Ever the Survivor

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"Daryl?" Kat said as she holstered her gun. She almost thought she was hallucinating. She was sure a lot of people had come here for the refugee camp, but she still couldn't believe she was staring at him. He had on what looked like a long sleeved thermal shirt but he had cut the sleeves off, making a tank top. She didn't blame him. She was sweating out here too. She couldn't tell if his shirt was tan because of the sweat and dirt he was covered in or if that was just the color it was. He had on a pair of loose fitting jeans and a crossbow slung across his back, a rope with squirrels on it over his left shoulder.

"What're ya doin way out here?"

"Atlanta." Kat said, turning around and bending over to pick up the water jug she'd dropped when Daryl came up behind her.

"That turned to shit." Daryl said, looking down so he wouldn't stare. He started playing with the strap to his Horton that was across his chest.

"Yeah, I found that out." Kat said, she knelt down, filling the jug up the rest of the way.

"The hell's all that?" Daryl said coming closer, looking at all the weapons she had on her. Failing at trying not to look at her bent over in front of him again. But the two curved blades that were hanging off a belt on her lower back, he didn't think he'd ever seen anything like them before from the looks of the sheaths they were in.

Kat sighed and stood up. "Walk me back to my camp. I'll tell you on the way. You aren't the only person that's found out what I really used to do lately."

"Ya by yourself?" Daryl asked. He remembered her brothers.

"No. They boys are at the campsite."

That made him feel better. He didn't like the thought of her being alone...Even though she looked capable with all the weapons she had. And the stories she told him on the way back made him believe that even more. Kat thought she'd scare him off but he only asked her more questions. She answered the ones she could and asked a few of her own. He told her about the group he had come across after they found out Atlanta had fallen. She could tell by the way he talked about them he didn't care much for them. But Merle was there. She kind of looked forward to his sexual harassment when she had come to the bar on the weekends. She knew it was all in good fun.

Daryl had forgotten all about the deer he had been tracking on the way back to her camp. He'd pick up it's trail later. Right now he was thinking about how close he finally was to her. He could hardly believe she was right next to him. Their arms kept brushing every so often as they walked. She had slipped into his dreams and thoughts more than once over the last few weeks.

"Daryl!" Sam yelled as he and Kat came out of the treeline. The younger boys got up from around the fire and started walking over to the two.

"Holy shit, man. I never thought I'd see someone I recognized again." Dylan said, wiping his hands on his pants. He had just finished taking all the tents down and packing them up.

"You guys leavin?" Daryl asked.

"Planned on it. We wanted to get away from here. Kat took out two of those things right around here a little bit ago." Dylan said. Daryl looked down at Kat. She was handing the jugs of water to the two youngest boys. Kaleb and Blake. He remembered their names, but couldn't tell them apart. They looked similar.

"Know where you're headin?" Daryl asked, looking back at Dylan. He just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Well, shit. Would've left with you guys after we went and got Merle. Why don't ya come back to where we are?"

"That sounds like a better idea. Daryl's with a larger group. More eyes could mean more protection." Kat said, looking between her brother and Daryl. She had just found him again, she didn't really want him to go away. Daryl knew that the cop who thought he was in charge might not like him bringing back 5 other people to look out for. But he didn't care. He wasn't going to leave them out here and never see her again. Hell, if he wanted them to leave, him and Merle would pack up and walk away with them. Let those people starve to death. Kat looked like her and her brothers had been doing good out here by themselves. They all looked fed and none of them were hurt. He knew he could take care of himself out in the woods without help. They'd be fine. He entertained that idea for awhile while the boys started boiling the water.

They all sat around the fire for a bit talking about what happened with one another after this had started. Daryl enjoyed sitting down for awhile. He woke up in a tree this morning since he decided to stay out hunting the day before. He told them about a hunting trip his father, uncle and himself were on the day it happened. Then having to go find Merle in a town near Ellijay. How Merle had sprang himself out of jail and was 'terrorizing the village'. They'd eventually made their way to Atlanta and found themselves in the same trap Kat and Dylan had almost walked into. He asked Kat if she knew how this started and why her people hadn't been around. She just shook her head. Saying his guess was as good as hers.

