Driving away from the remains of the CDC was hard, especially once Daryl told her that Jacqui had stayed behind, opting out, just as the scientists had done... But they had to go. They'd been given their next stop over the radio by Rick, who had told them that they were gonna try for Fort Benning, 125 miles away. Jupiter didn't know how she felt about that plan. 125 miles was a long way, especially with two kids and limited food. Who knew what awaited them on the way?

She distracted herself by looking at the long slice on her foot and wincing. She'd got blood on Daryl's truck and pointed it out to him, apologising about the mess. He just shrugged and looked at her foot, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bandana for her to wrap her foot in.

"If it ain't a stupid question, why were you running around with no shoes on?" He asked as she poured a little water on the wound and tried to clean it. She paused what she was doing and gave him a look.

"Well it's not like I knew we were gonna need to run away from the exploding building. I didn't have time to put my shoes on, so I just ran. A cut up foot is better than being served up extra crispy for a walker..." She argued, sighing as her foot started bleeding again. The cut was long and deep enough that it was going to be a problem to walk on. She'd probably need stitches, which was just gonna be another pain in her arse, and that's assuming she didn't somehow get an infection... At least she was up to date on her tetanus though.

After a while, the RV came to a stop in a quiet neighbourhood and Daryl parked and got out to see what was going on. Jupiter didn't bother. She didn't want to walk on her foot, and risk getting something stuck in the wound. But then Daryl came back, opening her door and getting a good look at her foot as he spoke. "We're cutting down on amount of cars, so we're ditching the truck and I'm taking my bike. You should get someone to look at that," he nodded at her foot and she sighed but agreed, grabbing her bag and going to stand up on her good foot, using the door to support herself while she found her balance.

Daryl watched her and after a second held his hand out for her bag, slinging it on his shoulder before holding a hand out to her. "You want me to carry you?" He asked a little awkwardly, but Jupiter snorted and shook her head.

"I'm sure I'll manage," she smirked, leaning into him for support as she half hopped to the RV. Dale was already waiting with a first aid kit, and gave her a hand inside, accepting her bag off Daryl, who hesitated outside of the door for a moment. Jupiter smirked at him before flipping him off and mouthing 'traitor' at him, earning a chuckle as he walked away.

Once he was gone, the smile fell from her face and she sighed. Driving with Daryl had been good. He didn't really want to talk, and when he did, he didn't pry into her business. The people in the RV did not act the same, all of them questioning her on where she'd been before she joined them, where abouts in England did she come from... Too many questions, though she answered a few to humour them, but she left out what had happened before they met, happy to leave her past where it belonged.

She'd bandaged her foot up after cleaning it properly, and now sat at the table, looking out the window at the passing scenery. It was beautiful, if she ignored the fast that there were walkers wanting to chew her face off if she got too close. But still, she could ignore them. What she couldn't ignore was the sound of Daryl's bike, riding ahead and making enough noise that she had to roll her eyes. Apparently he didn't care about drawing walkers with the sound. Not that any of them would be able to catch them, but still. It was such a Daryl thing to do, even if she barely knew him.

Andrea caught her staring out the window at the bike and narrowed her eyes. "Are you and Daryl..."

Jupiter pulled a face and shook her head, noticing Shane looking at her too. "No! He's just a friend. He's easy to get along with..."

Shane snorted, looking back down at the gun he was cleaning and shaking his head. "Dixon? Now that's a first. The only one he gets along with is his brother. The two of them don't much bother with the rest of us... Though he's getting something out of you, so that makes sense..."

Jupiter sat up straight and leaned across the table, her voice lowering. "He isn't getting jack shit from me. He's my friend..."

Shane just smirked more.

"Is that why I saw him coming out of your room the other night?" He teased, but Jupiter was just getting pissed at him. Mainly because if people started thinking her and Daryl were a thing and Daryl heard, he might get the wrong idea and it'd be awkward between them. They were just friends. Jupiter didn't want anything more than that, from anyone.

"We'd been drinking together. He's just my friend, Shane..." She couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore, finally letting him know that she'd seen what he'd almost done in the woods. "You know, like he'd have my back in the woods. I wouldn't have to worry about him pointing a gun at my head... Friendship, y'know?"

