Theme Song: "Human Race" - Three Days Grace

I froze like a deer in the headlights as the three vile men sneered at my attire. Mainly, my bare legs that were only adorned by the same pair of shorts I'd worn for quite some time. Calvin's hand was slick from sweat as I clenched it tightly. Or was it my sweat? I didn't know.

To put on a front of good faith, the men weren't pointing their weapons at the two of us, but they carried them by their sides threateningly. I clenched my teeth and felt my right hand twitch nervously in anticipation.

All I needed was a good second to reach for one of my sickles and aim for the man on the far right. I knew Daryl would probably take out the one on the left first since he would be coming from that side.

The middle guy, well, we'd just have to play our cards right and hope he got flustered enough to let us get a good shot in. "No one claims me." I stated defensively as the men smiled a little too sweetly.

The man in the middle was not a leader, but he seemed to be exhibiting the superiority of someone high up in their group. "Sweetheart, that's not how the rules work. We see somethin' we like, we claim it. Simple as that."

The man on the left spoke first and he ran his tongue along his teeth making me cringe. "And not to mention, you got somethin' of ours that don't belong to ya'." The man on the right added while giving Calvin a once over that made her stomach crawl.

I couldn't imagine the shit they tried to do to other people. I had only prayed they hadn't done anything to Calvin. Or Merle. "That's going to be a problem because he's with me. We got split up awhile back. I've been looking for him everywhere for weeks.."

Though I was very happy to see somewhat of a familiar face, I was laying the feelings on thick as a show. These men didn't look like they were going to let us leave, but I had to at least try.

I pulled Calvin close and kissed the top of his head. Calvin just stayed silent, nodding his head a little to go along with the story. "He's like a brother to me. Please. We don't want any trouble, we just want to leave and be on our way."

My voice faltered purposely and the middle man seemed to chew on his bottom lip for a moment, as if contemplating what I had said.

However, the one on the left spoke up again with agitation in his voice, "Can't leave 'em, ya' know that, Earl, right? Plus, the boss ain't here and we probably shouldn't do nuttin' without him.."

The middle hillbilly, Earl, elbowed the man that spoke, "Shut up. He ain't here right now. Will be soon. I got this." I watched with wild eyed as the three men spoke amongst themselves, but not low enough so that I couldn't hear.

"Don't seem like ya' do." The man on the left countered again and I shook my head realizing that nothing I said would change their minds. They wanted me and Calvin, so it wasn't going to end with goodbyes and kind words.

And they certainly weren't going to wait for whoever was in charge to come along before they made a move.

It was time to act.

I was sick of people like this; sick of the evil that seemed to pop up wherever we tried to go. It never seemed to end.

"Okay, I tried to be nice about this. I really did. But, you guys don't understand. I'm not going anywhere with you and neither is the boy."

This comment made the men bristle and for a split second I could feel the tension in the air. It was like an old school standoff in the Wild West days. Everyone was itching to draw their guns and pull the trigger, but no one wanted to make the first move. And let's be honest, these men wanted us alive. For whatever sick purpose that was, but I didn't want to find out.

It was as if Daryl was reading my mind, or maybe he sensed the situation was going to spiral out of control. Whatever the case, the snik sound of his bow reverberated in my ears.

The arrow landed in the man on the left's neck and he fell without so much as a warning. Without hesitation I shoved Calvin away and drew my right sickle, throwing it with all my strength and precision.

The sickle landed in the man on the right's head with a sinking sound as it entered the tissue on his head. It was more like his forehead..or something around that area, but nonetheless, he gurgled and then dropped.

The man in the middle had already drawn his weapon the moment my sickle left my hand. Calvin was grabbing me by the waist and pulling me towards the shelving he had been behind.

I fell into Calvin, but not before feeling a sharp stinging feeling on my upper left arm, but everything was happening so fast the pain came and went. I covered my head as a reflex upon hearing the shots ring off in the store from his rifle.