It was around noon when they loaded the water and tents into the back of Kat's car. They stood around, deciding what they would do. Over the weeks they had used a lot of their supplies they had brought with them. So everything was easily packed into the trunk of Kat's Avenger. They decided they would leave the Optima behind, so they siphoned the gas out of it's tank and put it into Kat's car. Daryl had showed Dylan on one of his maps where the camp was, telling him to drive the younger boys there and once they got there to tell the people they were friends of his. Because Kat was going with him to track down that deer. He told her he would just meet them there, but she insisted on going with him. He didn't fight her at all. He kind of wanted her to come along with him. On that, they parted ways.

He and Kat spoke in hushed voices every now and then. But she let him concentrate on the trail he was on, which he appreciated. He could've done it even with her talking to him, but he honestly didn't know what to talk about now. This wasn't a fun night out at the bar where they could ask each other how their week had gone or what they had done the day before. 'So what's the coolest zombie kill you've done lately?' didn't seem that appropriate either. He got the feeling she didn't really want to talk about her job anymore than she already had with him so he didn't ask anything else about it. Even though he was really curious. He could see why she was good at it though. She paid attention to everything around her, always looking ready to pounce if she needed to. This Kat looked nothing like the fun, care free girl he'd seen at the bar or the Robertson's store. She looked fierce. And he liked it. He had to keep glancing behind him every now and then to make sure she was still behind him. She was so quiet.

"'S headin in the direction of camp. Should be comin up on it soon." Daryl said when he glanced behind him again. She had her combat knife in her right hand at her side and nodded at him.

After a few minutes, they came to a steep hill that would lead them back to the campsite. Kat and Daryl both carefully made their way down the hill. Grabbing onto the thin tree trunks to help hold themselves upright on the way down. No longer being quiet with the noise they were causing trying not to tumble down the steep hill. With the rustling of leaves and twigs breaking, they made their way to the bottom. They carefully walked towards the tree line and out from behind the rocky outcrop into a small open area. Kat almost stumbled into Daryl as he quickly stopped in front of her. He must've been startled at seeing a gun trained on him for a minute. There was a group of 6 men with weapons pointed at them. She went to reach for her gun before she saw them lower their weapons at the sight of Daryl.

"Oh, Jesus." A man with a brown police cap said as he lowered his shotgun. This must've been the group he was with. She looked around quickly, taking in everything in front of her. She could see a decapitated body of what used to be a person and a dead deer with arrows sticking out of it. They looked like the one Daryl had loaded in his crossbow, so she felt it was safe to assume this was the deer he had been tracking. As they all lowered their weapons, Kat let her hand with her knife fall back to her side, still gripping the handle as she looked over the faces in front of her. Her eyes landed on one in particular that looked familiar in her workings with Leon.

"Rick?" Kat said. He had been a Sheriff in King County, Georgia.

"Agent Carsen." The cop said. Everyone looked between the two for a minute. Leon and Kat had come to the King County Sheriff's Department before to follow up on a nearby abandoned building a company had recently bought. Rick didn't know what Kat and Leon actually did. But the two agents knew of the company and wanted to know if the sheriff had any information or reports on what had been going on at the building. They just told him they were a suspected terrorist group, but didn't go into the details of what kind. Rick, Leon and Kat had only seen each other twice, months and months ago, but Rick had been very helpful towards the two agents. The reunion was interrupted as Daryl finally realized his deer had just been feasted on by the zombie on the ground.

"Son of a bitch." He said making his way into the clearing with Kat behind him. "That's my deer!"

The men in front of them backed away from the two, giving them more room in the small open area.

"Who's this Daryl?" A old man in a bucket hat said, looking to the pretty girl following the resident redneck.