It was just a hint, as she didn't want to say it outright in front of Andrea, but she could see that her words had found their mark. Shane's eyes darkened and he stared at her, daring her to say what she meant, but Jupiter just tilted her head, as if to ask if he really wanted to do this? and he backed down, looking away.

Jupiter returned to looking out the window, a smug smirk barely hidden on her face, though she had to wonder if she'd just made a mistake in making an enemy out of Shane, especially when she couldn't run. Still, she wasn't going to back down and act afraid. Not in front of him.

So they sat in silence for a few minutes longer until the RV started to slow down, and eventually came to a stop. Jupiter frowned and looked out of the front window, seeing the crash site ahead, and Daryl on his bike, nodding his head at Dale to follow him. The RV started slowly moving again, weaving a path through the traffic jam and further along the road. Jupiter moved to the window again, looking at the cars she passed, watching for any walkers, but she saw none. There was a lot of dead bodies, but none of them moved.

Suddenly the RV gave a bang and then started hissing, quickly followed by Dale cussing at it as they came to a stop, and everybody started climbing out. Jupiter stayed seated until everyone else was out, not wanting anyone to try and help her and make her feel weaker than she already did. She was fine, and she was gonna prove it before anyone remembered she was hurt. So when she stumbled out of the RV, she saw the others just beginning to move to the cars to look around for what they could scavenge. She had just started to head off too when Lori spoke.

"This is a graveyard..." Everyone stopped and looked at her, and she hugged herself. "I don't know how I feel about this."

No one said anything, so Jupiter did.

"Look Lori, I get that you don't like it. But these people don't need it anymore, and we do. Surviving isn't comfortable. It never is. It's just doing what we have to to get by another day."

Lori stared at her for a few seconds, but the others had nodded and were moving again, so Jupiter gave her a half smile and then walked away, going to help find anything useful in the cars while Glenn and Dale worked on fixing the RV. She decided to head further up the road and work her way back, not really feeling like talking to anyone while she worked. It wasn't a fun job, and she saw things she wished she didn't, but like she'd said to Lori... They had to deal with things they didn't like if they hoped to survive.

She was on her third car when she heard something move behind her, and quickly turned around, finding Daryl picking through a car a few meters away. Sighing, she let go of the knife at her belt, letting it fall back into its sheath as she looked at her friend, his back to her. He was wearing a new vest with wings on the back, and she chuckled a little. She would have called out to him and told him that she liked it, but Andrea was close by, and she didn't want a re-run of before. So she kept her mouth shut and turned back to her own car, leaning further in to grab a tin of beans from under the far seat. She dumped it in her box and then moved onto the next car, ignoring her earlier decision to work back towards the RV, and instead moving further away.

Working by herself was better, but she was more on edge, constantly worrying about a walker sneaking up on her, especially when her foot meant she couldn't do much running. So she was listening out for anything, jumping and spinning around at anything more than the wind in the trees. She'd just pulled a first aid kit from the trunk of a car when the wind blew, bringing her the sounds of groans and the smell of rot. She turned around slowly, seeing a walker pack much closer to her than she would have liked, having already passed the RV. None of them had seen her yet though, so she dropped into a crouch, stuffing the first aid kit into the waist of her shorts and started heading away, looking for somewhere to hide.

She couldn't run, but she was moving fast enough to keep ahead of the pack and out of sight, her knife in her hand should any manage to catch up and she had to take them down quickly. She had just moved into a little gap between cars with bodies on the ground, about to run through when one of them moved and grabbed her leg. She almost screamed and raised her knife, but looking down, she saw Daryl, a body on top of him to mask the smell. There wasn't another body she could use, so when he released her, she moved quickly around truck ahead, laying on it's side.

Knowing the walkers had almost closed the distance, she knew she had to stop running, and actually hide now, so she saw the partially open sunroof and squeezed inside, praying no walkers were in there with her as she climbed around the back seats and hid in the dark boot, her hand over her mouth to quieten her breathing as the walkers came closer, but then passed. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds outside, amazed at how many walkers there actually were at one time, seemingly moving with no purpose. It was like they were migrating or something, just heading somewhere as a terrifying pack of snarling and biting arseholes.

She squatted in the boot of that truck for maybe five minutes before the walkers had passed, and then an extra few just in case. But when she climbed out, they were gone. She walked back around to where Daryl had grabbed her leg, telling him that they were gone. He shoved the body off him and then turned to one of the others, pushing it away and exposing T-Dog underneath, looking completely out of it, and his shirt covered in blood. Helping him to sit up, Daryl looked at the wound on his arm and wrapped his hands around it tight, slowing the bleeding.

