An awkward way to introduce yourself to your new camp? By burying half of them. Which was exactly what Juniper did on her first morning with them, helping to carry bodies either to the bonfire or the back of a truck to be buried. As one of the few without emotional ties to the dead, she was also helping Daryl-the crossbow guy- destroy the brains, using a pickaxe. It was hard work and she was quickly covered in sweat.

She stopped for a second to wipe the sweat from her eyes and put her long, curly brown hair up in a high ponytail, keeping it off her neck. She'd already tied her flannel short around her waist and had a drink, but she was still struggling in the heat. She caught Rick's son, Carl watching her and offered him a small smile. He blinked but didn't smile back. She wasn't surprised, the poor kid had seen a lot. Still, kids adapted better than adults, so she didn't doubt he'd be warm up to her in a few days.

She watched him for a few moments more, noticing that he was looking at the sobbing woman and her dead sister, still on the ground from the night before. A few people had approached Andrea about her sister, but she'd either ignored them, or as she'd done with Rick, pointed a gun in their face. Juniper was staying out of it, though the dead girl was making her edgy. Something had to be done about it, and soon, before she changed and killed more people.

Clearly she wasn't the only one thinking it as some of the others had grouped together and were talking about it. She joined them in time to hear Daryl talk, gesturing to the two blondes on the ground. "Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb!"

He was right, and looking around the faces of everyone else there, it was obvious that they agreed, but Rick stared at him. "What do you suggest?"

Daryl lowered his voice. "Take the shot." He put his fingers to his head like a gun. "Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes at this distance."

Rick and Shane looked like they were considering it, but it was Lori who spoke up. "No! For god's sakes, let her be."

Shane and Rick shrugged while Daryl scoffed and walked off, saying something to a dazed looking Jim. Juniper could see his point, however it might lead to more problems. Andrea was clearly armed, and distressed, so if someone did shoot her sister in the head, literally in front of her, she might turn the gun on them and more people could end up getting hurt. So Lori was right. They should let her be for a while, and deal with the problem when it's time.

Getting back to work, Juniper zoned out as Daryl ranted about his brother, helping Glenn carry a rotter to the bonfire. It was only when a woman shouted that someone had been bit did she look up. Jim was standing with a shovel in his hands while the others moved to circle him, demanding to see the bite. T-dog grabbed his arms and Daryl moved forward, lifting Jim's shirt to show the bite on his chest. Juniper swore quietly. He was infected, but he was still alive. That meant his friends were going to have to watch him die slowly, too scared to get close, and their last memories of him tainted. It would have been easier on everyone if he'd died in the attack.

After a while, Jim sat near the back of the RV while the others discussed what to do with him. Juniper wanted to go closer, but at the same time wouldn't know what to suggest. She was barely one of them, so didn't think she really deserved a vote. Plus, she didn't want to be in any way responsible for what happened to him. For the short time she'd known him, she'd liked Jim. He seemed like an all right guy.

Suddenly Daryl was moving away from the others, lifting his pickaxe as he got close to Jim. Juniper made to run forward and stop him, but Rick was already there, his revolver pointed at Daryl's head, and Shane moving to block his path. Juniper couldn't hear what was said, but then Daryl was slamming his axe down and storming away, muttering to himself until he passed her, finding her watching him. "Got somethin' to say?" He challenged her. Not being especially good at keeping her mouth shut, she met his glare and stepped forward into his space.

"Yeah. You're acting like a childish twat!"

He seemed a little taken aback at her comment, though he said nothing else as she walked away, though she could feel his eyes on her back. She spent the next hour digging graves, allowing the burn in her arms and back to help her zone out from the task she was actually doing. When the others came over to bury their dead, she stepped away quietly, not wanting to intrude on the groups ceremony. So she walked back to the camp, wiping the sweat from her face and taking a deep breath, no longer tasting or smelling death in the air. Now she could smell the woods and the mud, with a slight hint of petrol and burning.

It was Shane who came back first, spotting Juniper and walking over to her. "Hey. Sorry we didn't get properly introduced... But thanks for all your help today... I'm Shane," He offered his hand and Juniper took it, shaking it and nodding.

"It's all right. I'm sorry this happened to you all. You seem like good people... My name's June."

He let go of her hand and gave her a small smile before walking off again. The others were coming back to the camp behind him, so June sat down out of the way, taking a drink of water as she let her hair down again. A shadow came over her, and she looked up to see Carl standing in front of her, looking happier than she'd last seen him, so she smiled at him again. This time he gave her a small smile back as he spoke.

"What's your name? My dad says I should introduce myself to you..."