"Look at it, all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl said, kicking the zombie's torso multiple times, completely ignoring the old man's question. Kat raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips tightly together. She almost wanted to let out a little laugh at Daryl's behavior. She couldn't blame him though. He said he'd been after this deer since yesterday.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." The old man said, looking at the decapitated body Daryl had just let out a little frustration on. But he wasn't done. He walked over, getting right into the old man's face. Leaving Kat a few feet behind him.

"What do you know about it old man?" Daryl said. The man in the police cap held the butt of the shotgun up between the two, trying to separate them. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?"

"Daryl." Kat said. He turned around and backed away from the man. Stalking over to retrieve his arrows that were sticking out of the fallen deer's body, he let out a sigh.

"I've been trackin this deer for miles. Was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." Daryl said between pulling out the bolts. Kat noticed the guy with the shotgun raise his eyebrows and nod to Rick, who had a confused look on his face. He continued glancing back and forth between him and the dirt covered, crossbow wielding man in front of him. Had he not met Daryl yet or something?

"Whatta ya think, think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl looked at the men, circling the part of the deer the zombie had eaten off of with the crossbow bolts in his hand.

"I would not risk that." The man with the shotgun said. Lazily hanging his arms over the gun he now had perched over the back of his shoulders.

Daryl let out another frustrated sigh. "That's a damn shame...I got some squirrel. About a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He said, grabbing the squirrel rope he had over his shoulder and tugging on it. They all looked around at each other but their attention was brought to the zombie head on the floor as it starting snapping it's jaws together.

"Oh God." A young blond girl in the background had said with a look of disgust on her face as she turned and walked away with an older blond woman.

Daryl raised his crossbow and took a few steps over to the head. "Come on, people. What the hell?" He said as he took aim and let the bolt fly. Sending it downward, right into the head's eye socket. He stepped forward, grabbing hold of the end of the bolt and resting his foot on the zombie's forehead. It gave himself a little leverage to pull the bolt out. "It's gotta be the brain." He said as he started walking in the direction of camp. "Don't y'all know nothin?"

Rick brought his eyebrows together as Daryl passed him. They all looked in the direction of the hunter before they started walking.

"I'm Kat." She had said, walking next to the old man as the group followed Daryl into camp. "I'm, uh. I'm a friend of Daryl's." He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He said to her with a small smile. Causing her to let out a little laugh. They must've seen a lot of the Daryl Kat had just witnessed.

"If you're Kat, your brothers are here, safe and sound. They got here a little bit ago." One of the men said. He was a young Asian kid with a baseball cap on. Kat nodded and let out a sigh.

The camp came into view a few seconds later. Kat could see her car parked behind a red Dodge Challenger, next to a motorcycle she recognized as Merle's. Next to the Challenger was a Jeep, in front of it, an RV. The group fanned out a little more as the camp opened up. Kat started walking to her brothers who were standing by her car. The people at the camp were looking at the new arrival and throwing weird looks at Daryl. What was with everyone? He couldn't be that horrible.

"Merle!" Daryl yelled, walking past his brother's motorcycle and looking around. "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew em up." He said. Setting his crossbow down on a pile of fire wood. He started walking away when the man with the shotgun stopped him.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." He said, putting the shotgun and his hat into the Jeep. Daryl slowed down and turned around. Giving one last once over around the camp, looking for his brother. Must be takin a piss somewhere.

"About what?" Daryl said looking at the man, who was now walking towards him rubbing his mouth with his hand. Daryl took the rope the squirrels were hanging from off his shoulder and let them hang from his hand as he came to a complete stop.

"About Merle." The man said. Kat's face fell. She looked around at the people. All of them giving Daryl the same looks they were giving him before, but she understood them a little more now. Something had happened. "There was a, uh, problem in Atlanta." The man said.

Daryl looked around at everybody. Finally noticing them all staring at him. He looked at the ground before looking back to the man. He started pacing.

"He dead?" Daryl asked.

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl raised his voice taking a step towards Shotgun Guy. Kat took a few steps away from her car, towards the scene that was unfolding. That was when Rick stepped forward.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said, walking up to the two men.

"Who are you?" Daryl looked at Rick. So he must be new to the group too. Kat thought as Rick came to stop a few steps to Daryl's side.

