Ch 7

"Dale could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that

/look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us, the truth. Who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He

/said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feelin' sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives. Our safety, our future. We're not broken, we're gonna prove him wrong.

/From now on, we're gonna do it his way. This is how we honor Dale"

The group began to separate when Rick was done speaking for Dale. Sam looked over and saw that Sophia hadn't stopped crying. She had been since the previous night.

Sam's right hand twitched and he felt the nervous tick in his arm to grip the pistol that wasn't strapped to his hip. He looked up and saw Beth standing next to Maggie and her father. Jimmy was standing an awkward distance from them, but kept sneaking

/glances over.

Sam scoffed. The situation was a bit to "High School" for Sam. He had despised these situations when the world wasn't overrun with the Dead, but it seemed like even in the Apocalypse one couldn't escape them.

Beth looked up and Saw Sam staring. He quickly averted his eyes and looked back toward Dale's grave.

He heard her soft footsteps getting closer and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Hey" She said quietly

"Oh, hi Beth. You doing alright?" He asked, tilting his head up to look at her.

"I should be asking you that shouldn't I?"

Sam shrugged, and the two of them began walking away from the grave. "I suppose. I didn't know him much but I could tell he was a good man. A rarity nowadays.

She gave him a sympathetic smile and placed her hand on his arm. "I know it's probably gonna be a no but," she paused and looked down at her feet, "are we still goin' on that walk?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Sam promised her.

"After lunch?" He nodded. "Ok then! I'll see you then!"

Sam smiled as he watched her practically bounce away. He decided that he wouldn't mind very much, getting to know Beth Green.

"What are you doing?" Sam jumped at the voice. He turned and saw Maggie looking at him with a piercing stare.

"My God woman why are you sneaking up on me like that?"

"What are you doing with Beth?" She repeated.

"She asked in I wanted to go on a walk and I agreed."

"She's seeing Jimmy-"

"From what she told me not anymore." Sam told her.

"If you hurt her-"

"I won't," Sam insisted.

"If you do, I'll make you wish you'd never been born." Maggie threatened him, maintaining eye contact and her voice low.

"Can I go now?"

"It'll be tight, 14 people in one house," Sam heard Rick say as he finished packing what little he had with him.

"Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up-" Hershel was cut off by Maggie.

"With 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing the damn dinner bell"

"She's right, we should've move you in a while ago"

"Right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out toward the road," Rick raised his voice as he ordered the group. "We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sight lines both sides of the property."

"Rick," Sam spoke up as he jogged to the former sheriff. "Can I talk with you?"

He nodded and they both walked to a secluded area of the camp. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I want my gun back," Rick turned to leave. "I've shown you I can be trusted! I helped Beth when no one else was around! If I were the marauder that some people seem to think I am, I would have killed her, Maggie, Lori and run off. But I didn't. When

/all of you were willing to kill Randall, Dale trusted me to help him convince people. Rick, you can trust me."

Rick placed his hand on his gun belt and his eyes went to the machete on Sam's.

"If, and I do mean if, I were to let you carry, how do I know that you won't just turn on us?" Rick asked.

"Trust is a two way street Rick. And I trust you to make the important decisions, to help keep us safe. And in return all I ask is to let me have my guns back."

Rick tapped his pistol and looked over to the grave they had buried Dale in.

"Fine," he said softly. "Fine, you can have your gun back, but if you try anything, anything-"

"You'll kill me," Sam finished for him. "I get it. If my friends and I were still together and we found you, it might have been the same way. And I thank you for trusting me Rick. I won't let you down."

"You ready?" Beth asked me as Sam finished walking up the stairs to the porch.

"Were you watching for me?"

Beth blushed. "Uh, yeah I was."

Sam looked past Beth and saw Jimmy staring at the two of them, his face downcast and eyes red. Sam felt a bit guilty then as to what was happening, but then he realized that it was ultimately Beth's decision. She was, especially in the current world,

/old enough to make her own decisions.

"So you know this place better than I do, lead the way." Sam told her.

They made their way through a group of hazel bushes. The sunlight, filtered through innumerable leaves, lit their way through the trees.

Beth made most of the conversation. Or at least, she started most of them. Sam felt unsure as to how he should be acting, or what he should be saying. It was all very new to him.