Grinning, Juniper held out a hand for him to shake, seeing Rick and Lori close behind Carl, taking their seats close by, keeping an eye on the pair of them. She didn't blame them. Even if it was the end of the world, stranger danger was probably still a big thing in their heads and they'd known June less than 12 hours. Still, she ignored them and spoke to Carl.

"My name is Juniper, and I'm from a place across the ocean... A place called Britain. You ever been there?" She asked him, but he seemed preoccupied with her name.

"Jupiter! That's my favourite planet! We learned about them in school, and Jupiter is the biggest and..." he continued talking excitedly about his favourite planet, and it cheered him up that much that she didn't have the heart to correct him. Besides, being named after a planet was cooler than a plant. When eventually he did run out of things to say about Jupiter, they started talking about food as it was almost time for food. "I miss chocolate. We haven't had any in a while. Mom says everyone ate it in the beginning..."

Grinning at the young boy, Juniper pointed to her rucksack a few feet away. "Why don't you pass me my bag, Carl?" He did so, and she gave him a secret smile as she opened the top and peered inside, quickly counting and then looking back up at Carl, gesturing for him to come closer. "You wanna help me with something?" She asked and Carl nodded enthusiastically.

Opening her pack, she showed him the contents and then looked at the people around the camp. "Hand these out? One to each person... Make sure everyone gets one," she smiled, and Carl laughed jumping to his feet and holding the packets of brownies and chocolate bars in his shirt as he ran around the camp, giving them out. Juniper watched him, grinning at the joy the small amount of chocolate had brought people, mainly the children, but the adults cheered up at the sight too.

Juniper started digging around for something else to eat when she heard one of the kids from across the camp call to her. "Thank you Jupiter!"

Laughing, she waved it off and lay back on her pack, staring up at the blue sky, watching the few clouds drift by. She hadn't realised she'd fallen asleep until someone kicked her foot, and she opened her eyes to see Glenn standing over her. She shielded her eyes from the sun and waited for him to explain what he wanted. "There's a spare tent over there. If you sleep out here you'll get sunstroke..." He offered her a hand up, which she accepted and thanked him when she were on her feet. The tent in question was by Carol and Sophia's, close to the back of the group, under the trees. Thanking him, June walked over to it and went inside, finding a camp bed and sleeping bag inside, but nothing else. Good, she thought, at least I wont have to wonder who died so I can have it.

She dumped her pack by the cot and then sat down, listening to the sound of people outside and the wind blowing through the trees. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't know what exactly to do with herself. The group had just lost a lot of their friends, but she hadn't known them, so she couldn't mourn with them. She couldn't make small talk because none of them were in the mood. The only thing she could do was stay out of the way, or make herself useful... Grabbing her bet, she decided on the latter, walking out of her tent and into the woods to keep an eye out for any rotters in the area.

It was quiet to begin with, but after a while she heard the sound of something big moving around behind her. She moved quickly back the way she had came, looking out for anything, and eventually stopping when she saw Rick, Shane and Dale behind him. Only Shane was aiming his gun at Rick. She was just about to shout a warning when Shane recognised his friend and quickly put the gun down, and Juniper felt like she could breathe again. Rick carried on, as oblivious as before, eventually noticing Juniper staring at him, her eyes wide.

"You all right?" He asked. All she could do was nod to begin with, trying to calm her racing heart. That had been close.

"Yeah. Thought you were walkers..." She didn't add that Shane had almost just blew his head off, as something in Shane's face made her think that it had been deliberate and he had truly been considering killing his friend. If he debated doing that, she didn't really want to be on his bad side. So when Rick chuckled, she forced herself to join in.

She wanted to head back to the camp, but after what she'd just witnessed, she wasn't happy about leaving Rick and Shane alone together. Rick had saved her life by bringing her to their camp, so she was gonna have his back.

Eventually when they all returned to the camp, they found Lori sharpening a stick by the camp fire, while Andrea slept on one of the chairs. Shane had barely made it to the others when he started talking. "I've been, uh—I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no—there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts..." Something he said made Lori narrow her eyes in suspicion, Juniper noticed, but Shane continued talking before Lori said anything. "I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"

Juniper nodded along with the rest of them, remaining by the camp fire when the others left. So they were going to the CDC, and hopefully they'd be able to cure Jim. Of course, that meant travelling back into the city Juniper had hoped she'd never have to enter again... However, this time she was with a large group, so she would hopefully be safe... A headache was brewing behind her eyes so she attempted to rub it away, only succeeding in making stars dance in her vision, so she quit and sat back, staring at the fire. Everyone else was in their tents, but being alone was starting to drive her crazy, so she stayed with the fire, thinking about the next day.

