Ever the Survivor

Kat had her head resting on Dylan's chest. She listened to the steady beat of his heart. He is still alive. Dylan wasn't sure how long they stood there like that. Kat in front of him, her head on his chest. Sam's arms wrapped around his waist and Kaleb's at his back. Ever since Rick walked her and Kaleb out of the woods, she didn't say anything. She didn't cry. She didn't make any kind of facial expression. She just had that blank stare on her face. The same one she'd worn since Rick found her.

Everyone was still shaken up after the attack. They were all still huddled around Dale's RV, deciding what to do. Most of the group wanted to sleep around the fire, too scared to go to their tents. Too scared that the smell would attract more Walkers, and too scared that their fallen group members would come back to life during the night. They decided several people would always be on watch the rest of the night. Those that slept, could sleep in shifts. If they could even sleep, that was.

Dylan pulled Kat away from him and looked at her. She finally looked in his eyes, but he saw nothing. His little brothers pulled away from his waist as he started walking. He sent them to the fire with Lori and Carl as he led her to her tent. She shook her head when he asked if she wanted to sleep by the fire. She did the same when he asked her if she wanted them to stay with her, but that was the most he got out of her. He knew she was holding it together until she was alone. He left her in her tent and planned on meeting up with Dale. He was going to sit on watch with him for the first few hours until the next shift. Rick told him to rest, but if he sat in his tent with nothing to do but think, what happened would drive him mad. Because he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. This was going to be a long night. But first, he was going to the woods. He went into his tent and pulled the sheet off his cot and grabbed one of Kat's silencers out of his bag and screwed it onto his handgun. Kat had told him before what would happen if someone got bit by an infected person and died. And he wasn't going to let that happen to his little brother.

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Andrea still sat over her sister, staring at her face. She'd been there for a few hours now. Most of the group was by the fire that was still going. Carol was leaned back in one of the rows of car seats they had removed from a car and set up by the fire a few weeks ago. She was holding Sophia close to her at one side and Sam at the other. Kaleb was sitting on the other side of his brother, next to Carl. Sleep didn't come to any of them for hours.

Daryl was leaning against a tree off to the side of the pit, staring at the young boys. They seemed like they were fine for awhile, but then a tear would slide down one of their cheeks every now and then. He didn't want to be out here around everyone anymore. Most of them were saying they should leave right now and others were still crying. He figured he would go lay down and get at least a few hours of sleep if he could. He stalked off in the direction of his tent, which was across from Kat's and the boy's. He was about to go into his when he stopped and looked behind him. He stared at the flap for a few more seconds while thinking. He really wanted to see her. She hadn't came out of her tent for hours. He had lost his brother today too, but he at least had the small comfort of knowing he was alive when he left the city. But her, she had found her baby brother's dead body in the woods. He couldn't even imagine what she must be feeling. He was the baby brother in his equation, though it wasn't anything like her family unit.

Merle had raised him for the most part. When he was actually around, anyway. Merle acted out frequently in his teens and was always doing time in juvenile institutions, and as he got older, jail. That was where he was when this all started and Daryl had gone to get him. But he wasn't much of a father figure either to him growing up, let alone a brother. Sure, there were the small things. Merle throwing a pack of smokes at him when he got home when they were younger, going hunting with him every now and then or having a few drinks at the bar. Even so, Merle didn't always have his back like Daryl thought a big brother should've. So Daryl had taken care of himself, mostly. That's why he was so good at it now. He'd always had to fend for himself. Their dad hadn't ever been much of a dad to the two of them growing up. It was always just him and Merle. Their mother had died when Daryl was young, in a house fire she had started with a lit cigarette and a drunken stupor. They were left with their abusive father after that. He didn't touch Daryl, didn't beat on him like he did Merle. But once Merle couldn't take it anymore and left home, the violence became Daryl's to bear. He had the scars all over his back and a few on his chest to prove it. Their relationship hadn't improved much as they became adults. Daryl kept him at arms length like he did everyone. He didn't think a man should ever lay a hand on his babies, let alone leave scars on their body that they hated for anyone to see. But they were at least civil to each other as they got older. Their father, William, had even invited Daryl to their uncle's for a hunting trip the day the dead rose.

But Daryl knew that Kat was what an older sibling should be to those boys. He saw it whenever she was around them. She cared for them and protected them. The blank expression she had plastered on her face, that stayed there after she came out of the woods, made Daryl realize she thought she'd failed. His legs were moving before he knew what he was really doing. He walked over to her tent and peered in. Dylan had left the flap undone, probably to come check in on her later. He glanced towards the camp before ducking inside. He didn't see anyone looking his way.

Kat heard the tent flap move as someone stepped inside. She figured it was just her brother. She was glad no one had come and bothered her the last few hours. She'd spent that time, curled up under her blankets on the floor, mourning her little brother. I should've been there. Not Kaleb. I was supposed to keep them safe. She hadn't protected them like she promised she would weeks ago. She sniffled as she wiped the drying tears from her cheeks. At the sound, Daryl internally sighed a little. She had been crying and a part of him was a little happy about that. She wasn't as shut off as she looked like she was when she disappeared into her tent earlier that night. He was worried she would close off to everybody and the Kat he used to know would be gone. At least for a little while.

He wasn't sure what to do. He'd never been any good at comforting anybody. Hell, he had never really done it. But he knew he wouldn't be any good at it. He wasn't good at emotions, letting them show or talking about them. Saying what he was thinking if it had anything to do with them or what he wanted. Merle had raised him to be like that. But it felt different with her. He heard Kat take in a shaky breath and breath out slowly. She had only stopped crying a little bit ago. He set his crossbow down and propped it up against her bag. He didn't bother taking his boots off, he wasn't going to stay. He just needed to see her for a little bit. They hadn't reunited on the best of circumstances the day before. He turned around and faced her. She hadn't moved. She stayed laying on her side, facing away from him, staring at the tent's nylon wall.

She felt Dylan lay down behind her. She could tell he was about a foot from her. She was about to turn over and face him when the persons scent washed over her, and it wasn't her brothers. Daryl?

He laid there next to her on his side. He had his left elbow resting on the ground and his head propped up on his closed fist, since she only had one pillow and she was laying on it. He just stared at her for minute. She sniffled again, trying to breath through her nose more clearly. He reached his right hand out, but stopped himself. He wanted to touch her but wasn't sure if he should. What am I doin? He asked himself. He shook his head and reached towards her again. He put his hand on her bare, upper arm. He ran it, slowly, up towards her shoulder and back down towards her elbow a couple times. He let his hand grip her bicep and give her a little squeeze once, before returning to what he was doing.

"I promised them I would keep them safe.....Alive." Kat said, quietly, after awhile.

Daryl's hand stopped on her arm for a second, before starting up again. "You did."

Kat sighed heavily and he saw her shaking her head back and forth against the pillow. Daryl knew what she was thinking.

"Even if you were here, there's nothin you coulda done...You saw how many there was. They were comin outta nowhere...There was no way you coulda been everywhere at once." He said in a soft, quiet voice he didn't know he had.

