SARAH

It had been a very crazy day. Crazy in the best way possible. They were all shocked and happy for Lori and Carl. They were reunited and they had given hope that maybe one day all of them would have seen their loved ones again.

As they set down around the fire, eating their dinner they have been hearing Rick sharing his experience.

It must have been very frightening for him; waking up from coma and finding himself inside this hell. It was incredible he made it so far. The man was hugging his son and his wife as he spoke.

Sarah looked around. Andrea and Amy were close to each other. Morales smiled at his family. Dale was listening at the story with interest as Sarah looked towards Nicki, caressing her hair, and then towards Glenn who was eating. Only Daryl was missing.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else," Rick continued, his voice heavy with emotion. "For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream—something I might never wake up from."

Sarah felt a pang of recognition. She was sure everyone around the fire could relate. It all felt like a nightmare, a surreal experience that left them questioning if they would ever wake up.

"Mum said you died," Carl said softly, his gaze fixed on his father as Rick ran a gentle finger through his hair.

"She had every reason to believe that," Rick replied, his voice filled with sorrow and understanding.

Lori was still in shock, of course. She pushed herself closer to her husband before telling him that when things started to get bad, the hospital wanted to move Rick to Atlanta, but it never happened, and apparently, even where they lived, walkers had taken over.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane," said Rick. Sarah looked over the other cop with a little smile. He had taken care of Lori and Carl for all that time. He must have really cared for Rick.

Suddenly, they heard wood clatters, and turning, they saw the Peletiers around a much bigger fire than the one they were having.

Peletiers never ate with the rest of them. Ed didn't want to. And as Shane got up to make them get the fire down, Sarah looked towards Amy. The two of them had frequently talked about Ed. He was a scary man. A different kind from the Dixon's brothers.

"What about Daryl?" Sarah asked as Shane returned to the group, sitting down once again.

"I was thinking the same thing," Dale said, concern etched on his face.

"He doesn't know what happened," Sarah continued, glancing around at everyone. Daryl had gone off that morning to hunt, a routine he often followed—sometimes leaving for days at a time.

"He has the right to know," she muttered, her voice firm.

It didn't matter that Daryl and Merle could be difficult. Merle was still Daryl's brother, and Sarah understood the pain of not knowing. She felt it deeply with her parents, the uncertainty gnawing at her. If they had any information, they owed it to Daryl.

"He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind," Dale said, his brow furrowed with worry. Sarah nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.

"I'll tell him," T-Dog volunteered. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him," Rick interjected. "That makes it my responsibility."

"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn chimed in, "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

Merle often made nasty comments about T-Dog, Jacqui, and even Glenn in those days they had spent together.

"I did what I did," T-Dog asserted. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"As long as he'll know," said Sarah, her voice steady. It didn't matter who told Daryl; it was crucial to let him know. She would have done it herself, but she wasn't there. She didn't know what had happened.

"Maybe we should lie," Amy suggested, making Sarah shake her head.

"Or tell the truth," said Andrea "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." Then she turned to Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

Sarah could not imagine what Merle Dixon could have done to get himself cuffed on a roof. But they all knew Merle and how he was; it wasn't difficult to picture him causing trouble for the group.

"And that's what we're going to tell Daryl?" asked Dale, concern etched on his face.

"If that's what happened, yes," Sarah replied, looking firmly at him. "Daryl needs to know what happened. We don't have to make him like it—he wouldn't, anyway."

Nobody could take it lightly knowing that their own sibling had been left behind.

Sarah wondered what Daryl would do when he found out. Would he get angry? Would he retreat into silence? Or would have gone away?

"We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt," Dale said, looking at each one of them.

"I was scared, and I ran," T-Dog admitted. "I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" asked Andrea, her voice steady as everyone turned their attention to T-Dog.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door," he replied. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen walkers can squeeze through at any one time. It's not enough to break through that... Not that chain, not that padlock." Sarah's eyes widened at his words.

"He is still up there?" Nicki asked, earning some gaze and turning towards her. 

T-Dog nodded. "Dixon's alive. On the roof. That's on us."

That evening, Sarah tossed and turned, struggling to find sleep. The day had been a whirlwind of emotions—joy at the reunion of Rick with his family and relief that Glenn had made it back unscathed. But her heart ached for Daryl. He had his brother that morning... and now no more. There was no easy way to convey the news about Merle, especially knowing he was still up on that roof, abandoned. There was no way to know what Daryl would have done when he got back. There was no way of knowing what the group would have done now. Shane hadn't let them go rescue the group, and he would have never left someone to go after Merle Dixon. Not that that would have stopped Daryl anyway.