She was just about to call it a night when someone stepped into the light of the fire and then sat down on one of the chairs. She looked at them, her vision taking a second to clear so she could identify them. Daryl. He looked back at her, his face unreadable, though his earlier glare was gone. Juniper said nothing for a moment and it seemed that Daryl was content to sit in silence too. Deciding she had to start talking to the group at some point, so Daryl would be her first proper conversation. First though, she realised, she'd have to apologise. Much as it hurt her pride to do so, she knew she had to. "Hey, I'm sorry for earlier..." He looked up from the arrow he was playing with, and Juniper leaned back and crossed her arms. "Not that I didn't mean it, because what I said was true... However, I'm sorry for saying it."

Daryl shrugged and went back to playing with the arrow, looking like he wasn't interested in talking. But then he looked up again and sighed, seemingly trying to make an effort. "You not from round here?" He asked, and Juniper smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Now what gave you that idea?" She asked. He didn't even need to think about it.

"You speak funny."

Her mouth fell open for a second before she snapped it shut again, chuckling a little as she spoke. "You're one to talk!" She did her best impression of Daryl's accent, terrible enough that it actually earned a laugh from the hunter, and he continued grinning for a moment after. Shaking her head and grinning, Juniper explained where she was from and what her story was.

"I was supposed to be taking a roadtrip across the States with my best friend, Alaska. But we got stranded in Atlanta, and got separated... I got taken by some bad people, and I haven't seen her since. She could be dead for all I know."

Daryl nodded. "Not to seem harsh, but she probably is... Not a lot of people survived the early days, especially on their own..."

Juniper sighed and shook her head, staring at the flames again. "If anyone could survive, it's Alaska. She's brave, fast and strong. And she can fight... She made it, I just don't know where..." She paused for a moment, wondering if she was about to over step, but figuring she might as well ask. "What about your brother? Is he a survivor too?"

Daryl looked away and started biting his thumb nail. "Yeah. Toughest sonofabitch I ever knew. He ain't dead. No way."

June nodded, but said nothing further. The two of stayed there for a little longer until Juniper eventually found herself falling asleep, so she got up and walked to her tent, wishing Daryl goodnight as she passed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning she woke up early to the sound of people packing up, so she quickly got changed into her other set of clothes and then dismantled the cot, followed by her tent. It was a humid morning, so she was thankful that she'd picked up a pair of shorts in the store, even if they were denim and still black. At least she wouldn't be quite as hot as she'd been the day before. She also wore her hiking boots, having started to wear them in the day before.

There was no food left, except for more bars of chocolate in her bag that she broke up and shared between the kids. But the adults were still hungry and grumbling about it as the group all stood around together, waiting for Rick or Shane to give the order. Evetually it was Shane who spoke up. "Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on Channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

None. But then Morales spoke up, looking nervous. "We're, uh...we're—we're not going."

Everyone turned to stare at him and his family, so Eliza spoke, explaining that they were going to Birmingham to find their family. Shane and Rick made sure that they were sure, but everyone could see that they were, so Rick handed Morales a gun and Shane gave him a box of ammo for it. Then the group said goodbye, and Juniper stood to the side, awkwardly wishing them good luck as tears were shed and the little girl gave her doll to Sophia.

Then they were gone, and everyone else piled into various vehicles. Juniper just stood there with her stuff, feeling like the kid who got picked last in gym class as she didn't know where she was welcome. She was just about to head for the RV when a whistle came from behind her and she turned to see Daryl leaning out of a truck window, waving her over. "Get in," He called, and June exhaled in relief, jogging to his truck and throwing her stuff in the back with his bike before jumping in the passenger side.

She nodded her thanks at him, and he gave her a nod in reply before starting the engine and following the others down the dirt road that would take them to the main road back into Atlanta. The two of them said nothing for a while, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable between them, and June stared out of her window, watching the forests pass, feeling like she could sleep again. Damn she was tired lately. Probably due to the nightmares that constantly haunted her sleep and woke her. Mainly they were of her and Alaska in the airport on that first day, fighting off hordes of the undead. Only that hadn't happened. Juniper had fought off hordes of the undead, but Alaska had already gone, and she'd never come back. Much like Daryl with Merle, Juniper knew Alaska had made it out alive and was probably locked in some store with enough food to survive a few months. If one of them was ever gonna survive an apocalypse, it was Alaska. She was the more outgoing of the two, not that June wasn't outgoing. It was just that they'd been friends forever, and Alaska's personality and behaviour had always smothered June's. Except maybe when June was angry, as she had quite the temper and was more likely to actually hit someone than Alaska was.