Out of the both of them, Beth had the most experience with these kinds of things. But then again her experience was limited only to Jimmy and a boy that was probably dead by now.

"Go on. Go on." Both Beth and Sam stopped and looked around when they heard someone talking followed by leaves rustling and what sounded, at least to Sam, like a body hitting the floor.

"What's that?" Beth asked, her voice dropping in volume just in case.

"Stay down." Sam told her, his hand slipping to grip his gun.

They went as silently as they could. Following the noise of whoever was out there. The two of them could hear them talking, about what they didn't know, they were still too far away to accurately make out what was being said.

"Who do you think it is?" Beth whispered.

"If we're lucky, Maggie and Glenn looking for some alone time, if we're not, Randall's group."

Staying near the ground the two of them found a small clearing with two people. One of them was leading the other who was bound and gagged. They both had their backs to them but then the bound one fell to the ground and had to be picked up. That was when

/they saw who it was. Shane and Randall.

"What are they doing out here?" Beth whispered.

"Nothing good." Sam hated how cliché he sounded.

Shane shushed Randall who seemed to be panicking, and with good reason, Sam thought. Randall thought that Shane was probably going to kill him. And he wasn't the only one.

"I get it. I'm the last face you probably want to see, huh?" Shan said. "Listen I'm just gonna take you on up out of here ok? I'm gonna take this off so you can breathe, but I want you to keep quiet. You listen good you hear me?"

Randall nodded rapidly and Shane slowly took the piece of tape that had been strapped over his mouth off.

"Now, your group, you know where they're at?" Sam's eyes almost bulged out of his skull and he heard Beth gasped in surprise beside him.

"No I don't. I really- Oh!" Shane slapped Randall.

"Ok," He grabbed Randall and brought him in close. "Get your little ass up here. Now I am your only shot of you getting out of these woods alive. You hear me? Now you start talking boy. Where they at?"

Randall was breathing heavily and from where Sam was sitting he looked like he was going to piss himself if he hadn't already.

"We had a camp, set up off the highway, about five miles from here. Who knows if they're still there?" Sam doubted they would be. If an area was more trouble than it seemed like at first they would probably ditch it.

Shane nodded and began talking in what he thought was a soothing voice. "Ok. So you gonna take me to 'em?"

Sam drew his Pistol and began to get up but stopped when he felt Beth cling to his arm.

"Not yet." She said. "For all we know Rick put him up to this."

"Why?" Sam looked back over and got back down.

"Because man I- I'm just- I'm done with this group, man. They doomed and I want no part of it."

Sam had to admit it would make sense for Rick to do this. Find out where they were hiding and how long they stayed.

"So you're not gonna kill me?" Randall asked cautiously.

"Come on man. If I was, you'd be dead. Come on." They both got on their feet and began walking again.

"Should we follow them?" Beth asked.

"Quietly. I got a bad feeling," Sam mentally kicked himself for being cliché again.

Randall began rambling and Shane scanned the forest, but Beth and Sam were hidden in the thicker parts of the trees and fallen leaves so he couldn't see them.

"I ain't saying it's all about me. I'm jus' trynna-' there was the sound of a struggle and Randall screamed. Followed by the sound of snapping and a thud.

Beth opened her mouth to scream at what had just been done but Sam clamped his hand down over her mouth and they both fell to the ground.

"Shhh, don't let him hear. If he killed him then he isn't on Rick's orders," Sam whispered to her.

They heard Shane walking around then several thuds on what was probably a tree.

"What's he doing?" Beth whispered.

"Y'all gonna come out now?" they both froze at Shane's words. "Don' make me ask again! And leave your gun there."

"What do we do?"

"He has the drop on us. Not much we can do. Listen he might just think it's me. Stay hidden and when he leaves get back to the barn and tell them what happened." Sam tossed his gun aside and raised his hands above his head. "I'm coming out!"

Shane had his pistol drawn and his face was covered in blood.

"Is it just you?" He demanded.

"Aye it is," Sam replied evenly. "But you can't kill me."

Shane laughed. "And why not?"

"A broken neck is he fell. A broken neck and a gunshot wound, how do you explain that? It'll be hard, even for you."

"Nah not really, you see all I gotta say is that the two of you fought a little-"

"You already snapped his neck. What are you gonna tell them? You can't kill me."