I'm having a very bad morning," said Glenn the next morning as Sarah was having her breakfast, while Nicki had gone with the kids. Morales had asked her to look after them.

"Why's that?" she asked, and he looked at her with wide eyes.

"Look at them," he said, pointing at Dale and Jim getting parts of the car.

"Great, they found the missing pieces they needed," Sarah said, rubbing her eyes, making him gasp.

"I'm gonna pretend you had not just said that."

"Sorry," Sarah said, yawning tiredly. "I'm not very empathetic when I'm tired."

"You hadn't slept because of the rain?" he asked.

That night had rained so much, with thunder roaring in the distance. But that wasn't the reason for her difficulty sleeping.

"Or Merle Dixon?" he asked when she didn't respond.

"I just feel strange knowing he is alive, stuck on a roof," she admitted."He is an asshole, but it's not right to leave him up there."

"What do you suggest?" asked Glenn, popping another blueberry into his mouth.

Sarah shook her head. None of the options felt right to her.

"We should just wait for Daryl to return," she decided. "Then we'll figure it out."

Suddenly a scream coming from the woods. The children were screaming. Sarah felt her blood run cold as she got up to run in the direction of the scream.

"Nicki!" she yelled as she ran. "Nicolette!"

Sarah rushed through the woods and arrived just before the end of the perimeter of their camp, where she had put the alarm system. As she arrived, she noticed Lori and Carol behind her. Their children ran from the woods into their mothers' arms.

"Nicolette," Sarah asked urgently when she did not see her sister, "Have you seen Nicolette?"

"She was behind us," Carl said as he hugged his mother.

Sarah looked up and started to run again.

"Sarah, wait!" she heard Glenn call from not far behind. She didn't have to run much when she spotted her little sister peering cautiously behind a bush.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sarah exclaimed as she grabbed her sister's arm.

"Don't yell," Nicki replied in an anxious whisper.

"You weren't supposed to be out here!" Sarah said, panic rising in her voice. "That's why we set up the wire!"

"There's a walker!" Nicki said, making Sarah freeze as the men arrived and ran toward them.

"Walker? Where?" asked Rick.

"A few meters in that direction," Nicki explained, pointing her finger. They all started running, and Sarah noticed she had gone too just when she saw the walker.

It had been weeks since the last time she had seen one. And now here it was, knelt eating a dead deer. He hadn't even noticed them until the men started to attack him. They were kicking him and hitting him what they had, but it was finally over when Dale chopped off its head. Sarah put a hand on her mouth, feeling slightly sick for a moment. The rotten corpse and the head on the ground were really not a sight she was eager to see.

"It's the first one we've had up here," said Dale, out of breath. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim's comment made Sarah shiver. If that one was here, maybe others would have come. Sarah turned to look at Andrea and Amy that were right next to her, before turning to Nicolette that was watching the scene too. She was so grounded for running that far from the camp.

Suddenly they heard something moving behind the bushes. Sarah quickly took her sister and put her behind herself as the men all raised their weapons towards the direction of the noise.

Was it a walker? Another?

But then Daryl Dixon appeared looking at them strangely seeing all the weapons pointed against him. But then his gaze fell on the deer.

"Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed, getting closer. "That's my deer!" They all looked at each other, thinking about the talk that they soon would have to have with the man.

"Look at it," Daryl kept saying before starting to kick the walker's corpse. "All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale had just finished saying the sentence when Daryl charged towards him.

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl exclaimed, glaring Dale up and down. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond?"

That would not be an easy talk at all.

"I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." That was a shame they mostly ate squirrels. It would have been nice to have another kind of meat.

"What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" he asked pointing at the part the walker had bitten.

"I wouldn't risk that," Shane said.

Daryl sighed. "That's a damn shame..." Then he gestured at something on his back, "I got some squirrels. About a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

They were all looking at him with anticipation; Daryl must have sensed something because he was looking at them as strangely as how they were all looking at him.

Suddenly, the walker's head started moving again. Sarah looked at it with wide eyes as Amy and Andrea walked away.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl said before shooting an arrow straight in to the center of the head, making it finally stop. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He then started to walk away.

