Theme Song: "Hurt" - Johnny Cash

The next morning I awoke before dawn and like usual, I popped up quickly and looked at my surroundings.

Daryl was still by the window and it was still dark out, but the faint traces of light were starting to cut through the sky.

Daryl turned to look at me as I ran my hands through my hair. My hair was incredibly tangled from the rain and not having a proper comb to run through it. I picked it apart silently, pulling at it and combing through my hair with my fingers.

I looked up to see that Daryl had already turned back towards the window, his gun in his hand and his muscles tense from being on edge all night.

I got up and stretched my arms up over my head before looking at Calvin who was sleeping silently with his back to us.

I could hear his steady breathing as I put on my boots and tip toed across the floor. My eyes were still adjusting to waking up and I leaned against the other side of the wall next to the window so that Daryl was to my right.

"You need to get some sleep." I whispered and I saw the shadows under Daryl's eyes as he glanced my wat.

For once, his long locks were pushed out of the way and I smiled lightly at him. However, he stayed stoic and muttered, "Ya' talk in yer' sleep sometimes."

Way to change the subject, Daryl. 

I froze and felt my stomach flip flop around for a moment before finding my voice again, "What did I say?"

Daryl shifted and without arguing with me he relented to getting some sleep before we hit the road again. He handed me the rifle and I took it silently.

The awkward exchange grew a little more weird until Daryl chewed on the side of his cheek as if debating what to say, "Ya' said my name." He didn't look at me and I watched as he got up from his perch and stretched his back.

I felt my cheeks flush red, but I countered quickly, "Do you have a problem with me dreaming about you?" My tone, though a whisper, took on a playful one.

To my surprise Daryl grunted his response, but before he turned around I saw the ghost of a smile flit across his lips, "Shut it, Red."

My cheeks returned to their normal color, but the smile plastered on my face didn't leave me the rest of the morning as I took watch while Daryl got a few hours of sleep.

Daryl had to have had an internal alarm clock because he always woke up before I ever had a chance to. At dawn he awoke and silently started to pack as Calvin stirred. I helped Daryl grab everything we needed to hit the road again.

I knew this place wasn't feasible long term and who the hell knows where those hillbillies were. Calvin woke up not too long before we were ready to hit the road, "Feel rested?" I asked as Calvin rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Yeah, I'm good now." I smiled at him and Calvin packed his stuff. I had a feeling if Carl were here they would have gotten along. Though a few years age different, but still..I wished Carl had someone around his age to interact with.

He was growing up fast and though that wasn't a bad thing in this world, I still thought Carl and Calvin deserved to do normal kid stuff from time to time. However, with the lack of people and civilization, it didn't seem that that was going to happen anytime soon for the boys.

Unless they found those train tracks and made it to the safe place. If habitable, that was a place that they could get back to some kind normal.

I found myself still hoping for these things and though I didn't express them aloud much, they were still there. Hope. It was what kept me going and I knew Daryl was trying to hold on to a little hope too, though he'd never admit that aloud.

I  didn't know if he did it for my sake or for his own, hell maybe for the both of them. But, I did know Daryl Dixon hadn't given up completely yet and for that I was relieved.

We exited the cabin and looked back at it for a moment before heading out into the thicket of woods. Calvin and I both followed Daryl and when we had been walking for about an hour I finally spoke up, "Do you have your man compass on or something?"

Daryl looked back at me nonplussed and then continued to walk, but I heard him snort, "Ya' mean do I know where I'm goin'?" I nodded and Calvin followed in step with us, but even he noticed the way Daryl had been walking, as if he knew something they didn't.

I nodded with a smirk and Daryl nodded in confirmation, "Think so. Saw them key maps at the trailer before we found him. Think I can try an' get us back on track."

I kept up to match my stride with Daryl and I whispered lowly, "You mean to the train tracks?" I didn't know why I whispered the words, but I had.

Daryl cast a glance quick to me and nodded silently. Calvin fell into step with me, "Where are we heading?"

"Hopefully somewhere safe." The boy nodded and I heard his stomach rumbling. He smiled nervously and Ismiled back, "Don't worry, he's a good hunter. I'm not as skilled, but I can do alright."

Calvin looked to the back of Daryl's head and both of us were surprised when Daryl spoke up while not looking at us, "She's a damn good shot, don't listen to her kid."

His compliment to me hadn't gone unnoticed and Calvin smirked before continuing on their hike to wherever Daryl was taking us.

After another hour or two, Daryl caught a snake on the trail and we decided to eat while we could. Though it wasn't much, it was enough to satiate most of their hunger for a bit.

Calvin seemed to be the hungriest out of the three of us. I had gotten used to managing my hunger, but Calvin was still trying to regulate it seemed. We sat quietly in the woods while feasting on the snake and I glanced at Calvin curiously, "Ready to tell me how you learned to shoot like that?"

Calvin seemed more at ease than he had been before and for that I was happy. The boy didn't need to feel uneasy around us at all. At the end of the day, we were all in this together and neither of us would up and leave him.

"My sister, surprisingly." My brows shot up, "Was she a cop or military?" Calvin shook his head laughing lightly, "I know, I used to get that question all the time. She was an anthestiologist in Virginia." I immediately thought of Henry and my heartstrings tugged.

"Really? My brother was an ER doctor in Virginia."

Calvin looked up and Daryl ate his food quietly, looking between us as we spoke. The quiet spectator.

"Really?" He asked in surprise and I shook my head.

"Well, my sister was a gun nut for as long as I can remember. Our step-dad was a police officer, but he was shot and killed in the line of duty when I was young." He paused and I could tell without him saying it that this man was like a father to him even though not by blood.

