of anything. I picked it up, I held it in my hand, but I put it down. I put it down so hard it took the whole damn shelf with it. That's what brought on the walkers, and that's what got Zack killed." Bob spoke as if he was flashing back to that moment and regretting his choices. Daryl and I looked at him for a moment.

"That's bullshit." Daryl said and this caught Bob's attention as he looked up at the two of us.

"Why don't you get in there and try the engine? It's the red and green wire." Daryl asked Bob and he just stood there for a moment.

"Go on. It ain't rocket science." Daryl told him and he sighed before hoping in the car.

"Give it some gas." I told him and he tried to start the van. We stood there and it roared up to a start. He clapped and I kissed his cheek quickly before anyone could see.

"Nicely done, Dixon." I said with a seductive tone. He shook his head, closing the hood as I grabbed the others.