"Rick Grimes." The sheriff answered him.

"Rick Grimes." Daryl said sarcastically. "You got something you wanna tell me?" He looked like his temper was about to explode. Kat had a feeling this was going to be a little bigger than the zombie kicking fit he had just thrown a minute ago.

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick said, looking Daryl right in the eyes. Kat admired the man's honesty, even though he was about to get his head bit off. She sheathed her knife and snapped the button to hold it in place. This ought to be good.

Daryl turned around. Kat could see him bring his hand up to his face but couldn't see what he was doing since his back was to her. He walked a few steps away from Rick. "Hold on. Let me process this." He made a gesture to his head with his hand as he turned around to face the two men. When he turned back around Kat could see he was dancing on a line between upset and angry. He must've brought his hand to his eyes to wipe at them. "You're sayin you handcuffed my brother to a roof. And you left him there?!" He yelled to Rick. Who looked at the ground in front of him then to Kat, who was a few feet away from the RV now, with her brothers next to her.

"Yeah." He answered. Daryl's face twisted in anger as he took a couple steps back. He took the rope of squirrels in his hand and threw them in Rick's direction, causing the sheriff to duck. Daryl lunged at him, but before he could make contact, Shotgun Man plowed into Daryl's side, shoulder first, sending him to the ground. Oh shit. Kat thought, stepping towards Daryl, who was now on his back a few steps from her on the ground.

"Hey!" A black man yelled, dropping a load of fire wood he'd been carrying. He rushed towards the 3 men. Daryl grabbed his hunting knife from the sheath Kat had helped him pick out over a month ago.

"Watch the knife." Kat heard one of the men say. She went to grab Daryl to stop him, but instead stopped herself. As much as she liked Rick, she'd be reacting the same way if it had been one of her brothers, so she let Daryl have at it for a minute. She'd stop him before he killed someone if she needed to. Daryl quickly got to his feet and swung his knife at Rick with a shout. Rick dodged it and took hold of his arm, pushing him back towards Shotgun Man. Daryl grunted as he tried to push Rick off. Shotgun took ahold of Daryl's shoulders getting ready to put him in a chokehold, as Rick disarmed him.

"Okay, okay." Shotgun Man said, trying to calm him down, one arm wrapped tightly around Daryl's neck, the other holding his head in place. Daryl's hand's flew up to the man's arms, trying to pull him off, causing Kat's own anger to spike.

"Hey!" She yelled, stepping further towards them. A few people in the camp looked at her, wondering what a 5 foot tall, petite girl like her was going to do in a fight with 3 grown men. Dylan put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a tug back towards him. He was more scared for the guy that had Daryl in a chokehold than he was about his sister. Rick leaned down and picked up Daryl's Busse TG, putting it in his own back pocket for now.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl managed to yell.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." The man said. The hold he had around his neck, forced Daryl to sit on the ground, grunting and fighting the whole way.

"Chokehold's illegal." Daryl said.

"Yeah, you can file a complaint." Shotgun said, holding Daryl's head in place. "Come on man. We'll keep this up all day." Who the fuck does this guy think he is? Kat thought shaking Dylan's hand off. Rick stepped forward and kneeled down in front of Daryl, who was breathing heavy now.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. You think we can manage that?" Rick said, looking at Daryl who didn't even look at him. "Do you think we can manage that?" Rick repeated, getting closer. Daryl didn't give a yes or a no, but he wasn't fighting anymore. Rick looked up at his friend and nodded his head. Rick got up from his kneeling position. Shotgun jerked Daryl's head a little and threw him to the ground. Daryl propped himself up, putting an arm behind him. He brought his other arm up and pointed a finger at Shotgun who took a few steps back towards his Jeep. Daryl scooted himself away from the two of them. But Rick came forward, returning to his kneeling position next to the younger Dixon on the ground. Kat walked towards Daryl, pushing past Shotgun, purposely shoving him with her shoulder as she passed him.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick said to Daryl, who was trying to catch his breath. He had lowered his other arm that was pointing at Shotgun when Kat had pushed him out of the way. He put both hands on the ground to his side, holding himself up. "Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick continued. Daryl was looking at the dirt in front of him.