Shane shook his head furiously and began marching toward Sam. "Nah I can't kill you, but the Walker sure can!"

Shane's first was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness.

"Cuffs are still hooked, must've slipped them," Rick said as he observed the blood covered handcuffs that had once kept Randall secured.

"Is that possible?" Carol asked.

"They had blood on them, blood is an easy lubricant," He told her.

"Rick!" Shane shouted suddenly as he emerged from the trees. "They're armed! They got my gun and another!"

"You okay?" Carl sounded worried.

"I'm fine, little bastards snuck up on me clocked me in the face!"

"Who?!" Rick demanded as he checked the chamber of his python.

"Randall and Sam! Little bastards snuck up and got me!"

"Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, come with us," Rick began issuing orders.

"Wait, Sam's helping Randall?" Maggie asked. "I think he took Beth!"

"What?!" Shane asked his eyes wide and face growing pale.

"I heard Sam and Beth talking about going for a walk and I haven't seen Beth in a while."

"Shane did you see her with them?" Rick questioned him.

"Uh, nah man. They just clocked me, took my gun. Before I blacked out they were talking about finding their group."

"You saying Sam's with 'em?"

"Hey, man why are we even talking about this?! We need to find them before they find their group or worse, they decide to hurt that girl," Shane whispered the last part but still said it loud enough to be heard by Hershel.

"Get everybody back in the house," Rick called behind him as they rushed into the woods. "Lock all the doors, and stay put!"

Beth didn't know how long she had been out on her own. It had to of been longer than an hour since it had gotten dark and the moon was the only light that she was getting through the trees.

She had tried walking in the direction that they had come from but there were a few walkers and she didn't have anything to kill them. Not that she would have tried. She still wasn't very good at killing Walkers.

She just needed to get back to the Farm and they would help. Maggie, daddy, they'll help.

When Sam woke up, he had expected to find himself on a bed in Hershel's house. Instead he found himself still in the ground in the forest. That and he had a crossbow aimed right at him.

"Oh Daryl, I suppose Shane made it back."

"Get up!" Daryl ordered and he grabbed Sam's shirt and dragged him to his feet.

"Is anyone with you? Ah Glenn, good to see you."

"Where are they?" Glenn demanded, shoving his gun in Sam's face.

"Who?"

Daryl punched him. "Don't play games! Where are they?"

"Who?!"

"Beth and Randall! Where are they?!"

"Randall's dead. Beth, well if she hasn't made it back then she probably got lost."

"Don't bullshit us! We know you and Randall are from the same group!"

"Even if I was with them, why would I kill someone from my own group? Besides I didn't even know what was happening until Shane snapped Randall's neck."

Both Glenn and Daryl froze at that.

"Shane killed Randall?" Glenn asked.

"Yeah he did. Snapped his neck. Beth and I saw it. He saw us too. I came out and told Beth to go. If she isn't back then we need to look for her."

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, for all we know you're tryin' to draw us into an ambush. We'll take you back, let the group decide."

Glenn walked in front of Sam while Daryl walked behind him, crossbow raised and at the ready. The pit in Sam's stomach seemed to grow with each step. He shouldn't be marched back to the farm; he should have been out there looking for Beth. Just as he

/was about to voice his thought a gunshot echoed through the trees.

"I think they got your boy Randall," Daryl said from behind Sam.

"Not my boy," a second gunshot sounded. "And I don't think that's what it was.

When they got within sight of the house Sam considered running. It wasn't as if they would just let him go eighteen miles out. He had been on the farm and knew how to get there. No they would kill him.

"Sam!" He looked to the house and saw someone running toward him. "Sam you're ok!"

Beth pushed past Glenn and enveloped Sam in a tight hug.

"It took me forever to get back to the house. I got lost a bunch of times, but I made it. Shane told them that you helped Randall get out and they though you kidnapped me." She talked so fast Sam had trouble catching all of it.

"Are you ok?" he asked her.

"What? I'm fine. You're the one that got it over the head."

He shrugged. "I've had worse."

"What a minute, you're telling me that he was telling you truth?" Sam smirked and they made their way into the house.

"Is that so shocking Daryl? I may have done bad things, but I'm not a liar. And right now, Shane is out there with Rick. You know what those gunshots were. Sure maybe they did find Randall, but what's with the second shot?"

"You said Randall was dead," Glenn looked confused.