I could tell Daryl was shooting and so was the mystery hillbilly named Earl.

I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my eardrums as I started to crawl down the aisle towards the end where Daryl had disappeared to.

Sweat dripped from my forehead and my vision blurred as the threat of a panic attack was about to come on, but I pushed it aside as best I could. I ushered Calvin to follow me quickly.

Silence followed as the last man standing stopped shooting. Calvin and I both stopped in our tracks and heard his boots getting closer.

I motioned for Calvin to keep going forward so we could hide behind the end cap to our right, but Calvin pulled a gun from his pocket and looked at me with deadly eyes that told me he wasn't hiding anymore.

More silence followed before Earl spoke, "Okay, you got me, girl. But, let me tell ya', we got more than you all can handle. Hell, they are probably already on their way-"

His voice was cut off by the sound of a single gunshot. Calvin had stood up so fast; I didn't have time to react. He not only surprised me, but also the hillbilly himself.

Calvin's aim was ridiculously accurate. He shot the man right in the temple as he had just been about to stroll right on up the aisle we were hiding in.

I was breathing heavily as I stood up slowly and noticed that Daryl popped his head up out from one of the front aisles near the cooler. He looked at me and nodded, "Ya good?" I nodded back, "Yeah, we're fine."

My eyes made their way to Calvin and what I saw made me frown. He was staring out at nothing and I calmly took the gun from his shaking hands. "Hey, I got this." Calvin nodded and handed me his gun as if he didn't really want to handle it at the moment.

If I didn't know any better this might have been his first kill, but I didn't dare ask. Calvin was lost in his thoughts and I didn't want broach the subject when we needed to get the hell out of dodge.

Daryl was already searching the three men and pulling a small amount of ammo from their pockets. I walked over to retrieve my sickle and Daryl watched briefly before muttering, "Still throw like a ninja." I offered a small smile before wiping it on the man's shirt free of blood and grime.

"Yeah, and he shoots like a professional marksman." I placed it back on my hip and was about to say something else before Calvin interrupted.

"We have to go, like now." I turned to an alarmed Calvin as he inched his way towards the back of the store that led to an emergency exit.

"There more of 'em?" Daryl asked shortly before grabbing one of the rifles and handing it to me. Calvin nodded and without a word we were already doubling back towards the exit. I trusted Calvin and if he knew there were more of these people we needed to run and not look back.

The three of us ran straight for the woods. I followed Daryl's lead since it looked like he knew where he was going. Or maybe he didn't, but I trusted him with this kind of stuff. I learned early on with Daryl that it was best to just shut up and not ask questions.

We ran like a hoard was hot on our heels. My boots hit the earth, the rifle now slapping against my side and sweat pouring off my forehead. I couldn't believe we had found Calvin. Well, he kind of found us, but still. I wondered briefly why Merle wasn't with him and I hoped for Daryl's sake it wasn't because he was dead.

The three of us ran for what felt like an eternity until Daryl finally slowed down to a small area in the woods that opened to a piece of land that was circle shaped. It had no trees inside the circle and the earth was flat, mostly dirt, but remnants of grass blades could be seen here and there.

Trees surrounded the outside of the circle. There, in the center of the flat land, was the smallest shack I'd ever seen. Daryl made the motion for us to fall back and he was already moving around to check it out.

I nodded to Calvin and handed him his gun back. He took it hesitantly, but started to flank Daryl while I maneuvered around the other side of the shack. The three of us cleared the shack and upon further inspection realized just what a dump this place was.

"It's filthy." I murmured, for once turning my nose up to something. "Ain't never heard ya' complain 'bout 'nuttin else before." Daryl responded, opening the door to the shack and nosing around the filth to find anything of use.

"That was before this place." I added defensively and I held my breath upon entering, but to my relief the place didn't smell terrible. If anything, it smelled of old burnt coffee for some reason.

At least it didn't smell like shit.

My mouth turned up in the corners into a small smile as this thought came to mind and Calvin gave me a peculiar look. I shook my head and took in the small place that someone might have been holing up in at some point.

