"Austin, you good?" Carol asked as he followed Daryl to find her near the car. He didn't say much, sitting around. "Mad about something?"

"Did you agree to any of this?" Austin looked up at her. "To going to Washington?"

"No." Carol said in return. "You don't wanna go?"

"I'm not leaving Beth here." Austin shook just head. "She's still out there."

Carol almost smiled, putting a hand on his head. "I know how you're feeling. I do."

Austin's heart fell when he realized how similar this entire situation had been to when Carol was still on the search for Sophia. "I'm sorry, Carol. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay." she held his head a second longer. "If you want to stay here, look for her longer, i'll stay too."

"You think it makes me a shitty person?" Austin exhaled as he loooed up at her, sitting in the passengers seat of the car. "Like, I can go and save hundred of people but i'm gonna stay back for just one?"

"Just one person can mean so much more then a hundred." Carol stopped his guilty feeling, holding his chin. "That doesn't make you a shitty person."

Tires screeching echoed as they looked over, a car flying past them. Austin stared at the back, and he knew that bumper too well. He'd stared at it for hours when he chased the car. "Daryl!"

He smashed the tail lights immediately as Carol gapped. "What are you doing!"

"They got Beth!" Daryl slammed the truck as Austin pulled the door shut and started the car up.

"Hurry!" the Grimes boy yelled, Carol and Daryl jumping in as he floored it.

"Damn." Daryl spoke as Austin ran a walker over. "How we doin?"

"Tanks running low." he drove, following the car.

"Ricks gonna wonder where we went. 'Specially if we got his son." Daryl spoke once again.

"We can end this quick." Carol looked over at Austin. "Just run him off the road."

"Can't risk it." his hands tightened on the wheel. "We'll be okay for a little bit."

"If they're holding her somewhere, we can get it out of the driver." Carol went on.

"If I saw the driver, i'd probably kill them." Austin shook his head as his jaw tightened, hands gripping the wheel again. "Not in the best head space to trust myself right now."

"And if he don't talk, we're back to square one." Daryl agreed with him. "Right now we got the advantage. We'll see who they are. If they're a group, see what they can do."

"Not if I kill them all first." Austin pointed out.

"You can kill them after we get whatever information we need." Carol shook her head. "They're heading north, I-85."

"That's into the city." Austin glanced at her.

"Wanna turn back?" she gave him the choice.

Austin sighed with a shake of his head. "Hell no."

They followed the car, Austin stopped behind them about fifty feet when the car came to a hault. Daryl scanned the area. "What the hell is he waiting for?"

"I can hit him from here." Austin went for his gun. "She could be in that car."

"And if she's not then we have no way of knowing where she went." Daryl smacked him in the back of the head. "Dumbass."

They watched closely, the doors opened. "There's two of em."

Austin's jaw tightened up again, his knuckles paling tremendously as he gripped the wheel. "Is that a cop?"

"Got the uniform." Austin nodded, squinting his eyes, watching one walk toward the location they were stopped at. A walker hit the window, making him jump off his seat. "Oh, shit!"

"Shh." Carol shhed him as Austin clutched his heart.

"Could have just went into freaking cardiac arrest." he huffed and puffed, finding his breath again as his heart rate slowed. The walker continued to try and get to them as they all watched the cop come back, seemingly staring at the car. They were all unaware if he was looking at the walker or them.

Austin started up the car as the engine stutter. "Are you kidding me?"

"Tanks tapped." Daryl huffed. "They'd have taken the bypass and they didn't. They must be hold up in the city somewhere. We gotta move. Find some place to hold up till sunlight."

"Yeah, but where?" Austin looked over.

"I know a place." Carol met his eye. "Just a couple of blocks from here. We can make it."

"You got her?" Austin nodded to the walker at Carol window.

"Yup." she rolled down the window, stabbing it in the head as the remaining pair got out.

"Is it even budging?" Austin huffed as Daryl tried to get the window open.

"You wanna try?" he mocked him.

"I'd love to." Austin jabbed his knife under, wiggling it as Daryl helped. Carol killed off another walker. With a huff, the window cracked. "Now, how bout that?"

"Oh, shut up." Daryl rolled his eyes, crawling in first as Austin followed close after, reaching back to help Carol through.

"Jesus." Austin shined his light around the empty place. "Reminds me of the Haunted Hotel."

"That thing they did around halloween?" Carol asked him as Daryl approached a dead person on the ground, taking the keys. "Sophia use to want to go. Ed never would let her."

"Well, that's probably the only thing Ed ever did right." Austin shined the light around. "Place was insane. People would take it too far."

"You and Carl would go?" she looked curious. She could remember the boy Austin was when they first met. Such smaller then he was now, with shaggy hair rather then the natural waves and curls he had now, square glasses, and scared of almost everything. She couldn't even imagine that boy anywhere near a haunted hotel.

"Are you kidding me? No." he gave a crazy look. "My dad would have to patrol the area every year. He'd come home and tell me about it while we ate all of Carls halloween candy."

"You know the little, what are they called.." Carol trialed off as she tried to think, Daryl leading the two as they stayed close. "They were different colors? Vanilla came in blue?"

"Oh, fruit chews." Austin confirmed. "Hell yeah, those and Strawberry Buds were all I ever wanted."

"Me too." Carol gave a faint laugh. "The doctors office always had them."

"Glenn said you're gonna be our doctor now." Daryl shined his light in Austin's face.

"Well, he's wrong." Austin shook his head. "I don't know nothing about being a doctor."

"You always sat in with Hershel." Carol pointed out as they took a turn. "You're good at it."

"I could loose someone. Could never forgive myself for that." the Grimes boy shook his head, looking to the walls for any possible information.

"We loose people everyday." Daryl shrugged. "Least if you do it, you'd kill 'em knowing you was trying to help."

"Right through here." Carol pushed the door open as the two followed her.

"Use to work here or something?" the Dixon man asked her. Austin reached down and felt the floor. The blood was dried up.

"Something." was all Carol said in return. They moved the desk infront of the door, going for the other as Daryl passed the keys. Carol got the door open quickly, leading them down another narrow hallway until they came across a bunk bed and a cot.

"Homeless shelter?" Austin frowned his eyebrows.

"Temporary housing." Carol corrected him.

"You came here?" Daryl looked down at the legal books on the desk.

"We didn't stay." Carol spoke in return. When Daryl walked away, Austin stuck the books into his backpack.

"Hence the word temporary." Austin fell onto the cot with an exhale. "Woo, man. All hail sweet Baby Jesus, but his church was not nearly as comfy as this, man."

Carol cracked a grin, throwing a pillow his way. "I'll take the top bunk. I think that one's more your style."

Daryl gave a chuckle as he put his back on the bed. Carol spoke up again. "Y'all should sleep. I'll take first watch."

"You sure?" Austin held his thumb up, getting one right back in return.

"It's locked up pretty tight." Daryl explained, thinking it would be safe for the trio to all sleep.

"I know." the woman walked toward the door.

"Then we're good, then." Daryl tried to reason, Austin rubbed his eyes as he adjusted on the bed. He thought about Beth, reminding him of their shared bed back at the prison.

"I'll keep first watch. I don't mind." Carol looked back his way. "You get second, Austin will get third, then we go out."

"And find Beth." Austin spoke out loud, shutting his eyes with an exhale.

•

kylie speaks

poor baby has so much
hope