"Yeah Shane snapped his neck, he didn't put a bullet through his head."

"Why'd he do that?" Daryl questioned him.

Sam looked around at all the blank and concerned faces and pieced it together. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"We all turn. No matter how we die, we all turn. It happened to a girl that was with my original group. She slit her wrist, the next morning she was trying to kill us. I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

"Ah shit." Daryl said. "Shit! You mean we're all gonna turn into those dead freaks?!"

"It's impossible!" Lori spoke up. "It's just not possible."

"Just like the dead coming back to life? How do you think it spread so fast? Loads of people die in every city every day, it just made it spread faster."

Lori seemed to want to break the trail of thought. "Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on Earth is going on?"

"You got it," Daryl already started to head out the door.

"Daryl," Sam called after him. "My gun!"

Daryl pulled out Sam's side arm from his back waistband and tossed it to him. "You coming?"

"And miss a chance to repay Shane, not bloody likely." Sam followed him out the door. Glenn and Andrea came out onto the porch as well, all of them ready to head out.

The distant sound of walkers made them stop in their tracks.

Everyone else joined themon the porch as we watched the walkers emerge from the tree line behind the barn.

"Patricia, kill the lights," Hershel whispered.

"I'll get the guns," Andrea went back into the house with Patricia.

"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" The words came out of Glenn's mouth so fast Sam barely caught them.

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down," Daryl shared his thoughts.

"Carl's gone," Lori came storming out of the house breathless and in a panic. "He was upstairs, I can't find him anymore!"

"Maybe he's hiding?" Glenn suggested.

"He's supposed to be upstairs; I'm not leaving without my boy!"

"We're not, we're gonna look again, we're gonna find him," Carol sounded a little hysterical. "Come on Sophia."

"What the hell do we do?" Sam asked when Maggie and Andrea came back with the bag of guns and began handing them out.

"I got the number, there's no use." Daryl told them.

"You should go if you want," Hershel suggested.

Daryl scoffed. "You gonna take 'em all on?"

"We have guns, we have cars," He said as he loaded a shotgun.

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm," Andrea agreed.

"You serious?" He looked back and forth between Andrea, Sam, and Hershel.

Sam grabbed the assault rifle he had on him when he had first arrived at the farm. "Grab a gun or hit the road Daryl. We're fighting."

"This is my farm, I'll die here."

"Alright, it's as good a night as any," Daryl said as he hoped of the porch and readied his crossbow.

"How can I help?" Beth asked, running up to the small group.

"I don't want you out there." Hershel said immediately, Maggie nodded in agreement.

"We could use her," Sam spoke up. "She doesn't have to shoot. You know how to drive Beth?" She nodded. "We need to corral them with the cars. The more cars we use the better of a job we do."

Hershel looked down at his shotgun, then to Beth, and finally to Sam. "You keep her safe!" He ordered.

"Yes sir! Beth, grab a set of keys and meet me by the trucks!" Beth compiled and ran off to find a pair of keys while Sam checked the clip of his rifle.

"Sam!" Hershel spoke up again. "You keep her safe!"

"I will."

They began picking off some of the Walkers that seemed to get closer to the house than the others.

"Keep the car steady," Sam told Beth as they approached the herd.

"O-ok," she said. Sam looked at her hands. They were gripping the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles were white as cream.

"Beth, we're gonna make it. We'll be fine, I promise."

She looked over and smiled. "I know. Good luck."

Sam popped out of the window and aimed his rifle toward the herd of incoming Walkers. He placed his eye near the scope and sent a bullet into the head of the first walker he saw.

Beth kept the car as steady as she could and Sam thanked her for her efforts seeing as he only missed four shots because of the way the car was shifting.

"Sam, Andrea's flashing her lights!" Sam fired into the Walker in his sights then looked and saw Andrea's car pulling up next to his and Beth's.

"We aren't making a dent!' Andrea stated, annoyance laced her tone.

"I know! Even with the damn barn on fire it's not drawing enough of 'em in."

"What do we do?" Beth asked.

"The others are leaving! We should too!" T-Dog said, pointing to a Patricia, Lori, Carol, and Sophia who were running from the house.

"Shit! He's right, we need to go!" Sam agreed. "Beth, can you get up to the house, we'll pick 'em up."