"It's not Rick's fault." The black man said, pulling their attention to him as Kat came up to stand behind Daryl. He looked behind himself at her before turning back to the black man. "I had the key. I dropped it." He finished.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl said at him.

"Well I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl scoffed and looked to the ground beneath him. He was losing it again. He brought himself up on his hands and knees. Rick stood up and backed away. Kat grabbed ahold of Daryl's upper arm to help haul him up. He flinched a little at the contact at first, but relaxed when he realized it was her. Kat released him as soon as he was on his feet and he started walking towards the black man. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl said. He had a fist full of dirt from the ground in his hand and threw it at his feet as he came forward.

"Maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock." The black man said. Daryl stopped a few steps from him. Shotgun and Rick stepped closer. Afraid he would lash out again.

"That's gotta count for something." Rick said from behind Daryl, causing him to turn and look at him, before turning back to the black man. Daryl brought his hand up to wipe at his eyes again.

"Hell with all y'all!" He yelled, making a swinging motion towards the 3 men. "Just tell me where he is. So's I can go get him." Daryl's voice cracked. Kat felt bad for him. Merle may not have been a likable guy sometimes, but he was still his big brother. Shotgun was rolling his eyes, making her want to go up and clock him in the mouth.

"He'll show you." A thin, pretty woman with long brown hair said. She was standing in the doorway to the RV, causing everyone to look at her. "Isn't that right?" She said, looking towards Rick, who was looking back at her. He looked around at everyone before nodding.

"I'm going back." Rick said. The woman turned and walked into the RV.

Daryl started walking away, towards one of the two areas they had set up for a fire. He leaned over, picking up his crossbow bolts and Horton he had set down a few minutes ago. Kat looked at Dylan and nodded towards the bag he had over his shoulder. He threw the bag she had her AR/Crossbow and bolts in, knowing what she meant. She was going with them. She caught it and walked over to Daryl, who sat down. Taking a seat next to him, she pulled it out of her bag and started loading the magazine for it with bullets. If they were going into Atlanta again and had no choice but to use it, she wanted it prepared just in case She had seen how many Undead there were in the city already.

Rick said they would leave in 20 and walked off towards his tent. Kat's brothers came up to her as Daryl kept eyeing her AR/Crossbow. The limbs were folded in so it just looked like an Assault Rifle to him, but the top of the barrel looked just like the top of his Horton. It had a groove that looked like it could hold a bolt and some sort of latch at the back that looked like it could hold a string. They sat there for a few minutes getting things around, talking every now and then. Kat was focusing on putting the bullets into the magazine, oblivious to the people looking at her. Eyeing the weapons she had on her. Probably wondering if someone as small as her could really do much damage with them.

"I'll go with you." Dylan said after awhile.

"No. You stay here, watch the boys. The less people we have with us, the better. At least, that's what I'd do. Too many people will draw too much attention." Kat said as she finished loading the magazine, putting it into the gun. She reached for her bag and pulled it to her, zipping it up. Daryl caught a glimpse inside and saw what looked like black bolts. What the hell is that thing?

"You're always going out by yourself." Dylan said.

"I won't be by myself." Kat looked at him.

"I got my eyes on her, Dylan." Daryl said. And boy, did he. Daryl stood up, looking around to make sure he had everything he thought he'd need to take with him. Rick still had his knife in his back pocket.

"Could you just tell me why?" She heard Shotgun say, who's name she learned to be Shane. Daryl had told her who several people were while they were sitting down. "Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

Kat looked up as Rick came up to her and Daryl, with Shane behind him.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl said, pointing the arrows he had in his hand at Shane.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane said looking at Daryl. Rick looked between the two men, before Shane turned his eyes back to his friend. "Merle Dixon," Shane said, "the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I, can't let a man die of thirst, me." Rick said as Shane shook his head. "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick walked away from Shane and closer to Kat and Daryl, who had sat back down next to Kat. He went back to cleaning off the arrows he had. Rick took Daryl's knife out of his back pocket and gave it back to the man.