Kat let out a lighter sigh. Letting his words sink in. Inside, she knew he was right. She just needed to hear someone else say it. There had been Walkers everywhere you looked when they came into camp. And the group there had already taken some out, so she knew it had to have been worse before they arrived. She wouldn't have been able to keep an eye on all 4 of her brothers, every second, and keep herself and the group safe at the same time amidst all the chaos. She just wished things were different.

Her skin felt so soft under his rough hand. He was careful with his motions at first, tense and nervous, before he loosened up and the movements came more naturally. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Silence. Him alternating from rubbing her arm up and down, to just letting his hand rest on her upper arm. It calmed her down, made her feel comfortable. He stayed there until he knew she was asleep. Her breathing became soft and even and he saw her body become lighter.

He fought with himself. He almost wanted to lay there next to her the rest of the night. He had never spent the night with a woman. But he pulled himself up off the floor as quietly as he could and grabbed his crossbow. He didn't know if she would want him to stay. And he didn't really want to deal with the weird looks everyone would give him in the morning when they saw him come out of her tent instead of his. He looked back at her one last time before he pulled the flap back and walked outside. As quietly as he could, he zipped her tent closed. He didn't want anything sneaking it's way in there. There were going to be people on watch all night, but he didn't care. He zipped it and made his way across the small path to his tent.

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Kat woke up early. The sun had just started to come up but she could already hear some of others outside. She had rolled onto her back in her sleep, so she sat upright, rubbing at her eyes. She glanced over to her right before standing up. He wasn't there, not that she expected him to be. She didn't think he would stay the night but she didn't remember him leaving. He must've waited until she fell asleep. He seemed nervous when he had first started touching her, she could tell by the way his hand moved over her. It seemed like the movements were almost forced until he became more comfortable. She could tell him coming to her last night at all was unusual for him enough. Even more so by the looks people were giving, glancing between her and him, as she walked over to the fire pit. Some of them must've seen him leave or go into her tent last night. He looked kind of annoyed, standing there by a tree, but as he looked up at her, his face softened ever so slightly. That Dixon frown was still there, but she could see some of the tension come out of it. She gave him a small smile before she let her face fall again as she came up to the small fire that was slowly going out. A small thank you. She hadn't wanted anyone to come bother her last night after she went to her tent. She wanted to be alone, but was glad it had been Daryl that came to bother her. She welcomed it.

"Alright, everyone. Let's start cleanin this place up. We don't need all these bodies lyin around." Shane said. "Put the walkers in a pile over there so we can burn em. But make sure they're dead, dead before you touch em. We don't need anymore surprises, okay?"

"What about the ones that aren't Walkers?" Glenn asked, looking at the ground. Andrea was still sitting by Amy, her cold, dead hand in hers. She'd been there all night and hadn't moved.

The men were going around the camp starting to pick up the bodies and put them into the burning pile they had already started. Daryl was walking around with a pick axe, putting it into the head of every fallen victim, to make sure they wouldn't get up again.

Lori slowly walked up to Andrea's side and came to a squatting position next to her. "Andrea." She said. The blond woman's eyes never left her younger sister's body. "I'm so sorry." She said as she came to her knees. "She's gone. You gotta let us take her...We all cared about her and I promise we'll be as gentle as we can." Andrea didn't respond. Didn't even move. Lori stood up and patted Andrea's shoulder before walking back to the fire pit.

With a grunt, Daryl swung the pick axe and let the point slice into the head of another dead body while Glenn and T-Dog looked on. He was breathing heavy as he yanked the axe out of it's head and started towards the next body, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his arm. Glenn and T-Dog walked to the body, T-Dog pulling from the shoulder's while Glenn was at it's feet. They struggled to drag the dead weight over to the pile of burning bodies several feet away, coughing at the smell on the way there. They hauled it up and swung it into the fire. T-Dog grabbed at the collar of his t-shirt to bring it up over his nose to shield himself from the smell with another cough.

Rick was walking up to the pit Shane, Dale, Kat, Carol and Lori were around. He had gone to sit at the hill Jim had dug the holes at, while he tried to reach Morgan, the man that saved his life in King County. He had tried every morning on the walkie talkie, but there was never anything more than static and the sound of his own voice.

"She still won't move?" Rick asked as he came up to the group, looking ahead in Andrea's direction over by the RV.

"Won't even talk to us." Lori said from her seat next to Carol. "She's been there all night. What do we do?"

"Can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it, same as the others." Shane said.

Rick nodded his head down at his friend who was sitting down beside him. "I'll tell her how it is." He said as he made his way over to Andrea.

He came up to her side and went to kneel down as he said her name. "Andrea."

The woman spun around quickly to face Rick with her gun in her hand as she pulled back the hammer. "I know how the safety works." She said as she pointed the gun at his face. Shane and Lori got up from their seats.

Rick slowly stood back up. "All right. Okay. I'm sorry." He said as he held a hand up and starting backing away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He said as he backed his way to the pit. Andrea lowered her gun the farther away he got until he turned around. She turned and looked back at her sister's face. Rick looked behind him at her as he walked back to the fire pit, where Daryl now was, standing behind Kat, pick axe laying over his shoulder.

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." He said as he pointed his arm out in Andrea's direction before letting it fall back to his side.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asked the hunter.

Daryl took a few steps closer to Rick. "Take the shot." He said. He brought his free hand to his head for a second, making it into a gun before dropping it. "Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"No." Lori said, causing him to look at her. "For God's sakes, let her be." She said as she sat back down. Shane raised his eyebrows at Rick. He wasn't sure what to do either. What were they supposed to do, just sit there and wait until she turned and tried to take a chunk out of her sister? Rick didn't say anything as Daryl looked around at the faces in front of him. He scoffed as he turned around and walked away. Kat looked over her shoulder and let out a sigh as she watched him walk away. He took the pick axe from his shoulder and held it at his side while he walked over to help move more bodies.

"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do." Daryl said as he passed the man, who looked like he was staring off at the clouds. Daryl walked over to Morales, who was panting and struggling to pull one of their group member's bodies away by himself. Daryl looked at him and gave him a pat on the back as he let the pick axe fall to the ground. He came to Morales' side and grabbed the body's other arm.

"Thanks." Morales said to him as Daryl helped him drag it towards the fire before Glenn stopped the two of them. "Thanks."

"Whoa, hey, what are you guys doing?" Glenn asked as he took a few steps towards them, away from the fire. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He said and pointed to a row of bodies they had started for the group members. Daryl looked over his shoulder at the young man.

"What's the difference? They're all infected." He said. He and Morales set the body down and both turned to look at Glenn.

"Our people go in that row over there." He said, visibly upset. He had tears in his eyes. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?" Daryl and Morales looked at the young man for a moment before Daryl leaned over and picked up the body's arm again, Morales following his example. They dragged the body over to the row Glenn had pointed to, Daryl's scowl coming to the surface once again.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl said in Glenn's direction as they got to the bodies, lined by the RV.

Morales looked at him. "You know what? Shut up, man."