"On it!" She said as she floored the gas and made a beeline for the house, hitting a few Walkers in the process.

Just as they had arrived a walker got hold of Patricia, and sunk its teeth into her. Beth screamed and Sam fired a bullet into the walker that had bitten her. However it was in vain as more walkers began devouring Patricia.

Sam opened the door and climbed out of the car and sprinted toward Carol and Sophia. He killed the Walkers that were closing in on them and shouted for them to get to the car. The obeyed and Sam saw that too many walkers were surrounding them.

He dodged a few hands that reached out to grab him and got to the car where Beth was shouting for him to get in the car. Carol and Sophia were already in the back and clutching each other tightly.

"W-Where are we going?" Beth asked as she sped away from the house, Sam saw the tear stains on her cheeks.

Sam ejected the mag on his gun "You know how to get to the highway?" She nodded. "Get us there. Carol Sophia, how are you two doing? Good, ok just take deep breathes, we'll be there soon."

They passed dozens of straggling Walkers and Beth hit a few of them, blooding the windshield. Sam did a quick ammo count and found that he only had sixty bullets left. Two mags before his gun was just a paper weight.

As they were nearly there, the sound of not-too-distant engines filled the air. Around the corner, a car and a motorcycle came into view. Daryl waved at them and Sam laughed in relief when he saw that someone else had made it

A car was next and Sam saw Glenn and Maggie waving at him through the tinted glass.

"Beth," Sam said not even trying to hide his smile. "Maggie made it."

"Oh thank God," her voice was strained and Sam thought she was going to cry, but she linked the years away and continued onward.

When they finally reached their destination, Rick, Carl and Hershel were already there, grabbing the girl's attentions.

When the cars stopped and everyone liked out it was a rush of hugs and silent cries. Everyone was happy to see each other alive and well. Sam stood off to the side but then Sophia barreled into him and began crying and thanking him for saving her andher

mother. Sam returned the hug but didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

"Where did you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl.

"Well, those guys' tail lights were zigzagging all over the road, figured he had to be Asian drivin' like that."

Glenn scoffed, unable to wipe the smile off his face. "Good one"

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked Rick, back down to serious business.

"We're the only ones who made it so far." The sadness in Rick's voice was clear.

"Shane?" Lori asked. Rick shook his head. That was a blow to the group; the cheerful mood was replaced with sadness as they began to count their losses.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked next.

"She saved Sophia and me, then I lost her." Carol told them.

T-Dog confirmed everyone's suspicions. "We saw her go down"

"Patricia?" Hershel asked as he held on to Beth and Maggie.

"They got her too" Beth began to cry again. "Sam and I were going to get everyone and they took her right in front of me. We were going to her, Daddy she just-" She was too upset to finish. "What about Jimmy? Did he get out?"

"He was in the R.V. It got overrun." Rick told her. She placed her head on Sam's shoulder and then began to cry again.

"We gotta keep movin'. There have been walkers crawlin' all over here,"

Rick told them.

"I say head east." T-Dog suggested.

"Stay off the main roads. The bigger the road, the more walkers," Daryl said as he picked up his crossbow and pointed it at a lone walker not too far away. "More assholes like this one. I got him." He released an arrow into its head and blood splattered

/the car behind it. It hit the floor with a thud.

Rick told everyone to get in their cars and talk once everything was safe and they had shelter. Carol and Sophia got into Sam and Beth's truck along with Hershel, Glenn and , Lori, Carl and T-Dog were in one car.

Sam drove this time. Beth and Sophia sat in the back sleeping off the horrific events that had just occurred. Sam was still processing what had happened but knew that he couldn't let his emotions overtake him just yet. There was too much risk at the moment.

/Too much that could go wrong. He knew from experience that if you let your emotions get the better of you at the wrong times, people died.

Rick beeped his horn after what felt like forever, signaling the column to pull over. They all exited their vehicles to see what was happening.

"You out?" Daryl asked him.

"Running on fumes."

"We can't stay here" Maggie told him.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn pointed out.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the mornin'."

"Spend the night here?"

"I'm freezing" Carl said.

"We'll build a fire"

"I'll gather up some firewood." Sam offered. "How you doin' on ammo?" He asked Rick.

"Not enough."

"We can't just sit here with our asses hangin' out." Maggie was beginning to panic.