"So you, Daryl and Kat, that's your big plan?" The skinny, brown haired woman asked. Lori, Rick's wife.

"She's more than capable. She's a Spec Ops Agent." Rick said. It was kind of the truth. Daryl looked at Kat, who looked back at him with a look on her face that said, just go with it. He felt a little privileged that he knew what she really was. He figured Rick would've known what she did if she knew him. They were both a sort of law enforcement if you looked at it like that. Didn't they share that kinda information with each other?

Rick turned and looked at Glen, the Asian kid with a baseball cap on.

"Oh, come on." Glen whined.

"You know the way. You've been there before, in and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Rick said. Glen took his hat off and ran his hand through his black hair before returning the cap to it's place. "It's not fair of me to ask, I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick said, looking back towards his wife.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk 3 of our men, huh?" Shane said.

"Four." T-Dog, the black man said.

Daryl scoffed. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" He said, wiping off his bolts with his head down, looking up at Kat through his eyelashes.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog said. Shane rubbed his eyes, annoyed at the turn this had taken and walked a few steps away.

"Why you?" Daryl said. Not even turning to look at the man.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." T-Dog said.

"That's four." Dale, the old man with the bucket hat on said.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk." Shane said, turning back around and looking at his friend. "Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp." Walker. Kat thought. She hadn't heard that one before. It had a ring to it. "They're movin out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need em here. We need em to protect camp."

"You've got 4 more 'able body' people. All of my brothers are one hell of a shot." Kat said, rolling her eyes at Shane. "There's your 4."

"Yeah and 3 of them are kids." Shane said looking at her, making the word 'kids' sound like the most horrible thing in the world.

"Yeah and I'd give the smallest one a medal for taking you down from 80 yards away. Because he could." Kat said, squinting at the man. Shane raised his eyebrows a bit at the tiny little girl sitting next to the redneck. Did she just threaten him? Daryl smirked a little, despite the situation. Talkin back to a man twice her size n not even blinkin an eye.

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick said to Shane, pulling his attention away from the new arrival.

"Right, the guns." Glen said, a look of realization coming over his face. Kat brought her eyebrows together.

"Wait, what guns?" Shane said, looking just as confused.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Rick said.

"Ammo?" Shane asked.

"700 rounds, assorted."

Shane took a breath and a step back. He looked a little less angry at the thought of that many guns and that much extra ammo.

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori said, looking at her husband.

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl, their son said, who was sitting next to his mother. Blake and Kaleb were sitting next to him around the second fire pit. Rick looked over to his wife.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Lori said. Shane ran his hand through his hair as Rick walked towards her, making her stand up. "Tell me. Make me understand." She said.

"I owe a debt, to a man I met and his little boy." Rick started. Lori looked like she was about to argue but he cut her off. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him." Lori just shook her head for a second, looking away.

"What's stopping you?" She asked him.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asked, sitting on the front bumper of his Jeep.

"Yeah."

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea, the older of the two blonds said.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap. Date back to the 70s, don't match any other bandwidth. Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane said. There was a pause as Lori understood what he was saying. There would be no other way for them to contact him. Rick looked at her just to clarify.

"I need that bag." He said to her. She sighed and looked away as he walked over to their son and kneeled down.

"Okay?" Rick said. Carl just nodded at his father, not saying anything. "All right." Rick said as he put his hand on Carl's head.

Everybody that was going started gathering up their stuff and piling into the back of a moving van they were using to drive back into the city with. Daryl hopped into the back of the van, Kat was behind him but turned to look at her brothers when she stopped at the back bumper of the van.

"Keep an eye on them. Help these people out if they need it." She said looking at Dylan. He looked at their 3 younger brothers and nodded.

"Stay safe." He said to her. She kneeled down to be eye level with her two youngest brothers.

"Remember what I said." Kat said to them. They both smiled a little.