With a grunt, Daryl let his side of the body fall. Letting Morales drag it the rest of the way. "Y'all left my brother for dead!" He shouted so the whole group would hear him. He stopped and pointed to the pile of dead group members before walking away again. "You had this comin!"

Jim, who had finally stopped daydreaming, slowly walked over to Jacqui, who was bent over getting ready to move another body. She looked up to Jim as he came up to her, noticing blood on the middle section of his shirt.

"Are you bleedin?" She asked as he stood only a couple feet in front of her.

"I just got some on me from the bodies." He said as he bent down to help her.

"That blood's fresh. Were you bit?"

"No." He said as he put his hands on his knees and looked at her. "I just got scratched during the attack." He leaned down again, looking away from her as he grabbed the body's arm.

"You got bit." Jacqui said as she started to get up.

"I'm fine."

"Then show me." She said. Jim stopped and looked at her. He looked around before he stood up in front of her.

"Don't tell, please." He whispered as he stepped closer to her.

"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." She said louder, walking away, so the camp could hear.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and came closer. Jim backed up as everyone started gathering around him.

"I'm okay." He said as people started closing in, making a circle around him. Everyone started talking in hushed voices.

"Show it to us." Daryl said as he came up, pointing his arm at Jim, pick axe resting on his shoulder again. He took it in both his hands as he got closer. "Show it to us."

As the men got closer to him, Jim leaned over and grabbed a nearby shovel that was on the ground.

"Easy, Jim!" Shane yelled.

"Grab him." Daryl said.

"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane said as he walked up with his shotgun at his side. Daryl yelled for someone to grab him again.

Jim was too focused on Daryl in front of him with a pickaxe in his hands and Shane with a shotgun, even if the Deputy wasn't pointing it at him yet. He was too distracted by the two to notice T-Dog behind him. The black man rushed him from behind, grabbing his upper arms and pulling them back, making him drop the shovel to the ground.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim said as T-Dog held him there. Daryl dropped the pick axe next to him and quickly came up to the man as he grabbed at the front of Jim's shirt, lifting it up. There, under his brown t-shirt, was a clear bite mark on his stomach. Daryl held Jim's shirt there for a few seconds before letting it fall over his stomach and backing away. T-Dog let the man go as he did the same.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim kept repeating between heavy breaths, over and over, as he looked around at the people in front of him.

Rick had slowly come up to Jim with Shane and ushered him over to the back of the RV where they told him to sit while they convened near the fire pit.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head. And the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl said as he stood with the pickaxe at his side.

"Is that what you'd want, if it were you?" Shane asked as he looked at him.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

"I hate to say it, I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right." Dale said, shaking his head.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick said, looking at the ground with his hands on his hips.

"I'm not suggesting-" Dale started, but Rick cut him off.

"He's sick" Rick said.

"Hey, hey." Shane said with his hand up as Rick got louder. "Shh."

"He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick said, looking up at them.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl said.

"What if we can get him help?" Rick said. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane said, looking at his friend.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"Man, that is a stretch right there."

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection-"

Daryl started working his jaw back and forth as he chewed on the inside of his lip.

"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay?" Shane said as he stopped him. "Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori said.

"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there." Shane said.

"What makes you think that place is even still up and running?" Kat chimed in from between Dylan and Daryl.
Rick nodded. "The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that." He said, as Daryl looked over his shoulder at Jim. "The CDC's our best choice and Jim's only chance."

Daryl turned back towards the group. "You go lookin for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" He yelled as he turned and took a few running steps over to Jim with the pickaxe raised. The sound of the hammer of a gun next to his head stopped him from bringing the axe down into the man's skull as Rick came up behind him.

"Hey hey hey!" Shane shouted as some of the group ran up behind Daryl.

"We don't kill the living." Rick said, as Shane made his way in front of Daryl, blocking him from Jim.

Daryl kept the axe raised but turned his head around to Rick. He finally let the pickaxe come back to his side. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, not on this." Shane said, causing Daryl to turn and look at him. "You put it down. Go on." Daryl jammed the pickaxe into the dirt and walked off. Shane leaned over and grabbed the axe as Rick walked around him to Jim.

"Come with me?" Rick said as he grabbed Jim by the arm.

"Where are you taking me?" He said as he looked up to Rick.

"Somewhere safe." He answered him. Away from Daryl. Kat thought as she watched the whole thing play out. She looked over at the hunter, who walked over towards the cars, kicking the tires as he went by. Everyone fanned out, going to help with the remainder of the cleanup as Dale walked over to Andrea. Who still hadn't moved.

Sam, Kaleb, Carl and Sophia went to the quarry with Dylan to load up on more water while the rest of the survivors were getting the dead group members ready to load into Daryl's truck bed. Rick had given him the pick axe back, once Jim was inside the RV with Jacqui.

Kat was sitting on the hood of the red Dodge Challenger, her feet on the front bumper. She had her elbows on her knees and her chin resting on one of her hands as she watched Daryl in front of her. His arms flexing every time he lifted the pick axe up and brought it back down to the head of body that hadn't been taken care of yet. He was walking over to what was left of Ed Peletier's body when Carol walked up to him, making him stop as he looked at her.

"I'll do it. He was my husband." She said, looking down at the corpse, who was almost unrecognizable.

She was crying as Daryl handed the axe to her and backed away. They watched as Carol mustered the strength to bring the pickaxe over her shoulder. She hesitated for a minute before letting the point come down into the side of Ed's head with a sob. She lifted it back out and hit him again, crying. She'd only needed to hit him once. But Kat understood as she sat back and watched. Daryl did too, for that matter. After suffering all the years of abuse. She was finally free. She hit him several more times as the two watched. Each swing giving off less sadness, and more frustration. Kat didn't blame her. She would've done that a long time ago to any man who would've laid his hands on her. She wouldn't have waited for the zombie apocalypse to drive an axe through his head.

Carol finally stopped, breathing heavy, and handed the axe to Daryl. She took one more look at what was left of Ed's head now and walked away. Daryl just looked back at Kat. She met his eyes and then looked at Ed's body as she scooted off the car's hood, grabbing one of the sheets that were in a pile on the ground. Daryl set the axe down to help her wrap him up as she got closer. Rick had told them to wrap up the bodies after they had taken care of them. They were going to bury them in the holes Jim had started to dig the day before. When they were done, Daryl grabbed under Ed's upper body as Kat picked up his feet, and together they hauled his body over to the bed of Daryl's truck, heaving him in. She wasn't having as much trouble with the weight of them as he thought she would as they continued with the rest. She was tougher than she looked for as small as she was.