T-Dog barely even fought back, though it looked painful as hell, so Jupiter knew he must have lost a lot of blood. Acting quickly, she pulled the first aid kit from her waistband and kneeled beside the two men, opening the box and looking inside for anything that might help. There was a few plasters, a couple of bandages, field dressings and then some tape.

She grabbed the field dressings and ripped open the first with her teeth, grabbing the dressing inside and barely looking up as she pushed it down on the wound and held it in place as Daryl moved his hands, before she wrapped the attached bandages around his arm. She finished tying it and risked a look up at T-Dog's face, seeing that he was pale and barely conscious as he leaned against Daryl's leg. Daryl also had a hold of him, stopping him from falling down as Jupiter worked on his arm, seeing that he was already bleeding through the first dressing, so she added an additional, and then another bandage before the blood stopped soaking through. The three of them waiting a few seconds, watching the bandage for any blood to appear. When none did, Jupiter added more tape to keep the dressings in place and then sat back, a sigh escaping her lips.

"Stay here," she ordered Daryl as she got to her feet and limped back the way she had originally run from, finding her box had been kicked over and the contents scattered by various feet. Still, she grabbed what she needed and left the rest, deciding to come back for them later.

She returned to the two men as quickly as she could, wrapping the heavy blanket around T-Dog and then handing him what was left in her water bottle, forcing him to drink it while she watched. He was coming back a little, though he looked to be registering the pain then and looked at his arm. It had looked painful, and she had no idea what had happened, so she took his other hand and squeezed it gently.

"T, what happened?" She asked gently, and he looked at her, still shivering a little despite the heat of the day.

"I cut it on a car door," he sighed, taking another drink of water. Jupiter nodded and asked him to look at her. His eyes were normal, and his pulse seemed fine when she took it, so she smiled at him and sat back again. She could feel Daryl's eyes on her, so she looked up at him as she wiped the sweat from her face.

"You good?" She asked, seeing the blood on him but knowing most of it was probably T-Dogs. He nodded and she smiled before picking up the other object she'd brought with her. The tin of beans from earlier. Opening them with her knife, she handed them to T-Dog and instructed him to eat, inwardly cringing at the thought of eating cold baked beans. He ate them without complaint though and Jupiter got to her feet and headed around the truck again, looking into the distance to see the back of the walker pack. She was still unnerved by that many of them moving together for no particular reason, but she had other things to be worrying about.

Daryl had helped T-Dog to lean against a car and was back on his feet, heading her way. Her foot was aching again, but she didn't complain as he stopped in front of her, and nodded back to where T-Dog was sitting, finishing off the beans. "Did a good job. He's lucky you were here."

Jupiter snorted quietly and gave him a look. "You'd have done the same. I just happened to have the things on me..." She explained, knowing that it had probably been Daryl's idea to hide under the bodies. She'd just done what anyone would have, so she shrugged off his statement. He didn't seem as convinced though and shook his head.

"Nah. Some would have panicked at the amount of blood and left. Most people see a wound these days and leave, thinking it's a bite and not willing to hang around and check... You did good."

This time she just allowed herself a small smile as she looked back at T-Dog, happy that she'd been able to help him. Daryl's eyes were still on her face, so she wasn't surprised when he spoke. "You a doctor or something before this? You seemed to have done this before..."

Immediately she clammed up, turning away as a hundred visions flashed behind her eyes, of other people who she hadn't been able to help... People she had saved only for them to hate her for it after... She had done it before, but her training hadn't been voluntary. Daryl had seen her reaction and stepped after her, his hand reaching for her shoulder. When he touched her, she quickly spun around, flinching at the contact, so he pulled away, just watching her.

After a second, she seemed to come back to reality and blushed for her reaction, apologising quickly before she plastered a grin on her face and laughed it off. Daryl wasn't fooled for a second, but clearly she didn't want to talk about it, so he nodded. Jupiter was thankful, though pissed at herself for reacting how she had. They were out of Atlanta now, and Daryl was her friend. She could tell him, but at the same time she didn't want to talk about it, especially if he repeated it to anyone. It was her past and she was gonna make sure it stayed there.