"Aim for the head." Blake and Kaleb both said to her. She smiled and stood up. She messed up Sam's hair before standing up in front of Dylan again. She looked down and took her Beretta out of her holster to make sure it was fully loaded and had a round in the chamber. Dylan took the opportunity to look up at Daryl. He understood what he was asking and nodded to the younger man. He'd keep her safe.

"I'll be back." She said looking at Dylan, then to the 3 younger boys.

"We know." Kaleb said and smiled.

"Here." Blake said, stepping towards her, he was digging in his pocket for something. He pulled out his lucky rabbit foot keychain. It was from the first rabbit he had shot himself a few years ago. "It will keep you safe."

Kat took it from him with a little laugh. "Thanks buddy." She stuck the foot into her pack on her belt with her handgun clips. She smiled at her youngest brother.

"Blake, Kaleb!" Carl yelled, the two looked back at the boy before they both rushed to their sister, giving her quick hugs and I love yous before running in the direction of their new friend.

She shook her head and looked at Sam. "You help Dylan out, okay?" She said, he nodded.

"I'll make sure he doesn't screw anything up." Sam said pushing at his older brothers arm. Dylan just slung it around the younger boys shoulders as their sister turned around and looked up at Daryl. He put his hand out to help her up. She put her small hand in his as she put her foot on the bumper and he lifted her into the van. She was just as light as he remembered when he lifted her down from the bar that last night. And her hand was just as soft as it was the first time they learned each other's names. He wondered how it would feel on...STOP. He internally yelled at himself. Your brothers cuffed up on a roof somewhere in the city tryin not to be eaten alive. Don't even think like that right now. He shook his head as he let his hand fall. He walked over to the back of the moving truck, towards the front seats. She took a few steps away from the back as she watched her other brothers walk back towards the camp.

Rick and T-Dog had went to get tools from Dale to cut the padlock on the door Merle was behind and were taking their time talking. Daryl started pacing back and forth from the back of the van to the front, getting impatient. Kat just looked towards the men, leaning her back against the inside of the van with her hands behind her, holding onto the sheaths of her Ulaks. The conversation looked like it was coming to a close a few minutes later when Dale handed Rick the bolt cutters, but Daryl had run out of patience right that second. He reached one of his legs through the opening to the front of the van, over Glen's shoulder and planted his foot right on the steering wheel. Honking the horn a few times.

"Come on, let's go!" He yelled towards the men, turning around and walking to the open back of the van. He stood in front of Kat. A corner of her mouth pulled up and she shook her head. Rick and T-Dog made their way over to the truck. T-Dog climbed up into the back while Shane stopped Rick to talk to him. He gave his friend a few rounds he had for his gun after a small conversation, before Rick walked to the front of the van and got into the passenger's side. Daryl grabbed the handle and pulled down the hatch, shutting them in. The three in the back sat down as Glen started the van.

The drive to the city was mostly silent. Daryl was sitting in the corner behind Rick's seat facing the back of the van, T-Dog behind Glen's seat facing Daryl. And Kat was sitting a few feet in front of Daryl, her back to the wall. Daryl's feet were facing her but he was shooting glares at T-Dog every now and then.

"He'd better be okay. It's my only word on the matter." Daryl said raising his eyebrows at the man, after another dirty look. He was holding onto his crossbow that he had planted between his legs.

"I told you, the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog said to Daryl, who wiped some sweat off the corner of his mouth with a faded red handkerchief.

Kat could feel Glen stepping on the brakes and was greeted by the sounds of them squealing a bit as he pushed on them more. He brought the van to a stop before putting it in park and turning it off. Glen turned around to look at them. Well, Kat really. She was the only one he could see clearly from his angle. He could only see Daryl's legs and feet and couldn't even see T-Dog.

"We walk from here." He said. Rick opened his door as the 3 in the back stood up. Daryl lifted up the back hatch and hopped down. T-Dog followed close behind him and turned to help Kat as soon as he was on the ground. Earning another dirty look from Daryl, which neither of them noticed.