They were down to the last one as Kat paused for a minute over the already covered body she was standing over, before bending down. She put an arm under it's legs and her other around it's shoulders as she lifted the little body up. Daryl stayed over by the back of his truck when she went over to pick up Blake's already sheet-wrapped body. She told him she would get him. He was chewing on the dry skin around his thumb as she turned and walked back to his truck. She laid her little brother down in front of the others and scooted his body back against them so he wouldn't fall out before they shut the hatch. She grabbed the sheet over his face and pulled it back. She brought her eyebrows together slightly as she looked at him. She drew in a small breath and ran a hand through his bloody, blond hair, noticing the gun shot wound on his forehead. Dylan had told her he took care of him when she insisted on going back into the woods that morning to do it herself. He had already wrapped him up and brought him back to camp when she was in her tent the night before. She brought her hand back and reached towards her hip. She unsnapped the button that held her ammo pack closed. Inside, were a few clips to her handgun and Blake's lucky rabbit foot he had given her the day before when she went into Atlanta with the men. He said it would keep her safe. Daryl thought, as he watched her pull it out of her pack before snapping it shut again. She grabbed one of Blake's hands, that were lying on his chest, and slipped the rabbit foot under it before closing it around the foot. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before she pulled away.

"Kat, Daryl." Rick said as he came up behind them. Kat pulled the sheet back over Blake's body and looked at Daryl. She grabbed the hatch with him and they closed it together before she turned around.

"Hey." She said, in a voice a little higher than her normal tone, trying to sound like she was okay.

"Why don't you guys take a break now." He said as he got closer to them. "We're still waitin on Andrea..." He said as he looked at the ground.

Daryl shook his head as Kat started walking towards the fire pit to sit down. He followed after her. They didn't have to wait much longer. Daryl had taken a seat next to her around the fire pit, passing his canteen of water back and forth with her. Kat looked up towards Andrea to see her leaning over Amy's body, her ear to her sister's mouth.

Andrea leaned back up and looked at her sister's face. She looked down her body as Amy's hands started to move. Andrea brought her hand to Amy's face as the girl opened her eyes. Andrea looked into them, hoping to see something, anything, left of her little sister. But they weren't her beautiful bright blue anymore. They were bloodshot and glazed over as she looked straight ahead of her into the sky, her body twitching as it came back to life. Amy...it..., smelled her, and looked at Andrea.

"Amy." Andrea said, stroking her sister's cheek. "Amy, I'm sorry." She said as one of Amy's arms slowly came up to touch at Andrea's face. "I'm sorry, for not ever being there. I always thought there'd be more time." She said as Amy's hand reached up further and took a hold of the back of Andrea's head, gripping at her hair. Using it and her sister's arm as leverage, she slowly pulled herself up, growling.

Rick and Shane, who were standing several feet away at the Challenger heard the low growls and turned to look in Andrea's direction, the same time Carol put her hand on Dale's thigh. The two of them were sitting at the fire put with Kat as they watched.

Walker-Amy was growling and trying harder to bring her mouth closer to her sister's body. Andrea held her head back. "I'm here now, Amy. I'm here." She said as she reached for her gun.

Rick and Shane both grabbed for their handguns as they approached the girls, not sure if Andrea would be able to do it.

"I love you." Andrea said, as she brought her handgun to the side of Amy's head as she rested her forehead against her sisters, and pulled the trigger. Amy's body fell back to the ground as Andrea leaned over her again, smoothing her hair down and stroking her face.

After letting her set there for a few more minutes, Dale walked up to her with another sheet to help her wrap Amy's body and take her to Daryl's truck.

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Shane and Rick were up on the hill overlooking Atlanta, where Jim had dug the holes yesterday. They were making them a little deeper.

"Say it." Rick said. He stopped digging and looked to his friend.

Shane stopped, resting his hands on the top of the shovel's shaft. He let out a sigh. "Okay...I'm thinking if you'd have stayed here, if you'd have looked after your own, instead you went off. You took half our manpower with ya. I'm thinking maybe our losses wouldn't have been so bad." He said as he picked his shovel up again.

"If we hadn't gone off and brought those guns back when we did, I think our losses would have been a lot worse. Maybe the entire camp." Rick said as they heard a car approach.

They looked up to see Daryl, backing his truck up the path, back end first so it would be easier to get the bodies out. He stopped the truck a few feet from Rick and Shane, breaks squealing, as he put it in park. He opened his door and stepped out. He wiped his forehead off with his red handkerchief before stuffing the end of it into his back pocket as he made his way around the back of his truck.

"I still think it's a mistake not burnin these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right?" Daryl said as he walked up to Rick and Shane. "Burn em all, wasn't that the idea?"

The rest of the group started walking up the path to the hill.

"At first." Shane said, as he finished working on the grave he was on.

"The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, what the rules are."

"There are no rules." Rick said as he looked at him.

"Well that's a problem." Lori said as she came closer. "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." She said as she turned around and walked over to Carl as the men started getting the bodies out of the car and setting them into the graves.

Everyone was gathered around as the only body left was Amy's. Andrea refused to let anyone help her as she dragged her sister's body into the last open grave. "I can do it. I can do it." She said to Dale as he leaned down to help her lower Amy into the ground. "I can do it! I can do it." She said, until he stood back up. Andrea gave one last pull, as Dale grabbed onto Amy's feet to help make her fall more gently into the hole. Andrea held onto her sister's head as she laid her down on the dirt floor. Dale held out his hand to her, to help her out of the hole.

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"Shane blames me for not being here." Rick said to Lori as they walked with the others in front of them back to camp. "Do you?" He asked as he stopped, making Lori face him. She just looked at him, her mouth open, searching for words, but nothing coming out. Rick let out a breath and looked away.

"We got guns now. We're stronger." He said, looking back at her face.

"And we have fewer people. That makes us weaker...You want me to say I think you were right? I understand that...All I can say is that neither one of you is entirely wrong...It's the best I can do right now." She said to him as he looked away.

"What about the CDC?"

"Rick,"

"We're at the ragged edge here. We need relief and we got a sick man who needs help. I don't know why people can't see that." He said, holding his arm in the direction of the RV where Jim still was.

"Well, look at their faces. Look at mine. We're all terrified." She said to him, smiling to try and fight the tears in her eyes. "If one of us suggested, based on a hunch, that we head toward that city, you'd have no part of it.....Tell me something with certainty."

Rick looked in her eyes before looking around. He thought for a few seconds. He couldn't tell her they would be safe one place or another, not right now. "I love you." He said, looking back in her eyes. That, he knew for sure. Lori smiled at him through the tears. "That's- that's all- that's all I got." He said, fighting tears of his own at this point.

"I love you too." She said, nodding to him, a second before they wrapped their arms around each other. They embraced for a few seconds before turning and walking into camp.

Carol heard the door to the RV open and a little knock on the wall. She was sitting next to Jim, who was laying, shirtless, on one of the couches in the RV. She was wiping at his sweating face with a wet rag as she looked behind her to see Rick and Lori walking in. They walked into the back room where Carol and Jim were.

"His fever is worse." She said as she looked at Rick.

"You need anything?" Lori asked, looking at Jim.

"Uh...water...Could use more water." He said.

"I'll get some." She said, smiling at him.

"Okay." He said, not really looking at her.

"Carol, you help me?" Lori said, reaching her hand out to the older woman. Carol turned and grabbed her hand as she got up. The two women made their way out of the RV as Rick took a seat across from Jim. Jim adjusted himself slightly, so he could face the sheriff more.

"You save a grave for me?" Jim asked.

"Nobody wants that."