"We really do have luck at finding stellar accommodations when the need arises." Daryl gave me a sideways glance, "After sleepin' on the damn ground for weeks I ain't complainin'." I could agree to that, but still. This place looked like something out of the Hills Have Eyes.

"True, just hope we don't get tetanus." He rolled his eyes, but when he saw me smirking he offered me a small smirk in return.

Calvin was silent as we made our way inside and Daryl was nice enough to clear some of the garbage away in an area where the three of us could sit comfortably and stretch out.

The place had a small counter top and a stove that was so old I didn't know if I recognized the brand. It was dented, rusted, and had old stains on it that creeped me out. The floor was old and some of the boards in it were poking out. A small area near the kitchen was torn up to the concrete.

After all we had been through this place was the one thing that creeped me out. It kind of made me chuckle and Calvin looked up at me, so I explained.

"I'm thinking it's kind of funny that this place creeps me out. After everything that has happened, this right here makes my skin crawl."

Calvin looked around and smiled before adding, "You watched too many scary movies before all of this, right?" I chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, something like that."

"We should stay here, rest our feet a bit and then we need to be back on our way." Daryl bit out and sat down grumpily. 

Way to kill the jovial mood, Daryl. 

I already knew his problem. Merle wasn't with Calvin. I didn't really know how to approach the subject or if Daryl was content not wanting to talk about it.

Calvin sat down cross legged and started to pick at the hem of his pants before speaking up after a moment of awkward silence between the three of us. Before that, our breathing had been the only thing that could be heard in the small shack.

"He was with me.." Calvin ventured and Daryl looked up from inspecting his hands silently.

This got everyone's attention and I coaxed Calvin to go on, "We got out. He was with me for a while, but we ran into some trouble with a small group of walkers and he.." Daryl looked tense as Calvin got nervous the more he spoke.

"He-uh, he said he would lead them away and take care of it. It was a pretty intense situation and I just..did what he told me. I ran. I just.." I frowned, feeling for this boy and watching as he wrestled with the decision of leaving Merle behind.

"I know he's still out there somewhere. It just..all went downhill so fast. Then those guys found me and were bringing me back to wheverer they stayed at. They didn't know I was an Eagle Scout so I got out of their ties and fled. Ended up finding you guys at that store.."

Calvin sounded hopeful the more he spoke and I saw the small gain of confidence in his features as he spoke about being an Eagle Scout.

"Who were those guys?" I asked and Calvin shrugged, "I don't know much about them, but they aren't good. There are more of them though. I know that. They had to have said about six different people's names."

Daryl was silent while he shared a withering look with me at the mention of these people being part of a group. I knew hearing Merle's name was a soft spot too, but hearing that Merle was possibly still out there while those other freaks were out there too was probably even tougher.

My heart ached for Daryl, but I stayed silent as Calvin continued, "Oh, they also said some of their men were found dead in a neighborhood that they had been scavenging. I don't know the details, but they seemed really pissed off about it."

This had me looking up at Daryl with a glimmer of hope in my eyes. We stared at one another before I broke, "Think it was some of our people?" Daryl mulled it over, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he always did in nervous thought, "Maybe."

"See anyone else out there?" I asked hopefully, but Calvin shook his head sadly. Daryl looked away from me and continued to chew on his thumbnail. It didn't mean anything that Calvin didn't seen Rick or anyone else.

We knew more people had gotten out alive, but the chance at seeing everyone again was still up in the air.

"Look, about your brother.." Calvin started, but Daryl shook his head, "Merle is a tough asshole. I know he's out there somewhere." Calvin nodded and I grabbed my bag, attempting to offer Calvin some food.

I reached out to hand it to him and winced immediately. I dropped the bag from the bright hot pain that came across my left arm and for a brief moment, I saw black.

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Author's Note: Will update the next chapter tonight or tomorrow. Sorry for that long wait!