As he passed get pass next to Sarah, he noticed her staring, and he frowned a little before walking away.

"Someone must tell him something," She said as Glenn stopped next to her.

"Yeah... You wanna try?" he asked, making Sarah glare at him before they all started to walk back toward the camp.

"Am I in trouble?" asked Nicki, sticking closer to her sister.

"Oh yes, you are," Sarah said, glaring at her sister.

"We didn't want to go far," Nicki said, looking down. "I thought that it couldn't be that bad."

"You've got a responsibility," said Sarah, making her sister stop. "On yourself and on those children. You have to think. Something bad could have happened. To you or one of them."

Nicki nodded her head at Sarah's words. "I hadn't thought about that," she said. "I'm going to apologize to Lori and Carol. I'll be more careful next time."

Sarah nodded her head, looking down at her sister.

"Alright..."

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you," Shane called out, prompting them to quicken their pace to catch up with the others.

"'Bout what?" Daryl replied, a frown creasing his brow.

"About Merle," Shane said, his hands on his hips. "There was a... problem in Atlanta."

Sarah watched as Daryl's expression shifted, his gaze dropping as he bit his lip.

"He dead?" Daryl asked, his voice low and tense.

"We're not sure," Shane replied, but his words only fueled Daryl's agitation.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl shot back, raising his voice.

Sarah exchanged glances with Glenn, who wore a worried look. The tension in the air was palpable, and she could sense Daryl's frustration boiling.

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

"Who are you?" Daryl shot back, his tone aggressive.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes," Daryl repeated, his eyes narrowing. "You got something you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick began, trying to keep his tone steady. "So I handcuffed him to a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl took a few steps back, his anger palpable.

"Hold on. Let me process this," he said, his voice rising. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" He yelled, causing Sarah to shiver at the raw emotion in his voice.

Dary was unpredictable. It was the first time she had heard him talk that much, no one could really know what he was capable of. But of something she was sure, he really cared about his brother that was easy to see.

As Rick nodded his head, Daryl threw at him the squirrels hanging on his shoulder before trying to launch himself towards the man, but luckily, Shane pushed him away. They were all there gasping when Daryl took his knife. He started to attack Rick, who luckily managed to avoid the blade. As Shane helped, too, they were able to stop Daryl from his assault.

Once they had finally been able to stop him, Rick knelt to speak to him.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic," Daryl said, his voice low and strained. "Do you think we can manage that?" He grunted, still held back by Shane, who seemed to be gripping him tightly.

"Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked again, his tone firm. Finally, Shane released Daryl, pushing him to the ground.

Daryl shouldn't have attacked, but Sarah really felt sorry for him. That wasn't easy information, the one they were giving him. She looked down at her sister. She didn't know what she would have done. She didn't want to think about losing Nicolette, not even for a moment.

"What I did was not on a whim," Rick started to explain as Daryl remained knelt on the ground. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog intervened. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked, panting.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain," T-Dog explained.

Daryl sighed deeply, pushing himself up and walking toward T-Dog, his expression a mix of rage and despair. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will," T-Dog replied. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the walkers couldn't get to him. With a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something," Rick added, trying to reason with Daryl.

Sarah watched as Daryl wiped his eyes with his hand. Was he crying? She had never seen him like this before, and her heart ached for him.

"Hell with all y'all!" he yelled. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get 'im."

"You can't go alone; it's too dangerous," Sarah found herself saying before she could stop herself. The words slipped out, and suddenly, all eyes were on her. Daryl's glare was intense, filled with rage and pain, making her bite her lip in regret. Maybe she should have stayed silent.

"But he is not going alone," Lori suddenly said, looking at her husband. "He'll show you. Isn't it right?"

Rick observed her for a moment before nodding his head.

"I'm going back".

The camp had gone quiet. Lori looked pensive, knowing that her husband would go back to Atlanta. Everyone seemed waiting for something, but no one really knew what.

Nicki was set down next to Andrea and Amy. T-Dog was talking to Glenn while Daryl was walking around with his arrows in his hand. Sarah decided that she needed a distraction from everything that had happened, so she went next to Dale and Jim, observing them trying to fix the RV.

"The pieces of the car were useless?" she asked, observing Jim's every movement.

"They are too small," he said, "But it was worth a shot."

"Do you like cars?" asked Dale.

"I find it fascinating that all those pieces are able to create a complex system," Sarah said. "And if one single of those pieces doesn't work, it compromises everything. I see it very human-like."