"It's not about what you want. That, uh...that sound you hear, that's God laughing while you make plans."

Rick let out a breath. "What I want, Jim, if...If God allows, is to get ya some help."

Jim groaned as he started coughing. Rick reached out for the large pot that was sitting on the small table between them and held it out to him, allowing him to grab it as he started coughing more. Rick leaned away and watched as Jim spit up more blood. He coughed a few more times before sitting up and putting the pot back down. He took in a deep breath as he rested his head against the back wall of the RV and closed his eyes. He coughed a few more times to clear his throat before looking straight ahead of him.

"Watch the mangroves. Their roots will gouge the whole boat. You know that, right?" Jim said.

Rick looked at him, bringing his hand to his eyes as he listened to the half crazed man babble on. He rested his hand against his mouth.

"Amy is there, swimming. You'll watch the boat, right?" Jim said as he looked over at Rick. "You said you would."

"...I'll watch the boat...Don't worry." Rick said.

"Okay." Jim looked ahead of him again. Rick ran his hand over his eyes again before letting his hand travel down his face, covering his mouth. The high fever was starting to make the man delirious.

Lori was sitting on the steps of the RV in the doorway, listening, as Shane walked up to her. He came to a squatting position in front of her and just stared at her for a second.

"I need you to help talk some sense into Rick." He said in a low voice.

Lori just got up and walked a few steps away from him.

"Look, this CDC thing, Lori, it's a mistake." He said as he got up and walked towards her. She brought her hands to her hips, shrugging her shoulders a bit as she let out a breath. "So, you're backing him?"

"What else would I do? He's my husband."

"Look, it may be time for you to play the dutiful wife, but you can't tell me that fixing your marriage is worth putting people's lives at risk."

"I think folks around here can make up their minds without bringing my marriage into it. It's a habit you need to break."

"I guess I'll just add it to the list of habits that I'm breaking, whether I like to or not." Shane said to her as Rick stepped into the doorway and made his way down the few stairs of the RV.

"What habits?" Rick said, looking to Shane as his feet touched the ground outside. Lori looked between the two of them. Her husband, and his best friend, who became her lover after this had happened. After Shane had told her her husband was dead.

"Just talking about my need for a plan, man." Shane said as he scratched the side of his nose with his thumb. He looked at Rick, then Lori before turning back to his friend. "So, what is it? Are we leavin or not? Maybe y'all just wanna stay here. We could hang some more tin cans."

"We can't stay here. We both know that." Rick said.

"I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut." Lori said. There was a few seconds of silence before Shane spoke up again.

"Let's go do our sweep." He said, looking up at Rick. They were going to walk the perimeter around camp, making sure there were no signs of nearby Walkers.

Rick nodded as he started to walk off with Shane, going to grab their shotguns before going into the forest. Lori walked back to the steps of the RV, going inside to check on Jim.

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"Tell you what, man, these people, man, they're not convinced. You know? You head to the CDC, you might be on your own. You gotta really consider whether you want to put Lori and Carl in that kind of spot." Shane said as he walked with Rick.

"I gotta do what's best for my family."

"Best for your family? What's that? Exposing them to all kinds of risks?"

"As opposed to what? Crossing 100 miles of hostile territory? If we're lookin for a lifeline, I say swim toward the closest ship, not further out to sea...Why can't you back me up?"

"Look, I want to. It's just...I don't see it."

"If it was your family, you'd feel differently." Rick said as they continued walking. But he stopped when he didn't hear Shane's heavy footsteps. He turned around to look at the man.

"What'd you say to me?" He said as he walked up to Rick. He pointed at his own chest. "I kept em safe, man. I looked after them like they were, no, like that were my own." He said as Rick put his hand up. "That's what I did, Rick."

"Shane, I didn't mean it that way."

"Well, how'd you mean it? Go on, man. How'd you mean it?" Shane said as Rick looked away.

He sighed. "You're misinterpreting me, man."

"All right."

"You're just hearing it wrong?"

"Yeah?" Shane said.

"Look, you know, you know I can never repay that debt, okay?" Rick said to him. Their discussion was cut short when they heard a branch snap. They both looked around, raising their shotguns. They nodded to each other as they split up, Rick going one way, Shane going the other. They spread out, looking around for whatever had made the noise. Be it food or another Walker. Shane made his way through the trees, looking down the sights of his shotgun as he landed on a moving body. Rick. Shane just looked at him down the shotgun's barrel. His back was turned away from him, still looking around his side of the forest for the noise. Shane kept him there. Followed him around with the shotgun. It'd be so damn easy. He thought, a second before he let the gun come back to his side. He looked to his side to see Dale standing there.

"Jesus." The old man said, looking at Shane and down at his gun.

Shane looked down at his shotgun and chuckled. Trying to brush off what the old man had just caught him doing. "I know...Gonna have to start wearing reflective vests out here." Shane said, looking towards Rick before looking back to Dale. "Seriously...Come on, man!" He shouted in Rick's direction. Rick raised his hand towards him letting him know he heard him. Shane looked back at Dale while he put his brown police cap on his head.

"Come on, man, let's go. Nothin out here." Shane said and walked away, back to camp. Dale's eye's never leaving him.

Back in camp, Andrea was finally sleeping. She was sitting in one of the fold-up camp chairs with a blanket around her in front of the fire pit, where everyone was gathered. Lori was sitting on her knees sharpening the end of a thick stick with a box cutter when she looked up to see the three men walking towards everyone.

"I've, uh, I've been thinkin about Rick's plan." Shane said as he let his shotgun rest against a log by the fire as he approached. "Now look, there are no- there are no guarantees, either way. I'll be the first one to admit that." He said, looking around the group before letting his eyes fall on Rick, who was kneeled down across the fire from him. "I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So, those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning...Okay?" Shane looked around. Seeing most of the group nod. Others were just staring into the fire.

Kat didn't know what else to do. She knew she would feel safer with more people around. But was that really a good idea? Everything was going good for her and her brothers, then she comes here and everything goes to shit. For her and the people at this camp. Was she the plague or the people here? Maybe they should just go off on their own again. She glanced at Daryl who was across the fire from her and made a decision. She'd go where ever he went.

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The sounds of people moving about and the sun were the first things that greeted Kat as she walked out of her tent the next morning. She had put everything that she had out, into her bag the night before. So she was now helping her younger brothers put their stuff away as Rick walked up the hill to try Morgan on the walkie again before they left. She was helping Dylan take down the tents as Daryl came out of his. He had changed from the dirty, cut off thermal he had worn the day before when she met up with him. He was wearing a light brown, button down flannel now. The sleeves looked like he had ripped them off in frustration because of the heat. He threw his bag next to their pile since it was across from his tent and started taking his down. Kat threw her keys to Kaleb as she told him to start putting stuff in the trunk as they finished packing up the tents. They were taking the rest of their things to Kat's Avenger as Dylan helped Daryl load his brother's motorcycle into the back of his truck and tie it down. Everyone else was packing the last of their own belongings into the cars they had as they waited.