The 5 of them made their way over to a gate in the chain link fence around the train tracks they were parked at. They walked through the gate and continued down the tracks for a few minutes, before they followed Glen over to a hole in the fence. He had been using it to go in and out when he came for supply runs. He pulled the hole apart and held a side of the fence back as Rick climbed through, followed by Daryl, Kat, then T-Dog. Glen climbed through last.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick said as they climbed over the guard rail that was blocking the fence from the open area under the tall bridge that was above them.

"Merle! We ain't even havin this conversation." Daryl said, walking around Rick.

"We are." Rick said, looking at Daryl before turning behind him to Glen. "You know the geography. It's your call."

Glen came up beside Rick and started walking. "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." He said as they made their way to the department store. They wanted to make it quick and as quiet as they could.

There had been one Walker at the back entrance of the store they needed to be in. Kat quickly dispatched it when she took one of her throwing knives out of the sheath that was attached to her brown leather shoulder holster. The sheath holding the small blades sat just on top of her right shoulder. She had grabbed one and sent it flying right into the thing's head before it even knew they were there. The 4 men looked at her, impressed. It had to have been over 30 feet away. She quickly looked around making sure there were no more and she made her way to the downed Walker, the men right behind her. She bent over and pulled the small knife out of it's forehead. She wiped it off on her camo cargo pants and put it back in its sheath with the other 11 as Glen opened the door and peered in. There was nothing right inside so he opened the door, letting everyone inside. The 5 of them quietly moved around the store. Making their way to the back where the stairs were.

They were walking into a clothing area when Rick put up his hand, signaling the others to stop. He looked towards Daryl and pointed ahead of them at another Walker. Daryl held his Horton in front of him and stepped around Rick. He crouched down and quietly made his way closer to the zombie, who was making low, growling sounds.

"Damn." He said as he brought the stock of the crossbow to his shoulder and looked through the red dot laser sighted scope. "You are one ugly skank." Daryl pulled the trigger as the Walker saw him and started moaning louder. The arrow went right through it's forehead. As soon as it hit the ground they were moving again. Daryl stood over it and pulled his bolt from it as the others came around him. He flung the blood off of it towards the floor as he looked down at what used to be a woman. He looked up as Kat passed him and fell in step behind her.

Glen led them to the back and they threw the door to the stairs open, Rick looked in first making sure it was clear before making a beeline to the stairs. He ran in, followed by Glen, then Daryl, Kat, and T-Dog last. The 5 of them quickly made their way up the stairs. Whatever Walkers may have been in here before were long gone. The stairway was quiet.

They got to the top floor outside the roof and Rick grabbed at the padlock, giving it a shake, causing the chain around it to rattle. It was still secure. He looked behind him at T-Dog who had the bolt cutters. The man stepped forward, locking them down on the shackle and squeezing them together. With a snapping sound the lock broke. Rick grabbed the chain and quickly pulled it away from the door as everyone stepped back. Daryl kicked at the door, making it swing open.

"Merle!" He yelled as he ran through the open door, followed by the rest of them. "Merle!" He ran across the slightly raised catwalk to the other side of the roof. Kat was now behind Rick and T-Dog who were a few feet behind Daryl. Glen was behind her. Daryl jumped down the couple steps from the catwalk to the roof, but T-Dog and Rick stopped before the stairs. They all looked to where they had left the older Dixon as Daryl started screaming.

"No! No!" He shouted as he started pacing, not even bothering to hide his tears this time. Daryl turned and looked up at T-Dog, who didn't know what to say. He just looked back to the scene in front of them. Rick and Glen couldn't even look at him. Daryl was pacing once more and started yelling again. He just kept repeating the same thing over and over between sobs. "No". Kat pushed her way around Rick and T-Dog and stopped on the steps. She couldn't take her eyes off what she was seeing, either. The handcuffs were right where Rick must've left them, chained to the pipe. But where Merle had been sitting was an old, rusty hand saw, a pool of blood, and sitting next to it under the cuffs, a dismembered hand.