He swallowed thickly and continued, "She taught me everything she knew when she had free time. My mom and I lived here in Georgia, but she went to Virginia with some boyfriend and that's when she got the hospital gig. Once she dumped her boyfriend I saw a lot more of her and that's usually what we did when she came to see us. Shoot guns." He smiled and it lit up his whole face.

After a few beats though he frowned and I knew this was probably where the story took its deadly turn. The air between us grew a little thicker and even the silence that hung around was stifling.

"She got really busy with the hospital stuff though. Started dating a new guy and our mom, well, she got early on-set Alzheimer's and things just started to go downhill with her quality of life. This all happened right around the time people started to get sick. I begged my sister to come down and see us and finally she did."

He paused and I noticed Daryl hadn't picked up the rest of his food to finish. He had stopped eating and was eyeing the boy silently.

"Hayley finally came to visit us and not three days after she got there, the outbreak hit and all hell broke loose. My mom got bit and Hayley got bit fighting off the two that had gotten my mom. Everything happened so fast, I just.." He stopped and shook his head, but Daryl and I both fell silent.

Our looks weren't ones of pity, but of understanding. Everyone here had lost someone at some point so his pain was equally felt by both myself and Daryl.

"Calvin.." I whispered softly, but Calvin shook his head and continued, "My mom turned pretty fast and my sister put her down immediately. My sister lasted a bit longer. We made it out of the city together. And then she turned..and I-I shot her."

I felt the lump in my throat grow bigger and Daryl finally turned away from the kid. "We've all lost someone, Calvin." I offered and Calvin looked up to me with the biggest roundest eyes I had ever seen on a kid. He was too young for all these burdens, much like Carl.

"I learned a lot from her and I know I owe her for where I'm at now. I promised her I would keep going, regardless. But, I just feel like if she hadn't of come to see us, if I hadn't of begged her to come, she'd still be alive. Maybe she'd be with that new boyfriend of hers…alive."

"Can't know none of tha'.." Daryl's rough voice broke through the tension and I wiped away a stray tear that had somehow fallen from my eye while Calvin told his story.

I sniffed lightly, my chest tight and aching for the boy. "Daryl's right, Calvin. You can't carry that burden with you for the rest of your life because you have no way of knowing."

We all fell silent, but after a minute Calvin nodded glumly to the two of us, knowing we were right, before finishing the rest of the snake.

Daryl eyed me for a moment and looked down to the rest of the snake that I hadn't eaten, "Ain't gonna' eat tha' rest of that?" I shook my head and realized for some reason I wasn't that hungry and if anything, I had been feeling a bit off all morning.

"Nah, split it between you and Calvin." Daryl hesitated, but at my insistence he took it and split it up between the two of them.

"Ya' got this far, kid.." Daryl added thoughtfully as he gnawed on a tough piece of the snake. I nodded in reassurance and Calvin seemed to have lost that sadness from his eye that was there once before. The three of us were pretty quiet once we got back to walking.

Calvin fell into step beside me and we both followed closely behind Daryl as he took the lead. My feet were aching, but I kept silent and continued to wipe the beads of sweat that dripped down the side of my head. My head was starting to form a dull ache in the back of it and sometimes I saw black spots dance before my vision.

I kept this to myself and blamed everything on the inclement heat of Georgia. At sundown, Calvin insisted on taking watch while one of us slept and to my surprise I was more than eager to lay down and sleep for a bit.

Usually, I would insist Daryl get some rest, but this evening..I was tired and my head continued to kick my ass with its dull ache. Daryl frowned at me and not because I wanted to sleep. I saw the way he eyed me in concern, but I looked away and lay next to a tree using my backpack as a pillow.

I had slept through the entire night and the following morning at dawn I didn't pop up like I usually did. I slowly got up, my hands rubbing my temples to massage the massive headache that kept reoccurring.

The first thing I noticed besides the massive headache was that my body trembled ever so slightly and my back was drenched in sweat. Maybe nightmares?

I didn't recall having any dreams, but nonetheless lack of decent sleep and food were weighing on me.

Once I was up I realized Calvin and Daryl were already up and their bags were packed. I rubbed her eyes and Daryl knelt down beside me, "Ya' alright?" His question was short, but his eyes held more concern than his voice gave away.

I nodded silently and added, "Just bad dreams or something." Daryl hovered for a moment and I saw his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. He wanted to say more, I could see it. But, he refrained and silently helped pack my bag and didn't mention anything more about it.

They all walked for hours, Calvin and I making small talk along the way. It was nearing close to the early evening and we came across a road that had a large welcome sign on it, though tarnished and dull, the sign was still there.

However, the town's name was so far warped you couldn't see it anymore. Daryl eyed everyone wearily before looking back to me, "Check it out?" I pondered for a moment before Calvin spoke up abruptly.

"I know that sign! There's a bed and breakfast and a small little town down this road. And right outside of the town a little farther down is an abandoned textile plant or something like that. I don't know exactly, but I remember seeing the huge mill. My mom and my stepdad used to stop at the bed and breakfast on the way home from family vacations if we traveled this way. I know for a fact that's the sign!"

He seemed excited and I couldn't help but feed from his enthusiasm.

"Town means walkers." Daryl added shortly with a grunt. I shrugged at his comment, "It also means supplies. We're more than capable of handling it, the three of us." Calvin nodded up and down before Daryl could speak better of it.

The three of us took off down the road and though I continued to feel like shit, I pushed through and kept my mouth shut about it.

More than anything, I didn't want to be a burden.

Author's Note: I will update the next chapter Wednesday! :D