"We're movin out," Rick said as he pressed the transmit button of his walkie talkie down, "leavin the quarry. If you heard me yesterday, you may be comin here. If you are, we'll be gone by the time you arrive. I'm leavin a note and map behind for you taped to a red car so you can follow our trail. We're headin to the CDC. If there's anything left, it's got to be there, don't ya think? Morgan...I hope you were right about that place. I need you to be." He said as he looked towards the Atlanta skyline, thinking back to his meeting with the man that saved his life. Morgan had been the one that told him the CDC was trying to find a cure.

Kat took a seat on the hood of her car as they waited for everyone to be ready to go. She scooted herself up towards the windshield and leaned her back against it. Her hands were resting on the hood at each side of her body and she crossed her legs at her ankles. She looked around at the camp at all the people, returning small smiles every now and then when she was given one. Daryl walked around the car to the side she was on, putting his hands on the hood as he leaned against it.

"You think this is a good idea?" He asked her.

She let a deep breath out of her nose as she thought for a second. "I agree with Rick's move more than I do Shane's. The CDC's closer. Fort Benning is 100 miles the other way. I'd rather go check out what's nearest to us than ignoring it all together." She said as she looked up at him. "Not to mention they might know more about this...If all else fails and the CDC is shit, then maybe we can gather enough supplies to make it to Fort Benning." She said as he nodded. She also wanted to go to the CDC to see if the scientists there knew if it was the T-virus or any new strain that Neo-Umbrella had unleashed. If it was, she knew a facility around here would have the anti-virus. They had never made one without the other. But she'd have to see what they knew there first, if anything at all. "We'll worry about that when that gets here though." She said as she saw Shane walking towards the cars with Rick. She swung her legs over to the side of her car, brushing Daryl's hands before he yanked them away, as she stood up. She walked around to join the group to see what they had to say with Daryl following her.

"All right, everybody listen up. Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Shane said as he looked around at everybody.

"We're, uh- We're not going." Morales said as he stood next to his wife and two children.

Everyone looked at them for a second before Morales' wife spoke up.

"We have family in Birmingham." Miranda said. "We wanna be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane said as he looked at the family.

"We'll take that chance. I gotta do what's best for my family." Morales said.

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"We talked about it. We're sure."

"All right. Shane." Rick said as he knelt down next to the bag of guns.

"Yeah, all right." Shane said. ".357?"

"Yeah." Rick answered him as he pulled out a gun. Shane grabbed a box of ammo. Daryl stopped chewing on his thumb as he looked at what the two men were doing. Rick walked up to Morales with his hand open, a gun laying on it. Shane walked up beside him with a box of bullets.

Morales took the gun from Rick as Shane held out the green box. "The box is half full." He said as he handed it over. Daryl let a frustrated breath out of his mouth and looked at Kat, who was next to him, before turning in a circle. He shook his head as he faced the group again and brought his thumb back up to his lips. Lori hopped down from the hood of the car she was on and walked over to say her goodbyes.

"Thank you all...for everything." Miranda said.

"Come here." Lori brought her in for a hug as Miranda started to cry.

"Good luck, man." Shane said to Morales as he shook the man's hand. Lori kissed the heads of Morales' son and daughter before they went to say their goodbyes to the other children they had become fast friends with.

"Bye," Eliza said to Sophia giving her a hug. Sophia started crying as she put her arms around her little friend.

"Thank you." Miranda said as Jacqui hugged her.

Eliza pulled away from Sophia. She said bye to her again and held out her doll. Sophia took it and held it to her chest as the little girl walked to her father.

"Channel 40 if you change your minds." Rick said, shaking Morales hand. "All right?"

"Yeah."

The four started walking to their car as Sophia came up to her mother's side. "I know." Carol said as she pulled her daughter in for a hug. Tears coming down her own face as well. Daryl watched them walk off, with another of their guns. He wasn't happy when Rick handed over some of their fire power to the vatos in the city and wasn't happy now either.

"What makes you think our odds are any better?" Shane said. "Come on. Let's go. Let's move out." He said louder, making everyone start for their vehicles.

They all drove down the gravel path that led to the main road, Morales in the lead. He waved his hand out the window as he turned to the right. The RV who was next in the caravan, turned to the left, leading the rest of the group away. Glenn was sitting in the passenger seat of the RV next to Dale, with a map in his hands. They decided to take back roads, around the city, to get near the CDC. It would take a good part of the day but they knew there would be no way they'd be able to fit all of their cars through the streets of Atlanta or the streets closer to the city. So they drove. For hours.

It was late in the afternoon when Dale hit his horn and pulled the RV off to the side of the road, causing all of the cars behind him to do the same. The engine was overheating again, as if the smoke billowing from the front of the RV wasn't proof enough.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose." Dale said as he was standing in front of the hissing RV with Rick. "I said I needed the one from the cube van."

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked him.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose...And I'm out of duct tape." Dale said as everyone gathered towards the front of the RV.

"I see somethin up ahead." Shane said at the front of the group. He had his binoculars in his hand up to his eyes. "A gas station if we're lucky."

T-Dog walked up to him, holding his hands out for the binoculars.

"Y'all, Jim- it's bad." Jacqui said as she rushed out of the RV and over to Rick. "I don't think he can take anymore."

"Hey, Rick, you wanna hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." Shane looked over to him.

"Yeah, I"ll come along too and I'll back you up." T-Dog said as he looked through the binoculars.

Rick nodded at him once before turning around towards the door of the RV. Daryl had leaned in through the door to look inside, making sure Jim wasn't clawing through the window trying to eat any of the group members yet. He stepped off the steps to let Rick inside as the man got closer. Rick took off his hat before he stepped up to the door.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back." Shane said as he and T-Dog walked to his Jeep and got inside. They started down the road to the gas station. Daryl walked towards his truck to get out his crossbow until they were moving again.

"We'll be back on the road soon." Rick said as he came up to a pale-faced Jim. The man had bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for days.

"Oh no. Christ. My bones- my bones are like glass. Every little bump. God, this ride's killin me...Leave me here." Jim said to him, nodding towards the window as he tried to breath normally. "I'm done...Just leave me...I wanna be with my family."

Rick knelt down next to him. "They're all dead...I don't think you know what you're asking. The fever- you've been delirious more often than not."

"I know. Don't you think I know?" Jim groaned as he tried to sit up. "I'm clear now. In five minutes I may not be. Rick, I know what I'm asking. I want this. Leave me here. Now that's on me. Okay? My decision. Not your failure."

Rick looked at him for a few seconds before standing up. He nodded his head before he went outside and waited for Shane and T-Dog to get back.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's what he says he wants." Rick said, standing in front of everyone. Shane and T-Dog hadn't found a hose for the RV, but they'd found Dale some more duct tape...

"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.

"He seems to be." Rick said as he messed with his hat that was still in his hands. "I would say yes."

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer." Dale said, looking around at everyone.

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Shane said, looking to his friend.

"It's not your call, either one of you." Lori said to the two men in front of her. They stood in silence for a few seconds before Rick looked at Shane. He gave him a brief nod as the two walked into the RV.