It had been June's temper that was to blame for the two friends not being together. She had started the argument that caused Alaska to storm off, expecting June to follow her and apologise, just like she always did. But she didn't for once, and she hadn't regretted something so much in a while. If she'd gone after her, so much might have been different. Or I might be dead...She thought. Either way, she hadn't gone after her friend and had to deal with the consequences.

After a while, June realised that Daryl was slowing the truck down, and she looked forward, seeing that the others had come to a stop and were getting out. They did so too, walking to the front of the line to see that the RV was broken down, the front smoking lightly. Shane was driving further ahead and Rick went inside the RV to talk to Jim, leaving everyone else outside.

Carl came to stand next to her and June smiled at him, ruffling his hair with her free hand, the other gripping her bat in case anything came walking from the woods around them. Carl didn't seem bothered but his gaze kept flicking to the RV, and after a few moments, he plucked up the courage to ask what was on his mind.

"Is my dad gonna kill Jim?"

Kneeling in front of the kid, June took his hands and shook her head. "Carl, your dad is gonna do whatever he has to to keep you and your mum safe. But he's not going to kill Jim unless he changes into a walker," she explained, and Carl nodded, looking down. She was just about to ask him what was wrong, but then Rick came back out, his face grim. He explained when Shane came back with new parts for Dale's RV.

"He wants us to leave him here... Before he changes."

Carol's eyes were wide. "And he's lucid?"

Rick nodded, looking troubled. "He seems to be. I would say yes." June could see his point. If Jim was lucid and he wanted to be left behind, none of them could force him to do anything else. As his friends, they should honour his wishes. Dale also agreed.

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants and I think we have an answer."

Shane pulled a face, looking uncomfortable. "We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Juniper couldn't help the face she pulled then. He was quite happy pointing a loaded gun at the back of his best friend's head though? The more she thought about it, the more she disliked him and wanted to punch him every time he opened his mouth. It probably had something to do with the way he looked at Lori too. Like he wanted her. That'd explain him wanting to kill Rick-the man in the way of what he wanted.

As she was busy glaring at Shane, she missed the rest of the conversation, only zoning back in as Shane and Rick went inside to get Jim, deciding to do as he wanted them to.

Even June got choked up as she watched the two men carry Jim between them, up a hill and then leaning him against a tree. Once again, Juniper hung back, leaning against the RV as everyone else said goodbye to Jim. Her throat was tight, even though she barely knew him, and she knew that if she tried to say anything she'd cry, so when everyone started walking back down, she headed back to Daryl's truck without a word, getting in and staring at the dashboard until her throat stopped aching and she could look up.

Daryl was staring forward, focusing on the road, so Juniper said nothing. After a while though, Daryl spoke. "You carry that bat around a lot. Haven't you got anything smaller? Like a knife?"

Juniper shook her head and flicked the bat handle, making a small clink noise. "Nope. I only have this because it was literally lying in the street and three rotters were coming for me."

Without a word, Daryl leaned over, opening the glove box with one hand and reaching inside, pulling out a hunting knife in a sheath and handing it to her before he hit the box closed. She accepted it and looked at him for explanation, but he didn't look back at her, instead biting his thumb nail again. "Keep it. I've already got one, so you might as well..."

She thanked him but didn't look away from him, fascinated by him and how he could act like an arsehole at times, but at the same time be pretty cool to be around. If she wasn't careful, Juniper might be in danger of making an actual friend.

"Quit staring at me, you're weirding me out!" He snapped, and Juniper smirked but looked away.

They made it to the CDC in one piece, arriving just as the sun started to go down. There were a few walkers around, but Daryl took them down with his crossbow as the group all moved together, crossing towards the closed shutters. The stench was horrendous, and a few of them were gagging as they moved, stepping over bodies, both civilian and army, on their way. When they made it to the doors, Rick and Shane tried opening them while the others kept an eye out for walkers. The sky was darkening quickly and Juniper could feel the fear creeping up on her, especially as the doors refused to open.

More walkers were emerging and the kids were starting to cry as everyone started to argue. They had to leave. It wasn't safe at night. But Rick refused to move, swearing he had saw the camera move. The others were already leaving, Shane trying to pull Rick away, saying he imagined it, but June believed him. She had to. They weren't going to survive if they ran now, so she kicked the shutter, and Rick started to scream at the camera.

"Let us in you arseholes!" She yelled as she punched and kicked the shutter door, making sure whoever was inside would hear them, though she doubted anyone missed Rick screaming that they were killing them. Still, she pounded on the white shutters, about to kick it again when arms were suddenly around her, pulling her away and back towards the cars. The same scent from the truck. Daryl.

She was just about to start fighting back when suddenly the shutters were opening and bright light spilled out, making them all freeze in place.

Clearly someone was home.