She believed in that even more with what they were living. They needed every single one of them to survive. No one was useless, even if it seemed to be doing less than others. All of them were important and necessary. Maybe even Merle Dixon.

"Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?" Shane's voice made them turn as he and Rick stopped in the middle of the camp.

"Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Sarah's eyes went to Daryl who clearly wasn't pleased by what Shane was saying.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully,," he warned, and for a second, she was afraid they would start fighting again.

"No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant. Merle Dixon..." Shane spotted, glaring at Daryl. "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"I can't let a man die of thirst... me," Rick argued back. "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."

They all looked at each other. It was easier for Rick, who didn't know Merle. They did though, and they all hated him.

Shane was right, Merle Dixon wouldn't have cared if one of them was in his place, so risking somebody life for someone like that wasn't worth it. But on the other hand, Rick wasn't wrong. Merle was a person; they couldn't leave him behind—not like that.

"So, you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori said, glaring at Rick, who turned to Glenn. Sarah closed her eyes, taking a breath as Rick explained why he wanted Glenn with him for this.

Glenn was the best at moving around the city. He did it many times, like when he got Sarah, Nicolette, and himself out when they first met.

"It's not fair of me to ask...I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along." Rick said before gesturing toward Lori, "I know she would, too." The poor woman was slightly shaking; it could have been for fear or maybe anger.

Sarah noticed Glenn looking in her direction for a moment before nodding his head towards Rick.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Sarah heard Shane ask while she walked towards Glenn.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, making him nod his head quietly.

Glenn was selfless that she had understood, but she just hoped he didn't feel like he had no other choice. It was up to him.

"Four," said T-Dog at some point. Everyone looked at him with wide eyes while Daryl scoffed.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Sarah couldn't help but roll her eyes at his words.

"What?" Daryl growled, making her turn towards him.

"Can't you be a little nicer?" Sarah said as he glared at her. "He is trying to help you."

"And I don't see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass" Daryl's eyes moved from Sarah to T-Dog before focusing on his arrows.

"Why you?"

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

Sarah glared at Daryl for a moment before Glenn nudged her, gesturing to move aside.

In the camp, the conversation kept going. Apparently, Rick had more than one reason to get back in Atlanta. He got weapons in a bag that he had left in the city. Weapons that they needed if the walkers were really moving away from Atlanta. And he even had to get back a walkie-talkie to warn someone not to fall into the same trap he did.

"Sure you have everything?" Sarah asked as Glenn adjusted his backpack.

"Yeah," he replied. "There's not much that I need anyway." Sarah smiled a bit sadly at him; she didn't want Glenn or the others to be in danger, or die. Not even Daryl Dixon.

"I've got some blueberries," Sarah said, pulling out a napkin filled with them. Glenn took it gratefully.

"Thank you, Sarah."

"It'll be fine," she reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It will."

Glenn smiled, and as if sensing the weight of the moment, he pulled her into a tight hug. Sarah returned the embrace, feeling comforted by the warmth of their friendship. In that world, having someone like Glenn beside her made everything just a bit more bearable.

"Just come back safe, okay?" she whispered into his ear as they pulled apart.

"Promise." He answered with a little smile.

As her friend went to get ready for leaving, Sarah approached Rick and T-Dog to give them their blueberries before turning her attention to Daryl Dixon, who was adjusting his crossbow. She took a breath, steeling herself, and walked towards him.

"Hey," she said, making him turn with a suspicious frown. He remained silent, observing her intently.

"Yeah... well," she began, opening her bag to reveal another napkin filled with blueberries. "I've got some blueberries." Daryl's gaze flicked between her and the napkin, still silent.

"Nicki and I found them," she continued, trying to keep her voice steady. "Come on, take them."

"Why?" he asked, his frown deepening.

"You can get hungry," she replied, shrugging slightly. "And I know it's not much, but maybe Merle could use some."

Daryl's expression remained hardened. "Don't need yer pity," he shot back.

"It's not pity," she insisted, her tone firm.

"What do ya want then?" he asked, his voice sharp.

"We're all human, even your brother," she said softly. "From what I'm seeing, there aren't many of us left. It's right to be there for each other."

Daryl studied her, his eyes searching for something. Then, without warning, he snatched the napkin from her hand.

"I owe you nothin'," he muttered before striding past her, his shoulders tense.