"Yeah. That's it." Rick said as he and Shane gently helped Jim sit back under a tree a few yards away from the cars.

Jim was breathing heavy and groaning from the pain of being moved, but let out a relieved sigh as he leaned back against the tree. Shane stepped over him and came to kneel down at his side.

"Hey, another damn tree." Jim looked above him then smiled towards Shane, who let out a little laugh.

The smile fell from Shane's face as he leaned forward. "Hey, Jim- I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this." He said, putting his hand on Jim's knee.

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice."

"Okay. All right." Shane stood up, wiping the sweat from his mouth with his arm as he backed away from the man.

Jacqui came up next and knelt down next to him. She gave him a sad smile. "Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight." She said, Jim closed his eyes. She put her head on his neck and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek before she got up and walked back towards the RV.

Rick was next to walk up and kneel next to the dying man. "Jim, do you want this?" He asked as he held out a small handgun.

"No. You'll need it...I'm okay." He said. Rick stood up, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm okay."

Dale came up next and put his hand on the man's knee. "Hey." He smiled down at him. "Thanks for, uh- for fighting for us."

"Okay." Jim said as he struggled to keep his breathing normal.

Glenn nodded to the man as everyone started walking back to their vehicles. Leaving only Daryl behind, crossbow in hand. He looked up at Jim, who gave him a small closed mouth smile, and took a few steps forward. Daryl gave him a nod, and walked off towards his truck. He wasn't going to be a danger to the group anymore. To Kat. If they just left him here. Kat, seeing the exchange let out a breath she was holding. She really didn't want another fight to erupt when Daryl shot the poor man in the head with his Horton.

Jim smiled as he watched the group making their way to their cars. He looked up at the sky through the tree branches and stared at the sun. He closed his eyes as he heard car doors opening and closing and engines starting.

Everyone looked out the windows of the cars toward the mechanic that had once been a valued group member as they drove away.



WILDFIRE MSB3417 ACTIVE

BEGIN TRANSMISSION

Dr. Edwin Jenner saw on the screen in front of him as he started to record another entry for his log.

"Jenner here. It's day 194 since Wildfire was declared and 63 days since the disease abruptly went global. There's no clinical progress to report." He said staring at the camera. He grabbed his notepad and flipped through a few pages of what he wanted to talk about in this recording before setting it down. "Item- I finally got the scrubbers in the east sector shut down to save power. Wish I coulda done it a month ago, but it took me that long to figure it out. Too bad I never studied engineering. Coulda saved a lot of amps." He said as he picked up his coffee mug. "Item- I'm still not sleeping well. Can't seem to keep regular hours. Living underground doesn't help, not knowing if it's day or night. I'm just feeling very off-kilter these days." He stared into the camera until he hit the 'End Recording' button.

WILDFIRE MSB3417 ACTIVE

END TRANSMISSION

The door leading to the decontamination room beeped as he stepped through and into the lab in his hazmat suit. He had turned his classical music on that he normally worked to. It helped him concentrate.

He hadn't made any progress on finding out what had caused this disease or how to stop it. The first thing everyone thought and the calls being sent to them were to check the T and G-Virus samples that they and every other CDC had knowledge and samples of. But when they had tried the anti-virus to either of them on an infected person, they did nothing. Later, when he had compared samples of tissue from Wildfire, to tissue infected with the T or G-Virus, nothing looked the same. The cells weren't similar. How it effected the brain and body were different. It didn't match up with either one of them. Leading cause to believe that this was something else entirely. But what?

Jenner walked around the lab, switching on equipment as he walked to the freezer that held the last parts of the samples he had been working on. He cut the bag labeled TS-19 open and laid the slab of muscular tissue in a petri dish. He used his small scissors to cut a small piece off and picked it up with his tweezers as he placed it into a small test tube. He grabbed the pipet he had laying on the counter and pushed it into a cylinder of yellow liquid. He pushed on the pipet and released it, drawing the fluid up into the device. It was a mixture of both the T and G anti-virus he had made on a whim. He swirled the solution around in the test tube with the tissue as it fizzed.

He placed the test tube into a centrifuge which would separate the substances as it dissolved. He sat there waiting for it to be done with it's cycle, dozing off, before the buzzer started sounding, letting him know it was done. He opened the centrifuge and took the test tube out. Opening it up, he took a small stirring rod and dipped it into the test tube, getting a small amount of the liquefied tissue on the end of the rod. He rubbed it onto a glass slide before putting it under a microscope and peered into the lens. He looked at the magnified cells as they did they same thing they did before. They combined, turning black before separating, but not reversing it in any way. If anything, it made it worse. He leaned over to grab his notepad when he knocked the vial of anti-virus mixture onto the petri dish of tissue. It immediately fizzed up, over flowing onto the drainage counter, causing alarms to go off in the lab. Jenner brought his gloved hand over to the sample and tried to wipe the anti-virus off of his last sample. He looked at his glove as the solution started to eat away at it. He quickly tore it off, revealing the thinner glove underneath. It was eating through that one as well.

An female's automated voice came over the speaker in the room, over the sounds of the alarm. "Alert status. Air qualifiers indicate corrosive fumes." The voice said as Jenner hurried toward the decontamination chamber. "All personnel must clear the room." He pulled the lever outside the door that showered him with the phase 1 fluid of the decontamination process. He spun around letting it fall over his suit as the voice continued. "Corrosive element is deemed poisonous if inhaled." After the first phase was done, the door opened, allowing him into the actual decontamination chamber. As soon as the door shut and sealed behind him, he began taking off his suit while he was sprayed with the phase 2 solution from all sides. He stripped off his shirt as he let the watery liquid flow down his body as he stretched his arms out.

"All personnel clear. Full decontamination in effect." The automated voice said.

At the words, Jenner opened his eyes and his head snapped up. "No!" He yelled as he spun around in time to see the entire lab room he was just in burst into flames. He put his hands to either side of the glass as he looked into the room. All of the samples of Wildfire, the T and G-Virus, along with their anti-virus. Gone.

"Full decontamination complete." The voice said. Jenner put his head against the glass.

WILDFIRE MSB3418 ACTIVE

BEGIN TRANSMISSION

Jenner took a drink of wine from the glass he had in front of him as he started his recording. "The T and G virus samples are no more. Along with the anti virus." He said, taking another gulp as he looked down. He stared at the keyboard before looking back up at the camera. "The TS-19 samples are gone. The tragedy of their loss cannot be overstated. They were our freshest samples by far." He said, finishing his glass. "None of the other samples we gathered even came close...Those are necrotic, useless dead flesh...I don't even know why I'm talking to you...I bet there isn't a single son of a bitch out there still listening, is there?...Is there?" He stared into the camera a few more seconds before going to stand up. "Fine. Saves me the embarrassment." He came to his full height, putting his hands on his hips. "I think tomorrow I'm gonna blow my brains out." He said. He shrugged. "I haven't decided...But tonight, I'm gettin drunk." He said, leaning towards the camera as he picked up the wine bottle and his glass. He emptied what was left of the bottle into his empty cup. "Speaking of which, how far do you think I can chuck this, huh? Pretty far I bet." He said as he brought his arm back and sent the empty wine bottle flying. He was met with the sounds of glass shattering seconds later. "Oh! It is out of the stadium!" He said raising his arms, stumbling a bit. He walked back to the computer and hit the 'End Recording' button.