The two of them didn't say much as they helped T-Dog to his feet and then back to the RV, finding the others standing around in a huddle, looking out into the trees.

"What happened?" She demanded as Glenn rushed over to help the two of them with T-Dog, his face grim.

"Two walkers saw Sophia. Chased her into the woods... Rick followed, but none of them have came back yet."

Jupiter limped over to where Carol was staring into the woods, silently sobbing beside Lori. She reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "They'll be back soon, Carol. Rick'll bring her back." She didn't really know what else to say. She couldn't imagine the fear Carol was feeling as she stood there, waiting for her daughter to return after being chased by two walkers. Carol just nodded her thanks and continued staring into the woods.

A branch snapped and leaves rustled below, and everyone moved forward, Daryl and Shane pointing weapons at the source of the sound, silently waiting for whatever it was to show themselves. A few seconds later and they did, and Carol breathed a sigh of relief. Rick. Everyone started to smile, waiting for Sophia to walk out behind him. They kept waiting.

Of course Carol was the first to speak, unable to wait even a second longer. "Where's my daughter?!"

Rick froze as he looked up at her. "She's not back?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jupiter sat on top of the RV, scowling into the distance as she kept watch.

Rick, Daryl, Shane and Glenn had gone back out to look for Sophia almost twenty minutes ago, after Jupiter had been told she couldn't help because of her foot, and had then been ordered to take watch and stay off her foot. She had agreed, mainly because her foot was hurting and bleeding again, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. She knew she could help them if she hadn't cut her foot, so she was sulking because of that.

Another few minutes passed, and she saw Carol sit up straighter, seeing something in the woods, so she got to her feet and looked. She swore when she saw that it was just Glenn and Shane. They climbed back up the bank and stood under the RV so she could hear what was said too. "Rick and Daryl are tracking Sophia now, but in the mean time, we're gonna work together to find more supplies and clear some of these cars out of our way. When the three of them get back, we're getting off this road."

Jupiter frowned, but made to climb down, only for Shane to hold his hand up to her. "No. You stay up there and keep on doing what you're doing. You're not much use with that foot so you might as well."

Once again she found herself scowling as she sat there, her feet hanging over the edge as she kept look out, feeling like the laziest person in the world. She knew she wasn't much help with her foot and she needed to rest if she wanted it to heal, but that didn't make her feel any better when the others were working and she wasn't. She also had nothing to distract her from the thoughts of her friends in the woods, potentially being killed by walkers, with no help coming. Getting to her feet, she growled and peered into the binoculars to see if there was anything coming. Nothing. She sat back down with a sigh.

It was nearing nightfall when Glenn called out that they were back, and Jupiter waited, holding her breath. Carol's tears were enough of an indication that they didn't have Sophia with them. Jupiter could hear the conversation from where she was sitting. They'd lost the trail and were gonna pick it up in the morning as Daryl couldn't track in the dark.

The guilt on Rick's face broke her heart, especially when Carol clearly blamed him for what had happened. Any of them would have done the same, and if Sophia had stayed where she was, it would have worked. As it was, she was a twelve year old girl who had just been attacked by Walkers, and no one blamed her for running. Jupiter missed what was said next, but Rick walked away alone, away from the group and up into the cars ahead. The others split too and Jupiter's heart shattered all together for Carol, standing where she had been all day, still looking out for her daughter, hoping she'd return by herself.

The next morning the group were all standing around the RV while Rick talked them through what they were going to do in the woods.

"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other..." He ordered, and everyone nodded and took a weapon, heading for the woods, except for T-Dog and Dale. Jupiter was almost to the barrier when Shane stopped her.

"Not you. You're staying here with Dale and T-Dog..."

She was arguing before he even finished speaking. "What? No way! I can help." She tried to move past him, only for him to grab her arm and Daryl to step in front of her too.

"He's right Jupe. You're only going to slow us down with that foot, and the terrain is too hard going for it. You gotta stay here..."

Jupiter growled and crossed her arms. "Are you for real? Both of you! I wasn't allowed to help yesterday, and now I'm stuck on babysitting again?! I can do this!" She pressed, but Daryl just looked at her, his mind made. The others looked on, saying nothing, and she realised that she was delaying their help to Sophia by arguing, so with a snarl she turned away and slammed her machete down on a car hood and stormed off, trying her best not to limp.