"Watch your mouth" Hershel warned her which made me smile. "Everyone stop panicking, listen to Rick."

"Alright, we'll set up a perimeter. In the mornin', we'll find gas and some supplies, we'll keep pushin' on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try to scrounge up some gas." Maggie's shotgun was at the ready.

Rick shook his head at the idea. "No, we stick together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Sam rolled his eyes at all the panic.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure, I really wasn't, but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere; there's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around. There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something," Glenn told him.

"There's gotta be a place, not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it!"

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that was safe." Maggie seemed weary.

"We won't make that mistake again." Sam nodded his head at Hershel's words.

"We'll make camp tonight, over there," he pointed to nearby ruins. "Get on the road at the break of day."

"What if walkers come through or another group like Randall's?" Sophia spoke up timidly.

"You know, I found Randall, right? He turned, but he wasn't bit," Daryl informed everybody, brushing off Sophia's comment.

"How's that possible?" Carol asked.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori demanded.

"Shane killed Randall," Sam spoke up.

"It's true, I saw him do it too." Beth supported him.

"Yeah but-

"We're all infected," Rick spoke up.

"I told them," Sam said. "I didn't think you knew though."

"How did you know Rick?" Glenn demanded.

"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

"And you never said anything?" Carol was frustrated with Rick.

"Would it have made a difference?"

"You knew this whole time?" It was Glenn turn to be angry.

"How could I have known for sure? You sure how crazy that ma-"

"That is not your call" Glenn cut him off. "Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well I thought it best that people didn't know."

The group argued for a bit longer before Rick walked away and Lori went after him.

"I'm gonna go and get some firewood before it gets dark," Sam offered.

"No! Don't go!" Sophia wrapped her arms around him. "Please?!"

Carol looked at them and walked to collect Sophia.

Sam knelt down and looked into Sophia's eyes. "Hey now little one, I won't be gone long. But I have a job for you to do while I'm gone. I need you to take care of your ma' while I'm gone it's an important job, but I'm trusting you."

Sophia blinked tears out of her eyes and nodded. "Ok good. Don't worry I'll be back soon."

"I'm coming,'" Beth told Sam as he was about to leave.

"You have a knife?" She shook her head. "Here take mine. If we do find one, forearm under the chin, press up then jam the knife and twist. Got it?" She nodded and took the knife. "Good. Let's go."

Everyone huddled around the fire together, trying and failing to keep warm. Sam sat next to Beth, their hands almost touching but not quite there.

"We're not safe with him. Keeping something' like that from us. Why do you need him? He's just gonna pull you down." Carol whispered to Daryl through the silence of the night.

Everyone began whispering to themselves about how they would be better on their own. Sam knew for sure he wouldn't be. He had been on his own and that scared him more than anything. Alone was horrible in the Apocalypse.

"I think we should take our chances."Maggie told Glenn.

"Don't be foolish. There's no fuel, no ammo." Hershel scorned her.

A nearby noise spooked the group out of their smaller worries. "What was that?" Beth asked.

"Could be anythin'." Daryl said as he stood up. Sam followed. "Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."

"Walker." Glenn's worry voice was back.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sam told him. "Walkers make more noise. There would have been rasping or we would have heard footsteps."

"Then it's a person," Maggie panicked once more.

"We need to leave. I mean, what are we waiting for?" Carol was panicking again.

"It came from over there." Maggie told the group.

"Don't panic." Hershel told Maggie.

"I'm not." Maggie told him. "I'm not sittin' here, waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move. Now." Maggie's voice was laced with panic.

"No one is goin' anywhere!"

"Do something!" Carol pleaded.

"I am doin' something!'" Rick was furious. "I'm keepin' this group together, alive. I've been doin' that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this!" His voice was an angry whisper. "I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake! You

/saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall Sam thing; lead me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice! He was my friend, but he came after me!" Carl had begun sobbingin

his mother's arms. "My hands are clean! Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe I'm fooling' myself again. Why don't you go and find out for yourself? Sendme

a postcard! Go on, there's the door. You can do better; let's see how far you get. No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight, you're stayin'. This isn't a democracy anymore." He didn't say anything else after that, he only stared at them and

/then walked off into the darkness to process everything that was just said.

Sam knew why had been said though. He had heard them before from Michael.

Things were about to change.