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It was late in the evening when the survivor's caravan pulled up outside the CDC. The sun was going down quickly and they wanted to get off the streets as soon as they could. They weren't able to drive all the way up to the building due to the road blocks that were set up, so they parked on the street that led up to the building. As they got out of their cars one by one, with most of them carrying their weapons, they looked towards the scene laid out in front of them.

The whole day. An entire day is what it had taken to get them to where they were. After they had left the back roads, they had to keep stopping and turning around to find alternate paths that would fit all of their cars through Atlanta as they drove into the city more. The cars people had abandoned were jam packed on every street, but they finally managed to pull through when they stopped at the street near the building they were on now. They thought the military would've protected this place with everything they had. But there were bodies all over. Flies buzzing around everywhere you stepped. The smell was almost unbearable. That scent of something rotting and decomposing. Death. That sickening smell that stayed in your nose for hours. Once you smelled it once, you never forgot it.

The military had been set up here at one time, but it didn't look like that helped much. There were 'Road Closed' signs and sand bags piled on the corners of the entry road to the building, where soldiers must've been stationed. Rick walked in front of the group with a shotgun to his shoulder. The people with weapons formed a perimeter around the people in the middle as they made their way closer to the building. Most of the group were coughing as they walked, putting their hands to their noses to try and mask the smell, as they stepped around and over all the dead bodies.

"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on." Shane whispered loud enough for the group to hear him. "Stay quiet. Let's go."

They all walked forward, around a large sign blocking the entry road that said "STOP; MILITARY CHECKPOINT." Lot of good that did. Kat thought as she passed it. She worked her way in front of Daryl, who was holding his crossbow in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

They all continued down the street, groaning and mumbling at the smell as they walked further into it.

"Keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on." Rick said.

"Shh. Jeez." Shane quieted him as he looked around. The closer they got to the building, more into the military zone, the more bodies there were lying on the ground. There was an armored truck and a tank sitting in the road up to the CDC and two more up at the entrance.

"Carol." Lori said as she reached for the woman behind her when she stopped to look around.

"Shh." Rick said as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh, God." Glenn said as he looked around. They could see bodies all the way up to the closed, metal shutters of the CDC. The group made their way towards the main entrance.

Inside the CDC, Jenner heard a small alarm beeping. Letting him know there was movement being detected towards the front of the building. He turned around to look at the screen as it brought up the area in question. The feed to the camera above the entrance popped up and he could see a group of people walking up to the doors.

"No." He said, not believing what he was seeing.

"Keep it together. Come on." Rick said as they got closer to the doors.

"We're almost there, baby." Lori said to Carl, who had a hold of his mother's hand with one of his and the other over his mouth and nose. "Almost there."

Rick and Shane both reached out and shook the shutters that were over the doors, causing them to rattle.

"Nothin?" Shane asked, putting his back against the shutter and bending down a bit, trying to push it up. It wouldn't budge. He turned around and pounded on the shutter.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog said.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick said, looking back at him.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, causing everyone to turn around.

"Baby, come on." Lori said as she pushed Carl behind her as the kids started whimpering.

Everyone with a weapon cocked their guns and moved a few steps forward but didn't dare fire a shot. They would be ringing a dinner bell.

Daryl took a few steps and aimed his crossbow at the one that was slowly coming towards them across the path to the CDC. He pulled the trigger, hitting it right in the forehead. "You led us into a graveyard!" He yelled as he turned around and walked back over towards Rick.

"Shhh!" Shane said as he walked back towards Rick as well.

"He made a call." Dale said, looking at Daryl.

Daryl scooted between Glenn and Kat and around Andrea, trying to get closer to Rick. "It was the wrong damn call!" He said, reaching Rick the same time Shane did.

"Just shut up. You hear me?" Shane said coming right up to Daryl, hitting him in the chest and pushing him back.. "Shut up. Shut up!" He pointed at him before turning around. "Rick, this is a dead end."

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol said as she held onto Sophia.

"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane said, turning back to the group of people who were now panicking.

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori said, looking around.

"Fort Benning, Rick- still an option." Shane said.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles." Andrea said, stepping closer to the men.

"125. I checked the map." Glenn said.

"Glenn, you're not helping the case." Kat said before she spun around, hearing Daryl cock his shotgun.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now!" Lori said as Carl started sobbing.

"We'll think of something." Rick said as he raised his hand, trying to calm everyone down.

"Come on, let's go." Glenn said.

"Let's get out of here." T-Dog joined in as the people started turning around.

"Let's go. Please." Glenn looked at Rick, who didn't move from in front of the shutter.

"All right, everybody, back to the cars. Let's go. Move." Shane said as he started rounding people up. Rick looked to the camera above the door when it made a whirring sound.

"The camera- it moved!" Rick said, not looking away from it.

"You imagined it." Dale said, looking back to the man then towards the camera, making everyone's eyes follow.

"It moved." Rick said, almost to himself, as he stepped closer. "It moved." He repeated as Shane walked up to him.

Jenner watched as the man in a cop's hat and uniform stepped even closer to the camera he had just panned over to the group.

"Rick, it's dead, man. It's an automated device, man. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." Shane said as he grabbed Rick by his arm and started to drag him away.

"No, just go away." Jenner said as he looked at the screen.

"Man, just listen to me." Shane said as Rick started fighting to pull away. "Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick." Shane said as he pushed back against his friend. Rick pushed him back and made his way around him. He walked back to the shutter below the camera and started banging on it. Causing it to rattle loudly.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori yelled.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick said as he looked up to the camera. Shane had come up to his side again, he grabbed Rick's arm, only to be shaken off.

"Get back to the cars now! Go!" Shane yelled to the others as he turned around to face them before turning to Rick again.

"Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." He held his arm out towards the camera as Lori ran up to him and stood in front of him. She put her hand on his chest.

"Rick. There's nobody here." She said. He didn't look at her.

"We have nowhere else to go." He said as he pushed around Lori and started banging on the shutter again.

"Keep your eyes open." Shane said to everyone as he was greeted with a chorus of let's go's and come on's. He turned around and walked back over to Rick and Lori.

"If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!" Rick yelled as he continued to bang on the shutter.

Shane grabbed Lori's arm and pushed her behind him in the direction the group was. "Come on, buddy, let's go." He said as he wrapped his free arm around Rick's chest in an attempt to drag him away again. "Let's go."

"Please help us." Rick said as everyone started shouting again as Shane pulled him away. "You're killing us! You're killing us!" He yelled at the camera as Shane dragged him back. "You're killing us!" He yelled one more time before Shane spun him around and let go, sending him in the direction of the cars. Rick stumbled trying to get his balance as he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around and looked at the shutter that was now being opened. Everyone lowered their weapons and stared at it as a blinding, white light lit up the area in front of them, now darkened by the night sky.